New 31DC: Inspired by a Game

This is a challenge that has SO many possibilities!  I may just make a little challenge for myself later on with "game" manis...
I wasn't quite ready to say farewell to Annalicious, so that helped me narrow down my choices.  Today I went with a video game (here comes my no-so-inner nerd):

*1 coat Yello-Out
*2 coats Cult Nails Annalicious
*Sinful Colors Snow Me White
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*1 coat Out The Door

I'm actually really pleased with how these little Pokeballs turned out!  I made Annalicious my base because Snow Me White is really opaque.  After painting the nails red I freehanded the bottom half white because I didn't need a perfectly crisp line.  I used a small paint brush and Black Out to draw on the stripe.  Then, with the largest dotting tool I have, I added a black and white dot in the center.  Pretty easy!

I wish I were less embarrassed of my love of these little digital guys so I could wear these longer.  They really did turn out much better than I imagined them, which is not typically the case when I try out some nail art.  Alas, I need to at least pretend I'm a grown up!  Do you still have some secret kid loves?  Things you'll just never outgrow?

New 31DC: Inspired by Nature

Tonight I really just wanted to go to sleep.  At, like, 8 pm.  I had big plans for some pretty nature nails.  Then, I thought about going simpler.  I thought about another galaxy nail, which I loved the first time.  Then I tried to think of something even simpler.  Awful, I know.  Well, so are the results.  Sort of--they're not horrible, but I second-guessed myself, which was the biggest mistake.

 

*1 coat Yello-Out
*2 coats Cult Nails Annalicious
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*1 coat Out The Door

This is the first time I've done ladybug nails since high school--maybe junior high!  I had my tape ready to put their little heads as a black tip, like a French, but then decided I'd use hole reinforcements and do a half-moon-ish look.  Not good.  I wish I had gone with a French type tip instead because these don't really have the "head" look I wanted. 
I really just couldn't get over the idea of using Annalicious, which is a gorgeous, shimmery, bright red, so I had to do ladybugs!  It was so hard to paint over that beautiful base! 
I used my trusty Black Out to paint on all the details, which is striking as a cream against the shimmer.  I used a new art brush from a Bundle Monster kit my mom got me for Christmas.  It was a little rough with the striper brush at first, which is why you aren't really seeing my ring finger in this one...so it goes.  While it is messier than I had hoped, using my new brush makes me excited to play around with the others in the kit. 
So, I'm not wild (no pun intended) about how these little buggies came out, but you can certainly bet that you'll be seeing some Annalicious and Black Out returning next month for a Valentine's Day look!

"I am one with the Yuletide"

"Know what I mean?"
Ernest Saves Christmas truly is one of the greats.  Watch it.  You will NOT be disappointed!
It was so sad to see my little snowmen go!  I got a lot of compliments from them, including my little cousin, and loved how they turned out.  BUT, then I made a list of the Christmas manicures I wanted to try, and realized that I'll need to change almost every day to squeeze them all in, so I had to say goodbye.  It was sad, but then I fell a little in love with this simple combo, so I might be over it.  Plus, you can rock snowmen again in January, right?  Right.
I initially wanted to do these nails(the pin doesn't lead to anything, but when I searched the watermark I found Linda165 on Youtube with a ton of tutorials!) for Thanksgiving, but I was really busy and didn't have quite the perfect colors, so it didn't happen.  Enter Christmas!

 

I have a tendency to use the same colors again and again, which means that I have a lot of pretties that go untried.  Meet Cult Nails' Annalicious!  I was about to use Danke-Shiny again, which is amazing, but saw this in my drawer and decided to give her a try.  This is a vibrant, bright red and gives a whole new look to this mani.  It's an orange/tomato red with tons of gorgeous red shimmer packed in.  The polished looked really thin with the first coat, but a second was all it needed.  I'm so glad I went with this bright, cheery red!

 

 

For my gold, I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I.  This is a really pretty, shimmery foil gold with decent coverage.  I added a coat of Finger Paints Elves Bells over the top.  This pretty golden glitter is quite dense.  It has micro gold glitter and scattered, larger holo hex pieces.  It blends perfectly over Golden-I and adds just a little extra special.

I used some coupons and promos today and went on a little spree at Ulta and Sally's. This Finger Paints was the only one from Sally's, but I ended up with 4 free polishes from Ulta and a $5 off $10 coupon, ending up at less than half my original total. Score! One of my freebies was OPI Skip the Gift Wrap, a shimmery dark green with a foil finish.  I used 2 coats as the base for my pinkie and then added 1 coat of China Glaze Winter Holly, another Ulta find.  This green glitter is really dense, packed with micro dark green and gold glitter that flashes holo.  It's really pretty--don't take my pictures' word for it1

 

Because my nails are kind of stained (I'm sure you wouldn't understand that) I needed a nude base, so I used 3 coats of Julep Jennifer.  Then, with Annalicious, Skip the Gift Wrap and Golden-I, I dotted around the nail.  I used a thick coat of Seche Vite to seal it all up (I don't really have a choice there--my bottle's only about half full and now is SUPER gloopy.  Any recommendations?  Will thinner ruin the fast dry?).

I had a revelation tonight as I looked at these.  I am not very good at nail art.  I rush to take pictures and don't clean up well.  I neglect my cuticles (but I'm trying there!).  I am not perfect and envy the skills of almost every blogger I come across.  That being said, I'm not going to apologize or put down my work anymore.  I really like how this looks!  I loved my little snowmen!  I could critique their noses or cringe at the odd placement of dots here, but the reality is that I look down at my hands and it makes me happy.  This isn't a response to anyone but myself.  I could go on about how dots are all I can do and I wish I could successfully stamp, but I really want to stop that doubting, criticizing part of me and be a little gentler with myself.  I figure saying it publicly will hold me to it.  I love how sparkly and festive these are!  What are you loving about your nails?  How are you being good to you today?