#LLreinvention

I decided to join the Lacquer Legion's monthly challenge, and this month's theme was Reinvention. It took me a while to come up with an idea for this. After all, reinvention can be interpreted in many ways. After much thinking, I finally settled on this: Mermaid scale nails. So how exactly is this reinvention? Well, for 2014, I am reinventing myself as a mermaid. Okay, not actually possible, but still, it'd be cool if I could be a mermaid. I really love the beach and swimming. Unfortunately though, I have to come up for air quite often. And now for the nails.

I am warning you now. This post is filled with MANY photos. I've never really done a holo manicure, so photographing it turned into a fun challenge. Also, some of these photos were included only because the sun shining makes me think of summer. :p On my pinkie and pointer finger, I used two coats of Frostbite from China Glaze, then one coat of Deviantly Daring from China Glaze. On my middle finger and thumb I did a gradient of both colours, and my ring finger is painted with Frostbite. I topped all my nails off with Luxe and Lush from China Glaze, then drew on the scales with my calligraphy pen and India ink.

The next several photos were taken underwater to bring out the different colours in the polishes.

Of course I had to bring out some shells and coral for the mermaid scale nails.

These have to be my favourite photos, just because of the sun shining. They make me think of summer and being at the beach. 

I hope you guys enjoy! And hopefully, the summer sun will be here soon!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 31, Recreate Your Favourite

So, here it is; the final day of the challenge. And it only took me four months. :p I went for a half moon manicure, because they're just so pretty and simple.

I used China Glaze Ruby Pumps and then gold glitter to make the design.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 29, Supernatural

Here we are. Nearing the end of my never-ending "31" day nail art challenge. For day 29, I have my supernatural inspired manicure. It took me forever to come up with an idea. I didn't just want to paint ghosts or aliens and then it hit me. Egyptian mythology. If that's not supernatural, I don't know what is.

I started with a base of Black Satin from Rimmel and gold shatter from OPI. On my pointer finger, I painted the ankh, also known as the symbol of life, in black acrylic. The red "jewel" is Ruby Pumps from China Glaze and Wocka Wocka from OPI. On my ring finger is the Eye of Horus (the God of Upper Egypt), later known as the Eye of Ra (or Re, depending on what you like to call the Egyptian sun God). The eye is painted with black acrylic and the iris is Yoga-Ta Get this Blue from OPI and Frostbite from China Glaze.

Now, only two more days of my challenge left!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 27, Artwork and Mini Masterpieces

Art is my life. No, seriously. I LOVE art. I draw all the time (you should see my binders and any other blank paper I find!), and I paint my nails like crazy. I love painting, and working with clay. So, when I got to this challenge, I was super excited! And since the challenge was inspired by art, I had to paint one of the most iconic art pieces ever made: Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. Did you know that Van Gogh only sold one piece of art when he was alive, and it was to his brother?! Okay, okay! I'll get to the nail art. :p

The base colour is Frostbite from China Glaze. All of the detail work is many, many layers of acrylic.  And all this talk of famous art has given me an idea. Once, possibly twice a month, I'll recreate a famous piece of art on my nails, and call it the "Mini Masterpiece". So, this will be my first installment in that collection. Enjoy!

Feliz Día de los Muertos and 31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 26, Pattern

Hey guys! So, officially, Day of the Dead is tomorrow, however the festivities kick off on Halloween.The basic idea of Día de los Muertos is to honour dead ancestors. It's similar to Halloween, except it's more of a happy celebration, rather than about scaring people. Sugar skulls are popular art connected to the Day of the Dead. They aren't your typical creepy looking skull, but rather elaborately decorated skulls which look quite beautiful. Anyways, enough background; here are the nails. 

Here's my right hand thumb.

And my left hand thumb.

My right hand.

 

And my left hand with the two horribly short (for me) nails. :p

I figure that the skulls are sort of a pattern, so therefore, they are my 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, Day 26 design. The black background is Black Satin by Rimmel and the skulls are the Migi nail art white pen. The detail is acrylic. 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 25, Fashion

It took me a while to come up with my fashion inspiration. Don't get me wrong, I love fashion. Shopping and clothes are awesome, but I don't really follow major designers (e.g. Gucci, Prada, etc). But then, I happened to be reading a Daily Nail  post (awhile ago) and she was talking about the new Kate Spade bag collection. So, I went over to Kate Spade's site, and checked out the bags. Ohmygod. Can I just say I'm in LOVE with her bags! They are gorgeous. Check out her new Knock on Wood collection (there's this adorable clutch that looks like an old Woody car!). Anyways, enough blabbering, time to get to the nails!

