33 Day Challenge Day 07: Art With Your Oldest Untried

For those of you who don't hoard nail polish as though the apocalypses is nigh, an untried is a polish that has been acquired, but has yet to be worn. It sits prettily, collecting dust until it is lucky enough to be chosen from the endless stash. Before starting this blog, my collection was kept to a "reasonable" amount. In the last three months, well, let's just say it has "grown". So my oldest untrieds have only been waiting for that long. This mani actually features three of them!

I don't know how much this falls under the "art" category. This is another example of being so subtle, ..what was the point? But I liked the idea of this color combo, and I think it's gorgeous, so I'm not too concerned!
So here is a very subtle, shimmery, "waterfall" manicure a la The Nailasaurus.

I started with two coats of Sephora by OPI Metro Too Chic. I'm surprised it's taken me this long to use it because it is gorgeous! It's in the same family of another favorite of mine, OPI Wooden Shoe Like to Know (shown here). It has a brown base, but the rose shimmer gives it a soft purpley cast. I knew I would love it, I was just waiting for the right showcase I suppose.
With a long striping brush, I layered three different polishes on top of the base. I started from the cuticle, stopping about midway down the nail, but all at slightly different lengths.

This is so perfect for Autumn!

What I used:
Sephora by OPI Metro Too Chic- brown with rose micro shimmer
Sephora by OPI Wild About Shimmer- gold shimmer (the only one I've previously worn)
Sephora by OPI Is She For Reel?- gray with silver and gold shimmer
Sephora by OPI Nifty Shades of Grey- purple and green duochrome
Seche Vite top coat

I love how wearable this is! It's not crazy, flashy, in-your-face nail art. As much as I have quickly come to love the slightly crazy manicures, this is something I could wear everyday. What do you think? Too subtle, or the perfect amount?

33 Day Challenge Day 06: Texture

Thank goodness for challenges that force you to try things you've been avoiding. I've been wary of the textured polish trend, and just hadn't made the jump yet. I actually had to borrow a textured polish for today's prompt because I don't own any. Even with all the swatches available online, I've continued to sit on the fence. The photos haven't been enticing enough. The thing that has finally sparked my interest is the stamping manicures combined with textured polishes.

I've had the suspicion that the photos just don't do the textured polishes justice. I can't tell you it's true for all of them, but for this one it is! It really does look better in person. The photos don't show the sparkle that makes it so pretty. I've also been curious about how it would feel. I didn't have an issue with the feel of it on my nail. The thing I disliked was the way it scratched when I touched my face.

I applied two coats OPI Pussy Galore (I'm still amused they actually chose to use that name), and let it dry without top coat. Top coat takes away from textured appearance as I learned on my other hand. I used my DRK-A Large Stamping Plate and OPI Yes... I Can Can for the design on top. Yes...I Can Can is a typically a vampy plum/red shade, but on top of the light pink it really brightened up.

What I used:

OPI Liquid Sand Pussy Galore- light pink textured polish

OPI Yes... I Can Can!- plum/red

DRK-A Large Stamping Plate, purchased from Ninja Polish

I want to know your opinions on textured polish! Have you tried any? Do you like them? Have you been disinterested like I was?

Thanks for reading!

33 Day Challenge 05: Mexican

Hola! Como estas? That's as far as my Spanish goes, and it's probably wrong. Well, I know a little more, but it would be totally random and probably inappropriate. The prompt for the fifth day of the Challenge is "Mexican". So I came up with something fun and playful, a pinata with candy patterns!

I'm sure you noticed my nails are significantly shorter than in my last post. There was an incident with the nail on my index finger. It got somewhat mangled and I don't even know what happened. I frequently get injured and don't ever realize it until I notice a bruise or other sign of trauma. I guess I'm just tough like that.

I shaped my nails the best I could to work around that nail. The irritating part is that I have so many manicures that I am planning on doing and am excited about, but I don't think they'll look like I want them to while my nails are this length. So I'm going to just have to work with what I've got!

I started off with a different base color on each nail. Then I added the candy shapes. I made all of them with my Stripe Rite polishes which have tiny brush that you can make small detail with. I outlined them in white with another of those polishes. I made the pinata with my striping brush and the eye ball with a dotting tool.

What I used:
(base colors)
Sephora by OPI It's Totally Karma- green
Clinique Different Nail Enamel Pinkini- bubble gum pink
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue-Away- light blue
Sephora by OPI Paisley Attention to Me- orange
Sephora by OPI What Aura Gonna Wear?- bright medium pink

(candy colors)
It's So Easy Stripe Rite- medium bright blue (these polishes don't have names, these are descriptions)
It's So Easy Stripe Rite- bright pink
It's So Easy Stripe Rite- berry
It's So Easy Stripe Rite- white

(and a few other colors for the pinata)

What do you think? Muy bueno? I appreciate you all for visiting. Muchas Gracias!

33 Day Challenge Day 04: Tribal

I've got some catching up to do with this 33 Day Challenge. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll be all squared away.

I wanted to do something a little different again my second go (this was my first) around tribal print. So I did some searching on Pinterest for inspiration, and found this tutorial from Nailed It. I seriously love, love this! I've mentioned before how much I like red nails, and this is no exception. This is so simple yet bold, and lots of fun.

If you want to know how to do this, click the link I mentioned above. I follow the tutorial exactly step for step.

What I used:
OPI Red Hot Ayers Rock- red
Sephora by OPI What's a Tire Jack?- black
Sephora by OPI White Hot- white
Sephora by OPI Yellow My Name Is Betsey- yellow
Sephora by OPI Too Too Turq
Sephora by OPI Alley Cat

What do you think? Do you love this design as much as I do?

33 Challenge Day 03: Tape Mani

I LOVE each and every one of these polishes. This features some polishes that have been patiently waiting to be used again. I've been trying to find a way to incorporate them into the 31 Day Challenge that I've been participating in. They just haven't found an opportunity to shine yet, so now it's time. I also welcome another chance to do a tape mani because I love the way they look!

I loved the golden shimmer in my water marble mani, so I tried to somewhat imitate that effect here.

One of my very most favoritest polishes is my OPI Wooden Shoe Like Too Know. It has the prettiest pink and gold micro shimmer in it.

I started off with two coats of Barry M Lychee and topped it with Seche Vite, so it could dry extra fast. Then I layed down all my striping tape pieces on each nail. Over the stripes I used three different polishes to make the colors swirl together a bit. I tried to get all the colors on quickly so they didn't start to dry at all before I removed the tape. On my ring finger I placed the striping tape in a "v" and painted the polish below and above it.

Mmm, chocolate and gold goodness.

What I used:
Barry M Lychee- nude
OPI Wood Shoe Like to Know-deep taupe brown
Ulta Chocolate Kisses- warm red-purple brown
Sephora by OPI I Only Shop Vintage- shimmery toffee-gold
Zoya Maria Louisa- amber gold flake
Seche Vite top coat

striping tape

I love that it's Fall and I can really utilize these colors. Not that there's a rule against using them the rest of the year, but they just fit so well right now!

33 Day Challenge Day 02: Your Most Used Color Polish

It's a good thing that I didn't start today's mani until late in the day. I wasn't sure about the specifics of the prompt. Deb who is running the challenge on her blog The Crumpet, clarified what she had intended. She explained that she meant an actual polish color. I struggled trying to figure out what single polish I use the most. The most used ever? In the past five years? This year? I have noticed that in the last two plus months since I have started my blog, I've incorporated Sephora by OPI What's a Tire Jack? in a multitude of manicures. So I'm going with it.

Ever since I did my Red Matte and Glossy post I've been wanting to do this manicure. I love it! It's something I could wear practically any day. I especially love how easy it is. I just painted on a couple of coats of the polish and topped it with Seche Vite. The top coat helped it to dry faster and to give a glossy shine. Then I used my striping brush dipped in a matte top coat and brushed on the lines. That was it!

I love that it's subtle, but has a little edge to it.

What I used:
Sephora by OPI What's a Tire Jack?
Seche Vite top coat (shiny)
China Glaze Matte Magic top coat


I have a few different black polishes but this seems to be the one I reach for the most? Anyone have a favorite go-to black polish? What do you like about it?

33 Day Challenge Day 01: Dots

Am I crazy? I must be, because I am starting another challenge before the 31 Day Challenge is over! This is the 33 Day Challenge (that's right, two days longer!) being run by the Crumpet Nail Tarts. So in my insanity, I decided to join in the fun. Why is it longer than a month? Well, it is running Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for 11 weeks.

Inspired by my post from the Challenge's polka dot day, my lovely sister shared one of her own. She came up with a cute domino design, which inspired me to copy her for today's dot prompt. The circle of life!

I started off with two (or three? crap, I'm losing my mind) coats of white polish for my base color. For the black lines I used my large striping brush. Then I added all the dots with my dotting tool. I'm so glad today's prompt inspired something relatively easy. I honestly couldn't handle something more complicated right now. I am trying to complete three posts today!

Luckily it's not that easy to tell, but the top coat did transfer some of the dots' color. So around the dots the white is faintly saturated with their color.

What I used:
Sephora by OPI White Hot- base color
Sephora by OPI What's a Tire Jack?- black lines
OPI French Quarter For Your Thoughts- #12
Finger Paints Art Hue Serious?- #8
Wet and Wild Wild Shine Lady Luck- #3
Sephora by OPI Hi Def- #4
OPI Dating a Royal- #5
China Glaze For Audrey- #1
Seche Vite top coat

What do you think of the domino design? I'm so glad I have such great inspiration around me!

So here is to a crazy week while I finish up the first challenge, and continue with this one! Send good vibes my way, and please show me some love by coming back to see my new (or old!) posts! :)