Day 31: Re-create Your Favorite Challenge

Hello, and happy December! Today is not only the first day of a brand new month, but the last day of the 31 day challenge for me and the other bloggers that did it this month. While I enjoyed the challenge, I have to say that I'm glad to have the stress of having to change my nails every day relieved, especially with my first college finals coming up sooner than seems quite possible. Anyway, I had several ideas as to what I might do for today...and all of them flew out the window when I got a swap package today that I'd been expecting. It contained NYX Gilded Glitter, which I've been lemming for ages, so of course I had to use it! I decided to recreate day 17, because that was glitter day. I used one coat of Gilded Glitter over three luscious coats of Revlon Royal.

 artificial light

artificial light

*sigh* I'm so thrilled with this. I can't wait to use it in a plethora of new layering combinations that have now been opened up to me - and with the challenge over, I can do whatever strikes me whenever it strikes me! I'm excited to try China Glaze Eye Candy, too - I just don't know when I'll have the time! Hopefully sometime this weekend...

Don't forget to check out the last challenge day on the other blogs!

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 30: Inspired by a Tutorial

Gaaahhh! My 31 days are almost over! It's gone by so quickly - I can't believe it'll be time to start doing Christmas nails after tomorrow. I think Elle's Spell might be in order...

Anyway, that's completely off-subject. I had to search around a bit for today's manicure. While I've seen a lot of tutorials I liked, I've either used the ones I really liked, or they're too time-consuming to do when finals are coming up and I've got a bajillion papers and things to do. I eventually rediscovered Polish Art Addiction's Monokuro Boo nail art tutorial and decided that's what I wanted to do. I honestly have no idea what Monokuro Boo is - that is, other than adorable - but I thought it would be fun and not too hard. I used Color Club Yachty Yachty Yadda for the background, and Wet 'n' Wild White Creme and Black Creme for the nail art. As you can see, my white pigs turned into Westies (see?) and I left of the dots, but I'm still very happy with it.

natural light

While it's not as cute as Polish Art Addiction's, I still think it's freaking adorable. Now I just have to figure out what the heck I'm going to do tomorrow...do I recreate my favorite manicure I did, that someone else did, or does it even matter? Anyone know? *looks around*

Check out my fellow challenged (ha, ha) bloggers:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 29: Inspired by the Supernatural

Hello there! Today's prompt was a bit challenging for me to turn into a manicure, as I didn't want it to look explicitly like a Halloween manicure. I ended up pulling out some random polishes and doing a layering manicure. I used a base of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme with China Glaze Zombie Zest, China Glaze Snow Globe, and a gold Orly glitter that I recently got and can't remember the name of (and I'm not in my room now, so I can't check - I'll update the post later). I topped it all off with Essie Matte About You.

natural light

natural light

I like it! I wasn't sure if I would at first, but after I decided to put matte top coat on it, it all sort of came together. Sorry about my terribly dry fingers ... I took these photos after I showered this morning, and though I tried to put cuticle moisturizer on without ruining the matte effect, it clearly didn't work too well. Maybe next time I'll remember to plan my picture-taking better.

There will be another post up later today on the Dr.'s Remedy holiday collection, so look out for that! I've been meaning to get it up since I took the pictures last week, but the world has seemed to conspire against Never Unpolished lately ... oh well. I should also have swatches of China Glaze Let it Snow posted within a week. I got the samples when I was home for Thanksgiving break, and they're sitting on my desk anxiously waiting for me to try them - and I for them!

Don't forget to check out the other challenge posts for today:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 28: Inspired by a Flag

Sooo . . . I must confess, I was feeling lazy today. I didn't really want to do nail art, I just wanted to slap on some polish and be done with it. Therefore, I chose as my inspiration the Libyan flag, which is the only national flag that's just a solid color. Hint: it's green.

indoors, artificial light

This is two luscious coats of Nina Ultra Pro Salsa, one of my favorite "basic" greens. That's all for today! Now I just have to figure out what to do for tomorrow . . .