The ring finger was based on this Bon Shopper bag. The base was Black Satin from Rimmel and the writing (Joie de Vivre), as well as the heart, were acrylic. The other nails were inspired by this bag.The base was Black Satin , with White On from Sally Hansen for the dots. On the middle finger, I also painted Kate Spade's logo, which was with Designer De Better from OPI.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 24, Book

It took me forever to figure out what book I wanted to use as my inspiration for this design. And then in hit me. When I was a little kid, I LOVED the Little Critter books written by Mercer Mayer.

On my pinkie is the little spider that always happens to pop up in the books. The base is White On from Sally Hansen and the spider is acrylic. My ring finger is Little Critter (who I think is a guinea pig) and the base is Dreamer from Revlon. I sponged a bit of white over Dreamer, then painted Little Critter with acrylic. Finally, on my middle finger is Little Critter's puppy. Once again, it's a base of White on with acrylic details. As for where my pointer finger is, it's a mix of being lazy, having lots of homework, and the fact that it has a bad tear in need of repair. So, in my next manicure, my pointer finger will make an appearance. :p 

Anyways, I hope you guys like this!

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 23, Movie

It took me a while to choose from the many movies I love for my inspired by a movie manicure. Finally, I settled on Harry Potter. I've painted Harry Potter nails before, which was for the release of the final movie (shown below). The thumb was inspired by the poster of Harry and Voldemort with the Elder Wand between them. Then I had a random design on the pinkie, the Dumbledore's Army logo, the Deathly Hallows and the Harry Potter logo, splattered with blood.

Anyways, let's get to my new Harry Potter manicure.

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My thumb is the Harry Potter logo, with a base of Black Satin from Rimmel. The logo is painted with acrylics. My pointer finger is the Golden Snitch, painted with acrylics on a base of Black Satin. My middle finger is the Dark Mark, painted in acrylics with a base of Black Satin. My ring finger is the Undesirable No. 1 poster. The white is White On from Sally Hansen and the black is acrylic and a black striper. My pinkie is the Deathly Hallows, with a base of Black Satin. The white is acrylic.

I also happen to have a really random Harry Potter tutorial from a design on my right hand.

If you have ever felt like being a one eyed-evil wizard-hunting-auror, then this tutorial is for you.

Here we go. A Mad-Eye Moody "eye" tutorial. This can be painted directly onto the nail or on a plastic bag.

1. Paint a clear coat onto a plastic bag. *If painting directly onto the nail, simply apply your base colour.  When the base is dry, use a large dotting tool and make a white circle. 

2. Paint on the brown leather straps.

3. Next, rim the white circle with gold.

4. Once the white and gold are dry, make a blue circle in the eye. This will be the iris.

5. Add some light blue for detail to the eye, then add a slightly lopsided black pupil.

6. Add white highlights to the eye.

7. Add some shading to the bottom of the eye to give a more three-dimensional look.

8. Finally, add details, such as the silver and black screws holding the eye together.

I hope you guys enjoy! 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 22, Song[s]

My day 22 manicure is one I love. Not only was it inspired by my favourite band, it also happened to be my birthday (yesterday). But enough of that. Let's get to the pictures, and the polish.

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Although the challenge was inspired by a song, I chose to use several songs. All of which are by the Beatles. 

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On my pointer finger, I painted a strawberry. This nail is inspired by Strawberry Field's Forever. And for any of you who know the movie Across the Universe, the strawberry is inspired by Jude's artwork. The base is White On from Sally Hansen and the strawberry is acrylic. My middle finger is inspired by Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite. It's a poster advertising the Pablo Fanque's Circus (mentioned in the song) with the circus tent curtain over top. The base is White On, that was sponged with brown acrylic. The writing and curtain are acrylic. My ring finger is inspired by Across the Universe. The Beatles was written on a galaxy... in the universe. :p The base is Black Satin from Rimmel, followed my sponging of White On, Grey-t To Be Here from Essence, and Midnight Plum from Avon. The stars and The Beatles are acrylic. Finally, my pinkie is inspired by Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's one of the Beatle's outfits from the album cover. The base is Papaya from JOE and the details are acrylic. 

Here's the random bonus design I painted on my thumb. Not really sure what it is.... I guess it can demonstrate the whimsical aspect of a lot of Beatles's songs. It could also be my Happy Birthday nail! :p The base is White On and the details are acrylic.

And this is my favourite nail. I love how well the strawberry turned out.  If you guys would like a tutorial of the strawberry, let me know! Below is a photo of what it was inspired by.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 21, Colour

My day 21 manicure is my attempt to hold onto summer. :) It's a lovely ocean inspired manicure complete with whimsical sea turtles.

I created a faded gradient with Love Nails from Sinful Colors and a bit of Yoga-Ta Get This Blue from OPI. The turtles are acrylic and the french is Love Nails. This manicure absolutely reminds me of my Starfish On the Beach manicure. But I'm not sure which I like better. Which manicure do you guys prefer?

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 20, Water Marbling

I'm not a huge fan of water marbling for nails. Don't get me wrong, I think it's gorgeous when it's done. I just hate the amount of time it takes to do, as well as the mess it makes. So that's the reason I only marbled one nail. I do hope to someday be as good Colette from My Simple Little Pleasures, though. If you haven't seen her water marbling, check it out. It's absolutely amazing. Anyways, here's the day 20 design.

The marbled finger is one coat of Grey-t to be Here from Essence and the marbling is done with Grey-t to be Here and Midnight Plum from Avon. The other fingernails are painted with Grey-t to be Here.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 18, Half Moon

Today's manicure was inspired by a manicure I recently saw on The Daily Nail. I liked the idea of records, but I changed them to be a half moon manicure instead. On the pinkie, I have Gypsy Queen from Misa and Black Satin from Rimmel for the Beatles' Red Album. My ring finger, which is the Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd Album is Stormy from Revlon Top Speed, with Black Satin again. My middle finger is CSNY's So Far album, and the base is Limestone from Sally Hansen with Black Satin. Finally, my pointer finger is the Eagle's Greatest Hits album. The base is Ogre-the-Top Blue from OPI, and Black Satin. All the details are done with acrylics. All my nails are topped with Matte About You from Essie, and the shiny rings on the records are China Glaze's Strong Adhesion Base Coat.

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 17, Glitter

Today is glitter nails. I went for a simple glitter look with two coats of Excuse Moi! from OPI's Muppets collection and two coats of an unknown Sally Girl polish.

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 16, Tribal Print

Today's manicure was super simple and fun to do!The base colour is Stormy from Revlon Top Speed, which is a gorgeous grey creme with a brown undertone. The white is acrylic and the black detailing is down with a black striper.

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 15, Delicate Print

No matter where I looked, I couldn't find a rule that stated I had to show multiple fingers in a photo for each design in the nail challenge, so I only painted my thumb for today. Part of that is due to the fact that I didn't want to take of my current design, and part of it is the fact that I'm very low on polish remover. The base colour of this manicure is a colour I fell in love with the moment I laid eyes on it: Via Airmail from Essence's special edition Ready for Boarding collection. The detail is done in white acrylic.

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 14

For the day 14 manicure, I went for my second attempt at one stroke flowers. The base colour is Sweet as Candy from Essence. Then I used different coloured acrylics for the flowers along with my angle brush (shown below). It's definitely an awesome and easy (once you get the hang of it) technique and the designs you can make with one stroke are beautiful!

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 13, Animal Print

I'm finally back into my nail art challenge, and here's day 13. I chose to go with something bright as one of my final summer manicures. The dark pink (Hot Magenta, Sally Hansen) was sponged on my pinkie, middle and index fingers and painted onto my thumbs and ring fingers. I then used my dotting tool to start the leopard prints with Pink Lingerie from Revlon Top Speed. Finally, I used black acrylic to finish the print.

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 12, Stripes

Okay, so I sort of lied about the semi-boring manicures. My day 12 one is kind of boring. Oh well. :)

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I started with a base of Fig from JOE Fresh, then made the pin striping using tape with Stormy from Revlon Top Speed. I top coated it then added Essie's Matte About You. 

31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 9, Rainbow

For day 9, I painted a RadiD inspired manicure. The colours used are Lime Up from Essence, neon orange from Migi, Blazed from Wet 'N' Wild, hot pink from Migi and Blue Away from Sally Hansen. The black and white are acrylics.

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31 Day Nail Art Challenge --- Day 8, Metallic

I'm going easy on most of the challenges in the first section, since they're all mainly inspired by a colour. I'm way more excited for the next two parts of the nail art challenge, since it gets into more detailed manicures. Anyways, for my day 8 manicure, I once again kept it simple with three coats of Pumping Iron from Sally Hansen and an accent nail with gold shatter from OPI.