ACNC Day 13: Snow

Hey everyone

Day 13 is SNOW! I'm really excited for this one. I started off by painting my nails with OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls (Because I use it constantly, oh my goodness!). I used 2 coats to build up a strong base. Then I used Sinful Colors Cinderella in 3 coats to make a nice soft winter blue skyline. I took a makeup triangle sponge and did a soft gradient at the tip with MBSW. Using a dotter I made 2 snowmen on my thumb and one on my ring finger. I lastly used Art Deco in Black for the arms and Zoya's Reva for the scarf.

I took Essie's Matte About You and finished off the gradient on my index, middle, and pinky nails. I think these nails were very pretty and soft. Excellent for a quick winter mani on the go. 

ACNC Day 12: Family

Hey everyone

I'm actually posting on the correct day! I told you I'd get caught up eventually. I felt a little better so I decided to try drawing my day 12 challenge. I was originally going to do rings because it's my Dad and Step Mom's anniversary. But it's not the 5th day of Christmas so I decided not to. I decided to do nails supporting one of my favorite TV families. THE FLINTSTONES! I love the Flintstones, I used to watch them all the time when I was a kid. And I even liked the movies, strange I know. I wasn't sure what to do for the nails so I surfed the web and came across someone who did Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, and Dino. I knew that's exactly what I wanted to do. Most Flintstone nails are only of Fred and his shirt. I knew I  had to try to do everyone for it to be "Family Nails". So I recreated Lisa-Nails' design which is featured here.

I knew I was going to have a hard time lining the design so I took a page from Lisa's book and used a marker. She mentioned her smeared so I waited a while before lining mine. It sadly still smeared once I put a top coat on. So I only ended up putting it on Fred and Betty. So I probably should cut down a brush so I can use it as a liner for my cartoon designs. I didn't use a whole lot of polish for these. But I did use some.

Dino: Zoya in Charisma, Milani One Coat Glitter in Gold Glitz, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blue Away

Fred: Zoya in Paz, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blue Away

Wilma: OPI in My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Betty: OPI in My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blue Away

Barney: Orly in Buried Alive

They all have a base of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Beige Blast and either a marker as the outline or an Art Deco Long Brush in black.

I hope you guys enjoyed them and I hope I did Lisa-Nails justice!

ACNC Day 11: Presents

Hey everyone

I'm starting to get sick so Day 11 wasn't very awesome. Day 11 was presents. So I went ultra simple. I painted my nails using Finger Paints' Romanticism Ruby. Then I used an Art Deco Long Brush in White to make a cross over it for the ribbon. 

I'm not pleased with this one at all. But I've made it 11 days without stopping, so I don't want to stop now with just a little sickness. 

ACNC Day 10: Lights

Hey everyone

Day 10 was a fun nail night for me. I ended up using 2 different brushes and a ton of nail polish to completely this design. Day 10 was lights. Sounds simple right? Not quite. I thought I'd complicate it by drawing the Grinch as well. I haven't really done a lot of drawing simply because I'm a terrible drawer. When I was a kid I wanted to be an artist, I just didn't realize that you had to have an artistic ability. I guess I have fulfilled my childhood dream of being an artist though, just on teeny tiny canvases. :)

So I started out by drawing my grinch out on my nail, I had to redo it twice. So after that I decided to use PackAPunchPolish's Nail Art Doodle Sheets. If you haven't check them out please do so here. She created these sheets for drawing up to 55 nail designs a page on. My printer went haywire and blew them up so I had a bit of a hard time drawing on them, but to no fault of PackAPunchPolish. It was all my damn printer's fault. Anyway here's my drawing:

I don't know if you can tell but I totally drew it out with a pink pen first and then colored it in with nail polish. I'm not sure why I thought that would translate well, but in the end it worked. My nails are quite tiny so I ended up not making the hat, plus it looked a little lame. 

Here's the final product! I loved my nails, I thought they were adorable. Took me forever to do them, but it was totally worth it. 

