31DC2013, Day 15: Delicate Print

Watch out for mani-snails - I've reached the middle of the September's 31 Day challenge ;). I wanted to do the nude-and-black mani for ages, so idea for this style was born long time ago. Couple of weeks ago I also won a Bundle Monster giveaway from Kelsie's blog (follow Kelsie's Nailfiles for more inspiration, it's worth it!). So finally I was prepared to experiment with black lacy patterns:

It's not perfect, but I love it!!! I like the combo, but I'm not sure if the mani would have looked even better with my index finger un-stamped.  Hmmm, a small golden stud instead of the print... Tough question :)

Base color: fantastic nude by Deborah Lippmann called Naked
Stamping: patterns from Bundle Monster 2012 set (BM-310 and BM-312) stamped with my trusty Camelot (perfect black by A-England).
Studs: golden studs bought on ebay on my thumbs and pinkies Read More......

31DC2013, Day 14: Flowers

I'm back from my holiday. My hubby and I spent three and a half weeks backpacking in Ecuador, but we could have stayed longer - sun, fruits, fish, salsa dancing... The darndest thing about holidays is that they are over so quickly and you have to work again to be able to enjoy such a fleeting, but absolutely marvelous time again ;). So we're back in Hamburg, already working hard for our next holiday... (Damn, why don't I have a rich grandpa somewhere... ;) )

The autumn is almost over and I'm still in the middle of the September challenge. Who cares, I'm going in my own paste! :) The next topic is flowers. I had an idea of free-handed violets done in acrylic paint, but a) I'm still really bad at free-handing and b) I'm not really a flowery type. So I decided to stick to my favorite mix-n-match mani style - skittlette.

Base color: two coats of my favorite lilac Barry M Prickly Pear and just one coat of A-England Elaine on my ring finger
Roses: water decals from Born Pretty Store
Texture: on my poor broken pinkie nail - textured polish from p2 Sand Style - 080 lovely

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31DC2013, Day 13: Animal Print

October is almost at its end and I haven't even reached the middle of the 31 Day Challenge. At this pace I'll be probably creating manis for this challenge in January :D

I have a fantastic spring-green silk scarf with zebras on it. It's such a fun accessory, I really love it. So the idea for the animal print nails was there even before I really started to think about it. I'm not totally into the resulting style, but it was a good mani training:

The colors, the pattern -  it was too much for me, so I added the matte finish to make the look more calm:

Base color: Essie's Shake Your $$ Makers
Gradient: black China Glaze Liquid Leather
Stamping: Zebra print from Konad plate m57 stamped with A-England Camelot
Matte Top Coat: Cult Nails Wax That

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31DC2013: Day 12, Stripes

Admitted, my next mani for the 31 day challenge doesn't have many stripes, but I really like it. The original design comes from this blog post by Young Wild And Polished (thank you!). I loved this elegant look and recreated it with matching China Glaze colors:

Base Color: CG Dress Me Up and CG Foie Gras, stripes done with striping tape.
Studs: my thumbs are pimped with golden 3mm studs bought on ebay.





I tried another design on my thumbs. The color combination and the simplicity of this style is just to my taste. This look was a huge favorite with my friends, so I will definitely re-create this style as a full mani some day to get more compliments ;)

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31DC2013: Day 11, Polka Dots

I'm still determined to go through the September's nail art challenge. Unfortunately I can just do 2 or 3 manis a week - so I'm proceeding at snail's paste ;)
I only remembered the "dots" as the next topic, so I've made a dotticure, but not one with polka dots... So what, I decided - dots are dots! ;)

Base color: 2 coats of Essie's Midnight Cami
Dots: A-England Holy Grail
Glitter: Northern Lights Top Coat

The Northern Light top coat has some beautiful holographic glitters. But it is not so dense to overpower the design you've made. It just adds some sparkle to your mani. Love it!

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31DC2013: Day 10, Gradient Nails

I wanted to try some unusual color combination for the gradient day of the challenge, so I went for rust color + dark green gradient. I like this autumn mani. Would a lighter version of the same green have been better? Probably... But I like it anyway :)

Gradient: Sponged Essence Deep Sea, Baby(dark green) and Barielle Rusty Vintage Boots (rust colored) over 2 coats of Barielle polish
Stripes: stamped stripes pattern from an OB-Nail XXL E stamping plate bought on ebay, with the same Essence green polish (yeehaa, another regular polish, which is great for stamping!) Read More......

Girls Night out: Dirty Deeds by Darling Diva

Friday night was our Girls Night Out.  Four girls, Cosmopolitans and dancing! As a preparation I decided to take a temporary leave from the challenge and do something edgy. So I happily removed the rainbow and went for black. Rock'n'Roll!!!
I have this magnificent glitter indie polish by Darling Diva, which was PERFECT for clubbing:

It's a black based jelly polish packed with violet glitters in different forms and sizes.

I used one coat of black polish as a base (Cult Nails Fetish) and added two easy coats of the Dirty Deeds. So cool!


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