31 Day Challenge: Day 31

Welcome back!

Today's theme: honor nails you love!

It's the final challenge! I actually completed the challenge just one day late, but I haven't had much time to post, so this post is later. I'm proud of myself for getting this done this year, even if I was scrambled and late in the end. I finished, which is much better than I did last year!

I had trouble coming up with something to do. I wanted to do something quick and easy, and not one that would require waiting for different portions to dry, or to get different details on. I decided finally to honor @nailstorming from Instagram. She has done so many different minion nails, and they are all so cute and amazing! I went with the basic minions, but she has done some pretty clever ones for different months and holidays throughout the year. You can find her on Instagram, and on her blog here.

For the base color, I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sizzlin' Saffron. The overalls were done with Salon Perfect Nail Art in Blue Skies. The grey for the minions goggles was Zoya Carey, the white was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri OMGhost, and the black details was Salon Perfect Nail Art in Black Ink.

I'm happy with the way these turned out! I definitely think that there is room for improvement, but they are much better than the first time I tried a minion which was two years ago, and I only did it on one nail...so much progress!

Most of my posts can be found on Pinterest, and I also post the pictures an announcements of blog posts on my Instagram (@glitternails89).

Thanks for reading <3



*I am not sponsored in any way. All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are truthful and my own.

31 Day Challenge: Day 30

Welcome back!

Today's theme: inspired by a tutorial!

I was inspired by the sugar spun nails tutorial. I have seen several of these before, but I have no idea who the original creator was. Please comment if anyone knows!

For this design, I used four polishes for the spun sugar part. All four colors were from the Wet n Wild summer collection. They are the Wild Shine line, so they only cost $0.99 each! On top of that, they are great polishes in general. From index to pinky finger, they are Ferris-Wheel Romance, Chambray Showers, Spitfire, and Gyp-Sea Green. The thumb used all four.

The basic technique is to apply a base color first. Then, you want to place drops of polish somewhere, and let it start drying. Once it gets sticky and stringy, you take a toothpick, dotting tool or anything like that, and drag strings on to the nail. The idea is simple, you just have to get the hang of it!

The base for this design was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri White Pick It Fence. I love this polish, but it turns out that I didn't need the base color to be that fast drying! This was tricky to figure out, but it got easier. I learned that you definitely need to put a lot of polish down. You also need to let it dry for a long time before doing it. It needs time to get goopy, and mine took a while to do that.

I loved these nails. This was an amazing affect. I did not want to take it off! I really want to try it again but with some different colors. I think there could be some really cool designs using this technique.

It definitely looked cooler without top coat, but I wanted to make sure it was dry, and so I put on the top coat. Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot without top coat. It didn't mess with the design much, thankfully, because the polish was pretty much completely dry.

Thanks for reading <3



*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and truthful. I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 29

Welcome back!

Today's theme: inspired by the supernatural!

I was honestly dreading this day. I didn't complete the challenge last year, and this day was part of the reason why. I had no idea what to do. I hate spooky/creepy things, so this day is horrible for me. I realized after doing it and exploring other peoples more, that there are some good ideas out there. Something to keep in mind for next year! :)

I did small, cute ghosts, which is also perfect for Halloween which is coming up! For this nail art, it was super simple. I used Hot Designs, which are the brush and pen combo! I've seen these in my local Walmart, CVS, and Target. I think you can also get them online.

It was short and sweet for this one! Simple is good sometimes, though!

Thanks for reading <3



*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and truthful. I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 28

Welcome back!

Today's theme: inspired by a flag!

Today, I was inspired by more than a flag. I was replicating a design done by Chalkboard Nails. I love it! Here is the link to her original art. It is inspired by the American Flag. Hers was done using textured polishes, but I just used regular polishes for mine.

All of the polishes I used were Wet n Wild Megalast polishes. The base was LAC - My Mani? This is from their newest fall collection. The blue was Coast to Coast, which was from the summer "All Access Pass" collection, and the red was Heatwave.

I followed what she did, so definitely check out her page. Basically, I painted the white, let it dry and top coated it. Then placed the striping tape on my nails, and sponged on the blue and red together! It was super easy! I thought it was cute, too. Very patriotic, but the colors made it look "fall ready" patriotic. If that makes sense.

Thanks for reading <3


*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and truthful. I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 27

Welcome back!

Today's theme: Inspired by artwork!

I was inspired the painting "Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gough. Most people have seen this painting before, so it's pretty recognizable. Here is a picture for reference and those that don't know it.