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Three in One: Days 25, 26, and 27

Sorry for my egregious lack of posting! I'm falling down on the job, I know - but only because I've been doing my best at keeping up with homework over break. I'm actually writing this post on my phone whilst riding back to school, and I took the picture on my phone as well. I got a new iPhone 4S, though, so the quality isn't too bad, though definitely not as good as the macro on my PowerShot. Anyway, today's manicure combines the last three themes: fashion, pattern, and artwork. My inspiration was a Spring 2012 print from DKNY - it's fashion, it's a pattern, and, in my opinion, fashion is art. I used a base of Wet 'n' Wild White Creme with OPI Red My Fortune Cookie, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, and my Nubar nail art pen in black.

As you can see, I printed off the picture that inspired me and took the photo of my nails against it. After doing so, I think my nails were even more accurate than I thought they were at first!

Day 24: Inspired by a Book - The Graveyard Book

Hello there, and happy Thanksgiving if you're American! If not, I hope you're having a good Thursday nonetheless. Today's challenged was to do a manicure inspired by a book, and my first thought was, of course, Harry Potter. However, I partly wanted to do something new, and I also realized that I didn't have all of the proper colors with me. Instead, I started searching my bookshelves for some other inspiration. I had lots of ideas, but none of them were both feasible and really appealing...until I saw my copy of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I looooove this book (read it - I don't care what age you are!), and I've always been a big fan of the cover as well, so I decided to do a sponging manicure based on the colors in the cover. I used Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme with two coats of Revlon Royal as a base, then sponged OPI No Room for the Blues, Sephora by OPI Ocean Love Potion, Sally Hansen Celeb City, and Revlon Royal on top.

natural light

sunlight

artificial light

I am really, really pleased with this! The first and last pictures most accurately show how it looks in real life - and as you can probably tell, the last picture includes the cover of The Graveyard Book to show my inspiration. I have to say, I think I got pretty close! If there's one thing this challenge has taught me, it's that I need to do more sponging. This and my galaxies manicure have been my favorites so far...it's going to be hard to pick what to do for Day 31.

I forgot to include the links to my fellow bloggers doing the challenge yesterday... *sigh* And I was doing so well. Anyway, here they are:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Again, happy Thanksgiving! I'll be back tomorrow with some fashion-inspired nails.

Day 23: Inspired by a Movie

I had no clue what to do with this day, and I ended up having even less time than ideas...hence, a slightly shoddy V for Vendetta manicure (and yes, I am aware that I left out the circles).

indoors, artificial light

And with that, I'm sorry, but I really must go to bed. I have a proper idea for tomorrow, though, so if I have all the polishes to carry it off (seeing as half of mine are at college, and I'm at home for break), that should be considerably better.

Day 22: Inspired by a Song

Um...let's just pretend it's still the 22nd, okay? After all, it's only 12:07 A.M. Today's manicure was pretty easy - after I applied OPI Meep Meep Meep, I was thinking about what I wanted to do for the song manicure, and I thought of the song Razzle Dazzle from Chicago (if you don't know what I'm talking about, go here). So, I added two coats of Nubar 2010 and called it good.

indoors, artificial light

indoors, artificial light

Sorry for the blurry pictures...I simply couldn't get one that wasn't blurry that showed the polish even halfway accurately. I really need to figure out a new lighting situation for the winter, because, as I've said many times, the lighting in my dorm room absolutely sucks.

And that's all for today (err, yesterday...)! Check out the other bloggers doing this challenge:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 21: Inspired by Color: OPI Meep Meep Meep

Today's challenge was "inspired by color," which in my opinion is pretty vague. I mean, aren't all my manicures inspired by color in one way or another? I ended up picking OPI Meep Meep Meep simply because I'd been wanting to wear it...so, yeah, I was inspired by pink. As it turns out, that was a very good thing - Meep Meep Meep is fabulous.

 indoors, with flash

 indoors, with flash

indoors, with flash

I really wish I'd had an opportunity to do this manicure before the sun set, but I had class until 4:30 today, so that wasn't an option. My pictures really don't show the gorgeousness of the polish - it's much juicier and glass-flecky and gorgeous in real life. The application was awesome as well, and I barely had to do any cleanup. Basically, you need to get this, okay? Okay. :)

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 20: Water Marbling

So, you know how yesterday's galaxy nails were pretty freaking awesome? Today...is the opposite. I love water marbling on other people, but I am truly terrible at it. I always get tons of bubbles, and the polish always seems to dry before I get it nicely swirled. I used Zoya Robyn and Zoya Kelly over Wet 'n' Wild White Creme, and...well...see for yourself:

I...um...I'll just go now. *hides* To help cure the eye-searing that I'm sure you just experienced, go check some proper water marbling out:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Tomorrow starts the last section, "inspired by" - hopefully that will go better for me than today!