Here's a lovely instagram photo of all of my supplies I used. 

1. Wet & Wild Megalast In Wet Cement
2. OPI in My Boyfriend Scales Walls (it's under)
3. Julep in Leah
4. Essence Colour & Go in Be Your Sunshine
5. Essense Colour & Go in Glamorous Life
6. Art Deco Long Brush in Black
7. Pure Ice in Silver Mercedes
8. Pure Ice in Hot Tamale
9. Essence Colour & Go in Trust in Fashion
10. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue Me Away
11. 2 Bundle Monster Nail Art Brushes
12. Bundle Monster Dotter
13. Chip Ahoy Cookie Lid
14. Paper Towels 
15. Onyx Profession 100% Pure Acetone (not pictured)
16. Q-Tip Precision Tip Q-Tips (not pictured) 

Wow! That was a lot for a manicure that I only wore for 1 day. Makes me sad thinking about it. But this won't be the last you see of the Grinch. I have plans to use him again in a mani coming up. Also feel free to follow me on Instagram @Tara825c. Be aware though, I post a lot of pictures of my son as well. He's too cute not to. :D

ACNC Day 9: Pine

Hey everyone

Day 9 was Pine. After completely my Starry Night I was in need of a easier manicure. I've done something similar to this before, but to be honest I was almost midnight when I posted this so I needed something fast and easy. 

I started off with 2 coats of Pure Ice's Silver Mercedes. I then did an open half moon mani with Zoya's Veruschka. Lastly I used Zoya's Reva and did little ornaments hiding in the pine. I very quick and easy mani using 3 polishes and a dotter for the ornaments. A nice beginner's mani.

ACNC Day 8: Starry Night

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Day 8 was Starry Night and it was easily the one I was most excited about doing. Way back when I attempted a Starry Night mani and once I realized how tough it was I only did it on my thumb and then quickly removed them because I didn't like it. Fast forward 2 years and I'd never attempted it again. I love the painting and new this would be the time to retry and earn my title back as a nail artist. Freelance of course but who's getting technical? 

I started off with a base of Orly's Sweet Peacock. Then used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri for the swirl. I accented the swirl using OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Orly's Mysterious Curse. I used Essence Be Your Sunshine for the stars. I did a tip with my Art Deco Brush and added a top coat. The other nails I used Blue Away and Milani's 3D Holographic in Cyberspace for give it that extra shine. I was so pleased with this manicure. Sadly it was my day off so I didn't get to show it off like I wanted. I do have plans to redo the design on nails for sale in my Etsy shop, so be on the look for those soon!

And just for fun here's 2 years ago's design. Hope you're as pleased with my progress as I am. 

ACNC Day 7: Ornaments

Hey everyone

I've gotta say I miss color coding all of the days. Now we get to the fun parts, actual nail art! Day 7 was Ornaments. I was inspired by a design I saw on Tumblr. I can't remember the exact design now, I should have bookmarked it so I could credit them. It was ornament balls but the balls were at the tips. I have little nubbins right now so I decided to turn them into half moon manis!

I started off with taping my nails with hole reenforcers. Then I did 2 coats of Julie G's Chic Cipro which I have featured here.Then I went back in and carefully filled in the nude area with different colors. The above picture shows Zoya's Trixie, I will be going back and doing a complete mani of this design, I adore it so much! 

On my thumb I used Zoya's America. On my index I used Zoya's Ibiza. On my middle I used China Glaze's Lemon Fizz. On my ring I used Zoya's Trixie, and on my pinky I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri's Jumpin Jade. I love how half moon and french manicures always make my little nubbins look longer. 

I then used a long brush from my Bundle Monster nail brush set (that you can purchase here. It comes in a fantastic carrying case and has dotters!) with OPI's MBSW and made the top of the ornament. Lastly using a black striper I made the tread. Slap on a top coat and you are done! I loved how these turned out and I got quite a few complements as well.