I even did the same painting last year! It was no where near this good, and I still think I could have done better! I am pretty proud of these, though!

There were a lot of polishes used for this. The base color was Wet n Wild Wild Shine Here Comes Trouble. The sky was done using the dry brush method with nail striper polishes. I'm not sure who came up with this method originally, or even who to credit for it. The colors I used were scattered and layered to create the effect of the sky in the painting. I used Salon Perfect Nail Art Blue Skies, Kiss Nail Art Pearl Blue, Kiss Soft Blue,  and Milani Nail Art Blue Print. The white streaks and star/moon halos were Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Striper White, and the stars and moon were done with Yellow.

The final touch, and my favorite part, was the castle. I used Salon Perfect Nail Art Black Ink for it. This striper worked perfectly for it. It looked good against the background color I chose, and it looks fairly accurate! I loved this nail! This polish dried to a matte finish, and is what inspired me to top the whole thing with a matte top coat.

Overall, I am very proud of these nails, and I loved them! I honestly had to talk myself into taking them off to continue with the challenge. It was a tough one to do!

I also included a couple of glossy shots, just for fun. :)

Thanks for reading <3



*I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 26

Welcome back!

Today's theme: Inspired by a pattern!

I was inspired by chevron today! I have been absolutely loving it lately, and I just had to put it on my nails. I was digging through my unused/untried polishes, and found that I still had five polishes from the Wet n Wild Megalast "All Access Pass" collection! I decided that I wanted these to be my base colors, using a different color on each nail. I decided that with that wide of a variety, I would use the white to bring it all together.

From thumb to pink, the colors are A Venice Day, Love Me Some Muscles, Coast to Coast (my favorite), Trippin' on the Boardwalk, and Beat of a Generation. I used OPI Alpine Snow as my white polish. The chevrons were done using some vinyls by Kiss.

This look was easy to accomplish, and I was in love with the end result. I wanted to leave it on! I'll definitely be doing something similar again, but probably with a different collection. Which means I'll be needing more nail vinyls...

Thanks for reading <3



*All polishes were purchased with my own money.

31 Day Challenge: Day 25

Welcome back!

Today's theme: inspired by fashion!

I was inspired to do a plaid and tweed mani! I had a new topper by Revlon that I wanted to try. It is called Tweed Mini, and it is what I have on my middle and ring fingers. I liked it a lot! I only needed two coats on top of my base color and it's very opaque! Especially for being a topper. The only thing to keep in mind about it that can be tricky, is that you have to work quickly. Normally with a topper, the pieces in it can be spread out, so wherever you put the brush first is not going to be where they stay necessarily. For this, the first place the brush touches keeps a lot of those pieces behind, causing that spot to be very dense. I think I did a good job about fixing it though.

My plaid nails were done with Milani Nail Art Blue Print and Salon Perfect Nail Art in Black Ink. I think they turned out well, but I've also done stripes a lot before!

The base for all my nails was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Matte White Pick It Fence.

Thanks for reading <3



*I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 24

Welcome back!

Today's theme: inspired by a book!

I was inspired by the cover of Divergent by Veronica Roth.

For these nails, I started with a background using colors similar to the ones on the book. I painted the whole nail with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Blue It as my base. Then, using the sponge/ombre technique, I blended the blue into black, by applying Blue It, Wet n Wild Wild Shine Blue Moon and Wet n Wild Wild Shine Black Creme to a sponge. These blended together beautifully!

The design/logo on the front of the book was fairly easy to do. I used Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Striper in Yellow and Orange. I started by drawing a circle with a flame inside with yellow. Then, using the orange, I put just a little bit around the edges, wiggling it slightly while doing so to make it look more like flames. Finally, I went back in with yellow to blend the two colors together better, and to wiggle around the whole thing to mimic the flames.

I'm very happy with how these turned out! I love them and don't really want to take them off!

Thanks for reading <3



*All polishes were purchased with my own money.

31 Day Challenge: Day 23

Welcome back!

Today's theme: Inspired by a movie!

I know I'm late and behind. I am frustrated because I was doing so good and keeping on track. We had some family things come up, though, and unfortunately, they were more important than nail polish. I'm back, though, and I'm planning on catching up before the challenge ends, so I can at least end on time.

I was inspired by Beauty and the Beast, the Disney version. I wanted to capture several aspects of the movie, but most importantly, Belle.

The base of all nails (with the exception of my thumb) was Essie Spin the Bottle. My pinky was a book, to represent that she was always reading. For this design, I used Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Striper in Blue for the cover, in White for the pages, and Essie Little Brown Dress for the spine/binding of the book. The ring finger was Lumiere, her candle friend. I used Zoya Darcy for his body, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in OMGhost for the candle part, and Wet n Wild Wild Shine Black Creme for the deatils, like the wicks, eyes and mouth.

My middle finger was a rose, which was a popular icon for this movie. I used Sally Hanse Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Pucker Up for the petals, Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Striper in Green for the stem/leaf, and a Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pen in Black for the details to make it look more like petals. My pointer finger was completely inspired by a design that I saw @lauramerino12 on Instagram do. (She was inspired by @nailartbyjen.) I wanted it to look like Belle's face, so I made her hair with Little Brown Dress, her eyes with Black Creme and OMGhost, and her mouth with Color Club Blushing Rose.

One of my favorite nails (or at least favorite ideas) was my thumb. I was inspired by her dress for this one. I painted a base of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow. Then, using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sizzlin' Saffron, I made some wavy lines, to show the ruffles/folds in her dress. This color is barely different than Mellow Yellow. It is different enough to be seen, but close enough to not look like a design, but more like texture. Finally, I made some more of those waves, but this time with Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Striper in Yellow, which is darker than the other two. If you look at her dress, she has a line that is darker than the rest.

I was fairly happy with how these turned out, but I need to practice and try again. I didn't have the most steady hand, and I was also in a bit of a hurry to just get them done.

Thanks for reading <3



*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are truthful and my own. I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 22

Welcome back!

Today' theme: inspired by a song!

I was inspired by the song "The Best Day" by Taylor Swift. This one was not one of her most popular ones, but I've always liked it.

I chose a gold background for most of the nails because of the line where she says "look now, the sky is gold." The tree comes from the line "I don't know why all the trees change in the fall," and the beginning part, too, because it is talking about fall. The keys are the line where she says, "I come home crying and you hold me tight, and grab the keys." The calendar page is to represent that it was the best day, and finally the heart, because it was written for her mom.

I'm really happy with how this turned out! My gold was Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Golden-I, and the white was Sally Hansen Insta-Dri OMGhost. The red, orange and yellow (used mostly in the tree) were Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Pucker Up, Sun Kissed and Mellow Yellow. The brown for the tree trunk was Essie Little Brown Dress, and the silver was China Glaze Icicle.

Thanks for reading <3




*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and truthful. I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 21

Welcome back!

Today's theme: inspired by a color!

For this one, I chose to go with a L'Oreal polish called Skinny Jeans. Ironically enough, I was wearing skinny jeans today! All of the blue in the manicure is that polish. It is a textured polish, which is nice because it does dry fairly quickly, and adds to the effect.

The white base nails are Sally Hansen Insta-Dri OMGhost. The silver "seams" are done with China Glaze Icicle and the bronze colored zipper is China Glaze Swing Baby.

Overall, I wish this manicure would have turned out better. I like the idea, and it definitely looked better in my head. I just need more practice, really! I think that maybe I'll attempt this one again, when I'm not in a hurry, and I've had more practice drawing with textured polish! And I can hopefully find a better way to draw a zipper and seams...

Thanks for reading <3



*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and truthful. I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 20

Welcome back!

Today's theme: water marble!

I've only done watermarbling two other times before today, and I'm actually pretty impressed with myself! I was inspired to use these colors because I wanted something that looked like fall, and I recently saw a picture posted by badgirlnails on Instagram.

I started by putting down a white base of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri OMGhost. Once that was dry, which was quickly, I started the water marble. I used China Glaze White on White, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Sun Kissed.

I did put tape around my nails to keep the cleanup minimal, but it still took some time. My favorite turn out was on my thumb, which there is a solo shot of below.

Thank for reading <3



*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own and truthful. I am not sponsored in any way.

31 Day Challenge: Day 19

Welcome back!

Today's theme: galaxy!

These were pretty much done just like any other galaxy nails. I laid down a base of OPI Black Onyx. With a cosmetic sponge, I applied Salon Perfect Sugar Cube, China Glaze Blue Iguana, and China Glaze Senorita Bonita. On top, I applied China Glaze Fairy Dust, and then placed a few glitters on from Wet n Wild Mega Rocks Gettin' Amped.

This was simple, went quick, and turned out well. There's no way to mess this up!

Thanks for reading <3

*All polishes were purchased with my own money. All opinions are truthful and my own. I am not sponsored in any way.