Day 19: Galaxies

I almost forgot I hadn't already posted this...whoops! It would've been too bad, too, because I'm really proud of my galaxy nail art (unlike Day 18's water marble). I'd never done "space nails" before, so I wasn't quite sure how it'd go, but with some sparkly polishes and a sponge, it wasn't hard at all, and I'm really pleased with the result. I used a base of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, sponged with Ulta Sun-Sational, Sally Hansen Laser, OPI Meep-Meep-Meep, Sally Hansen Byte, Zoya Ali and Hard Candy Mischief, and filled in the blank parts with China Glaze Fairy Dust. I included a blurry picture to show the holographic sparkle of Fairy Dust.

indoors, with flash

indoors, with flash

Can I just say that I absolutely looove this? I am really, really, really not going to want to take it off. Oh, well...I can always do space nails again, right? 

And now, the bloggers doing the challenge with me...

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Until tomorrow!

EDIT: P.S. Two followers away from 700?! Cheese and rice! Thank you all SO much - I really do still smile every time I get a comment or a new follower...it doesn't get old. :)

(Late) Day 18: Half Moons

I meant to post this last night, but I completely and entirely forgot...whoops. I did, however, actually do this manicure yesterday, so I think it still counts. I did black over Zafirah and lined the edges of the half-moons with Orly Luxe.

natural light

As you can see, I have a bit of tipwear and dry fingers, but other than that, I think it looks quite classy. I'll hopefully have my galaxy nails done and posted later today, so I'll chat more then. In the meantime, I have way too many papers to write, so I'm out - hope you're having a great weekend!

Day 17: Glitter (Franken: Zafirah)

Okay, so I'm guessing this was supposed to be glitter nail art, because this is the ten days of nail art, but since it didn't say that specifically, and I really wanted to use a franken I made a few weeks ago, I just used the franken. I used Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, clear, Jordana Silver Jewel, Wet 'n' Wild Fantasy Makers glitter in Glitz, NYC Starry Silver Glitter, and China Glaze Fairy Dust. You really can't see most of the hexagonal glitter, but I'm quite happy with it as it is. Unfortunately, I didn't think of the fact that I should really take sunlit pictures since there's holographic glitter in it, but you get what you get. I'm going to be layering over this for the half-moon manicure tomorrow, so hopefully the sun will be out then (though it's supposed to be cloudy, so I doubt it).

 indoors, with flash

 indoors, with flash

Sooo pretty...I wish I had taken pictures in the sunlight so you could see it in its full glory. I used two coats here, and I named it Zafirah, which is an Arabic name meaning "successful." I'd say Zafirah was a success, wouldn't you?

Here are the other lovely ladies doing the challenge with me:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 16: Tribal Print

I almost forgot to post today - whoops! Fortunately, I remembered before 12:00, so it still counts. Since it's late, though, I'll keep it short. I had no idea what I wanted to do for tribal nail art - there are a ton of great options out there, but I didn't have time to do most of them, because the ones I like the best are incredibly complex. Instead, I ended up freestyling something of my own, and I hope it looks tribal enough. I used Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Sally Hansen Green with Envy, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, a Nubar nail art pen (I used the striper end), and a dotting tool with Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme.

 indoors, with flash

indoors, with flash

I like it, but I'm not sure I'd be really keen to do it again...I got several compliments, though, so maybe that's just me. Anyway, I'm going to either go to bed now or work on a paper; I can't decide. Either way, goodnight - but before you go, here are the ladies doing the challenge with me this month (which we're now halfway through, and that seems totally unreal):

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Days 14 and 15: Flowers and Delicate Print

I didn't have time to paint my nails at all yesterday, so I combined yesterday's challenge with today's, and did a delicate flower manicure. I really don't like how it turned out, and I couldn't seem to get any good pictures, but I'll show it to you anyway... I used Icing Mint 2 Be, Color Club Overboard, and Color Club Yachty, Yachty, Yadda.

