Day 16 - Tribal Print

Hi!

This manicure is for day 16 of the challenge, the theme is tribal nails! I've been looking forward to this one a lot.  I've seen so many gorgeous tribal manicures on the web and now I finally got around to trying my own.  This is why I recommend this challenge - it gets you to try things you might not do otherwise.

I decided to do a more subtle tribal nail pattern, that could be done in just two steps.  I love multi-step manis, but I wanted to see how good of an effect I could achieve with just tow coats.



I used SOPI Caught with My Khakis Down (hehe) and Barielle Cowl of the Wild.

Caught with my Khakis Down - I have the mini bottle of this, and it is TINY! Which is too bad, because I really love this color.  When I bought it in the early summer, it had a sign that said "upcoming trend" and boy were they right! Suddenly it seems like every brand is releasing their version of this khaki green.  This one goes on smooth and opaque in two coats, and I really hope I get a chance to get a full-sized bottle of it.

Cowl of the Wild- I got this polish off the clearance shelf at Ulta (along with most of the rest of the Style in Argyle collection).  It looks horrible in the bottle, because no matter what I do, it will not blend together consistently.  You can see in the picture.  However, once you actually use it... it was love at first sight for me! I have bought a lot of brown polishes, and to me, this is the perfect brown that looks like you dipped your nails in a melted hershey bar.  Opaque and dries glossy, I love it.

These two colors also play really well together.  :)

For my first step, I painted each nail half green and half brown, alternating sides and direction.  I did two coats of each color, and free-handed it.


For the second step, I went back with a tiny paintbrush from Michael's and added various dots and stripes and patterns as they occurred to me.  I think it turned out really well, and looks like it took a lot more effort than in actually did.  I recommend this to anybody who wants tribal nails without taking hours to do so many different layers, colors, and patterns.

(I'm really fond of this one) thumb:

 pointer:

 middle:

 ring:

(whoooooooaaaa overexposure much?!) pinky:

Have you done tribal nails on yourself? How long did it take? Was it worth it?

Ciao for now,
Maria

Day 12 - Stripes

Hello x2!

As you saw in my last post an hour ago, I am currently in emergency nail repair mode, and therefore unable to post the normally scheduled stripes manicure for today, as the challenge calls for.  I will instead post a cute little striped mani that I did over the summer.  Again, don't blame the pictures too much, these were never intended for a blog audience.  (That reminds me! I got my digital camera today! YAY! There shall be better pictures in the future!)

SOPI - Don't Feed the Hand Models
OPI - Funky Dunkey
OPI - Ogre-the-top Blue
... and some white polish that I don't remember...


First step:

Second step:

OH! And I also painted my friend's nails yesterday! (She chose the colors. Sally Hansen Royal Foil, Essie French Affair, and OPI Jade is the new Black)

Well, hopefully all these poorly lit, weird angled pictures are enough to distract you guys from the fact that I don't have a fresh new mani today! I'll be back up and running tomorrow, I promise.

Love y'all,

Maria

Day 4 - Green

Ciao bellissimi :)

Today is the fourth day in the 31 day challenge..  That means it is time for some GREEN nails :)

I love green nail polish, and for this challenge I chose to use two of my untried: SOPI Leaf Him at the Altar and my brand new Revlon Punk, along with a black nail art striper.

Revlon Punk - very well pigmented, it covered in one medium coat! This pale green dried with an almost foil finish, which surprised me.  It is different from anything else in my stash, and I'm glad to try it.  I can't wait to try the other seven from this collection (Edgy Elegance) that I bought last week!!

SOPI Leaf Him at the Altar - this is a gorgeous color, one I'm probably more likely to wear by itself than Punk.  It was a little bit sheerer than I'd expected, but I think it would cover in two coats.  It is also a light green foil, but this one is definitely green, whereas Punk almost looks silver in some lights.

The design is a simple but stirking almost-argyle pattern.  My lines aren't as clean as I usually like them to be... but that is how it sometimes is with handdrawn nail art.  I can appreciate that :).  And from far away it looks impeccable.

Again, disclaimer, the pictures aren't the highest quality, but my mom mailed me my good camera! So good pictures are in the future! (Spoiler: the best picture is at the bottom ;) )

Bottles:

Taken on my windowsill.  One coat of Punk, no cleanup yet since it is before the art:

Then I added the SOPI diamonds:

Then the outlines!

That's it for green!

Take care,
Maria