Inspiration: Magical Butterfly on page 58 of the March/April 2015 issue of Nail It!Products: Julie G Damsel, Art Club Nail Art Duo Black, Color Club Heirloom Pearls, Aquamarine Azulino, Breakfast At...
Thoughts: Totally cute butterfly, although the Aquamarine Azulino dominated the wings. No way I could have painted this on my fingers, so since I did my toes, I used the brightest color for the other toes.
Inspiration: March 2015 Rainbow Honey Mini Mystery Bag Products: Rainbow Honey Crystal Sword, Lemon Honey, Kozmic Blue
Thoughts: When I saw the colors in the March Rainbow Honey Mystery Bag, I knew I had to save them until Easter. Crystal Sword is the perfect spring shade with its pinkness and butterflies. The March 15 Rainbow Honey mystery bag also included a perfume rollerball in Petit Four, solid perfume stick in Rose Macaron, and scented top coat in Tea Biscuit.
Inspiration: Stay on Target on page 73 of the November/December 2014 issue of Nail It! and
December Rainbow Honey Mini Mystery BagProducts: China Glaze Silver Platinum, Rainbow Honey Woland, Art Club Nail Art Duo White and Black
Thoughts: This tutorial looked fun, and when I received my December Rainbow Honey Mini Mystery Bag, I knew I would have to incorporate Woland into it. To do so, I went with a silver background instead of black. The deep purple of Woland looks amazing over the silver, but appears more black in the pictures.
Inspiration: Solar Attraction on page 73 of the November/December 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Julep Stefani and Bunny, Art Club Nail Art Duo White
Thoughts: The tutorial showed how to do a white-on-white sun, but as I cannot even draw a circle with my right hand, there was no way I could with my left, so I went with a simple star for the holiday season. Out of all the whites and greys I have, I went with these two because they both have gold microflecks, although they are more noticable in Stefani than Bunny.
Inspiration: Black on Black on page 77 of the September/October 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Ruffian Ruffian Cire Noir and Ruffian Matte, Art Club Nail Art Duo Black
Thoughts: Beyond easy nail art, especially with the Art Club Nail Art Duo pen tip. What is really nice about this is that the dots don't have to be perfect because it is black on black.
Inspiration: Brush Off on page 75 of the September/October 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Color Club French Tip, Macaroon Swoon, Je T'aime, La Petite Mint-sieur, and Holy Chic!
Thoughts: I am not the best dry-brusher (set-painting-wise) unless I have the perfect beat-up, paint-glued brush, so I was not sure how this would turn out. I didn't get the really cool brush strokes, but instead an equally amazing watercolor feel.
Inspiration: Ombre Dots on page 75 of the September/October 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Color Club Insta-This and French Tip, Essie Bobbing for Baubles, Rainbow Honey 488nm
Thoughts: The tutorial said to use a bobby pin, but I had a dotting tool, so I just went with that. I must have done well with my dots because my husband asked if it was "one of those stick on thingies" and was surprised when I said I had done them myself. I did forget that 488nm looks different on my nails than it does in the bottle and on my swatch wheel, so it was more teal than I wanted; I probably could have used Julep Annie for a truer light blue, but I do like 488nm better.
Inspiration: On a Thread on page 76 of the September/October 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: CoverGirl Glowing Nights Glosstini After Dark, 100% Pure Velouria
Thoughts: This was pretty fun, but it is very interesting how my left hand (bottom) looks like modern art (like it is supposed to), and my right (top) looks like I actually tried to place the lines.
Inspiration: ColorProducts: Ruffian Ruffian Red, Orly Masked Ceremony, Art Club Nail Art Duo White
Thoughts: I was trying to emulate a dress that I have, but my left had slipped while striping my right (I always start my nail art using my non-dominant hand for this very reason), so I had to modify and it came up with a sort of art deco look that I liked.
Inspiration: Seeing Spots on page 77 of the September/October 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Ruffian Fox Hunt, Spellbound Belladonna, Art Club Nail Art Duo Black
Thoughts: This tutorial made leopard spots looks super easy, but they aren't that easy. Even though they are supposed to be imperfect, you still need a steady hand. These did not turn out bad, but I'm definitely not winning any awards here.
Inspiration: Cool Camo on page 76 of the September/October 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Color Club Breakfast At..., London Calling, and Wild Cactus, Ruffian Ruffian Cire Noir
Thoughts: This was fun and easy, although I think it looks a little more like modern art than camo. Slight tangent, here - why is this love green shade called Breakfast At...? It is definitely green, not blue!
Inspiration: Nail It! Nailtini Nail Art Contest #2Products: Color Club La Petite Mint-seur, Rainbow Honey Tessellate, and Art Club Nail Art Duo Black
Thoughts: To celebrate their partnership with Nailtini this month, Nail It! Magazine is running three Instagram contests based on the mood boards for each of their three polishes. This last contest is based on fiery beetles and iridescent fashion. I decided to do a beetle as an accent nail.
Inspiration: Libertine: Digging for Diamonds on page 32 of the July/August 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Julep Tin Man, mystery color, Camille, and Max
Thoughts: I love the sparkle of these nails (I mean, I did use four glitters after all)! I didn't do the last step of applying craft glitter diamonds because I thought that would be just a tad too much. The black and gold glitter does not have a name, but it came in the Julep New Years Eve 2012 mystery box.
Inspiration: Nail It! Nailtini Nail Art Contest #2
Products: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Rosy Outlook, Julep Monaco, and foil in Gold
Thoughts: To celebrate their partnership with Nailtini this month, Nail It! Magazine is running three Instagram contests based on the mood boards for each of their three polishes. The second contest focuses on Blue Magic and is all about Moroccan architecture and the artwork of Lauren Clay. One of the artwork pics features a pink triangle, so I combined that with the gold and blue arches found in Moroccan architecture.
Inspiration: August 2014 Julep Maven (clicking will take you through my referral link)Products: Julep Avni and KatieThoughts: Normally I choose Modern Beauty, but as the second product for the Modern Beauty box this month was the Sweep Eyeshadow Palette in Neutral, which everyone received towards the end of last year, I switched for the first time ever. I love Chromes and Metallics, so I was totally in love with this month's Wanderlust collection. I chose Classic with a Twist so I could get these two gorgeous purpley colors and chose Plum for my Gel Eye Glider. Avni is beautiful, but was a pain to apply. It was really thick but would run off the brush. Katie applied was closer to their normal formula. I chose the design that was close to what Julep showed when the announced the colors.
Inspiration: Nail It! Nailtini Nail Art Contest #1Products: Color Club Aquamarine Azulino, Indie Polish Joni, and Rainbow Honey Waves
Thoughts: To celebrate their partnership with Nailtini this month, Nail It! Magazine is running three Instagram contests based on the mood boards for each of their three polishes. The first contest focuses on Ritz Fizz and is all about glaciers and iridescent clothing. I tried to combine these two elements an came up with a spiky gradient that reminds me of Frozen.
Inspiration: Maria's Chevron Mani on page 46 of the July/August 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Color Club Status Update, Art Club Nail Art Duo Black, Orly Masked Ceremony
Thoughts: I love grey manis! This one is so simple yet elegant. My chevrons aren't perfect, but they still turned out great.
Inspiration: Betsey Johnson: Ri-Yonce on page 32 of the July/August 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Square Hue Ala Moana, Sprout Purple Reign, foil in Cracked Gold
Thoughts: This is only loosely based on the tutorial in the current issue of Nail It! magazine. Instead of using gold leaf, I opted for foil, which is easier to place. I also left off the gold dots. I really love how the gold stands out from the blue in a very summery way. Only my thumbs were long enough to paint the undersides, and I have a feeling the underside polish is going to bug me.
Inspiration: Emerson: Negative Space Knit on page 32 of the July/August 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Ruffian Ruffian Cire Noir, China Glaze Hook and Line, Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat
Thoughts: I have never tried a negative space mani before, but this was really simple and the painter's tape worked excellently! I love the look of the soft grey sponged over the black.
Inspiration: ColorProducts: Essie Bobbing for Baubles, Square Hue Wailea, Finger Paints Art Nouv-Yellow, Deborah Lippmann Defying Gravity, Julep OliviaThoughts: These muted hues made for a rather fun summer look - a good alternative to bright neons. I do have to say, though, that I am very disappointed with this Square Hue polish (the tan). This was my second time using it after getting it last month, and the polish in the bottle is forming an wonderful gradient as the dye all sinks to the bottom and it won't mix no matter how much I roll it.