I'm going to leave the picture small because it really does not look any better up close. The pinks are fairly accurate color-wise, but the mint green is waaaay off for some reason, and believe it or not, this is the most color-accurate picture I got out of about thirty. Anyway, the nice thing about the challenge is that I felt perfectly entitled to just take this manicure right off again! Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

The other ladies doing this challenge:

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Day 13: Animal Print

Today's been one of the few days in the past week that I haven't had to agonize over what I was going to wear - this time, I knew it would be leopard print - in my opinion, it's the easiest animal print to do, and I was short on time as usual. I decided fairly quickly on using grey, black, and gold, and voila!

 indoors, with flash

I'm really happy with the color combination I chose - I think it looks very classy. I used Lex Seattle Sunshine, Orly Luxe, and Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme, along with Aly's dotting tool (again...I should really get that back to you, Aly!). I'm always a big fan of leopard print nails, though I'm not a leopard print person in other areas of life. I suppose there are a lot of things I'd wear on my nails and not on my body! Another reason I'm a fan of leopard print nails is that it's a pretty easy pattern to do. I'd venture to say that it's the only "real" nail art design I've done that I didn't have to redo a nail (or two, or ten) on the first time I tried it. So, if you'd like to try nail art but are afraid you wouldn't be good at it, I'd definitely encourage you to start with leopard print, as it's a great way to ease into nail art. 

The other lovely ladies doing the challenge this month (I'm so glad I remembered to do this...for the first time in several days...):

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

I hope your weeks get off to a great start tomorrow morning!

Day 12: Stripes

I really, really did not have time to do stripes today, so I half-assed it and turned yesterday's polka dots into badly done stripes.

indoors, with flash

Look familiar? Sorry for the short and mediocre post. I hope it's not like this for the rest of the month.

Day 11: Polka Dots

Happy 11/11/11! Don't forget to make a wish tonight at 11:11:11. :) I hope you didn't have your fill of polka dots after my rainbow manicure, because I have more for you today. This time, I just did two vertical lines of polka dots on each nail, and I really like how it looks. I used a base of China Glaze First Mate, and the dots are in Sally Hansen Green with Envy and Color Club Overboard.

 indoors, artificial light

natural light

I can't believe I'd never used First Mate before! It's really gorgeous, and I think the green and pink complement it well. The only thing I don't like about this manicure is that because my pinky nail is so much small than my other nails and the dots are the same size, that nail looks a bit odd. Other than that, though, I'm happy with it - and even if I wasn't, I'd only have to wear it for today. Again, have a great day!

Day 10: Gradient

Today's post will also be a brief one, as I once again have way too much reading to do in too little time. For today's gradient, I used Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Revlon Victorian (from the Just Tinted collection), and China Glaze Golden Enchantment. I was very happy with the way it turned out, and then I went to bed and got sheet marks. Whoops.

natural light

natural light

natural light

natural light

That's all! I promised a short post, didn't I? :)

Day 9: Rainbow Nails

Once again (it seems to be a theme), I had a hard time choosing what to do for today's manicure. There are so many ways to do rainbows, but I wanted to do something that was fairly easy and quick. I decided on dots - and then discovered that I have apparently mislaid my dotting tool at some point since I got to college, because I used it once or twice, and now I have no idea where it is. Fortunately, Aly was around, so I just borrowed hers (thank you, by the way). This is what I came up with:

 natural light

natural light

I think it looks pretty cute! I used Sally Hansen All Fired Up, Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Ulta Sun-sational, Sally Hansen Green with Envy, Zoya Robyn, and China Glaze Grape Pop, with Wet 'n' Wild White Creme as my base and Essie Matte About You as a top coat (I also used Insta-Dri underneath the matte top coat to prevent streaking).

It's rather nice to have a cheery design on my nails, as it's quite bleak outside today - it's not actually that cold (only 60 degrees Fahrenheit), but it's extremely windy and a bit misty. Eurgh. I hope the weather is better where you are!

Good grief, I just realized I forgot to do this for the past two days...failllll. Anyway, here are the other bloggers doing the challenge (the Aly who loaned me the dotting tool, by the way, is the Aly Loves Lacquer Aly, just to clarify). Go check them out, and have a great day!


Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish