Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 16: Inspired by a Christmas Song

Yep, I am still a couple of days behind! Sorry! But, I am super excited about the theme for Day 16! Inspired by a Christmas Song. One of my favorite Christmas songs is "Silver and Gold" by Burl Ives. I couldn't help but do a silver and gold manicure!

After I applied my base coat to protect my nails, I applied two coats of Julep's "Amity" Technically this is a white gold shade, not quite silver, but I feel like a super metallic silver color wouldn't have worked as nicely with gold. Once "Amilty" was completely dry, I sponged the gold I chose to use, China Glaze's "Mingle with Kringle" on just the tips. Then when that was dry, I added just a bit of chunky gold glitter, Elf's "Gold Star" to the tips of my nails by just dabbing the nail polish brush. Overall I think it's a beautiful manicure. I love the mix of silver and gold and the added bling that the chunky glitter adds. Gradient manicures are so fun, aren't they? Everytime I look down at my nails, I start singing that song, too, which is really putting me in the Holiday Spirit! It's just a week until Christmas! I hope you're all having an amazing Holiday season so far, and I hope you'll join me tomorrow for my next themed manicure for this challenge! See ya soon!

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 15: Something Cozy

I was stumped for quite a while on what to do for the theme something cozy. So I went ahead and typed "Something Cozy" into google images and the first thing that popped up was a picture of a ball of yarn. That inspired me! I couldn't actually paint a ball of yarn onto my nails, because as you've seen, my nail art skills are abysmal. So I went another route.

I opted to go with the Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat polish in "All yarned up" for two reasons. One, because yarn is cozy. And two becuase fuzzy coats are cozy too. Yes, it's corny. It's ok you can laugh. Regardless,  I like how this mani turned out. For undies I used The Ulta Salon Formula Nail Lacquer in "Set the Nude" Then I applied two coats of "All Yarned Up" and to finish the look I applied the Elf matte top coat for a nice change to my usual ultra shiny manicures. What do you think?

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 14: Glitter!

We're not even going to talk about how far behind I am in this challenge. We're just going to get right into the manicure I created for the theme for day 14: Glitter!

I started out with a base coat and then painted my nails with a black polish. I used Wet n Wild Wild Shine in Black Creme. Then I added two coats of one of my favorite glitter polishes of all time. It's Revlon's Scandalous . It's absolutely beautiful and I searched high and low for it when I first bought it. It's a dupe for a Deborah Lippman polish, and I think it's stunning this time of year!

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 13: Snow

The theme for Day 13 of the challenge is snow! I really wanted to do another stamping mani and here's what I came up with! I love this snowflake manicure!!

I started out with a white base color. I used Sinful Colors "Snow me White." Then, using the bundle monster image plate number BM14, I stamped on the snow flake design in a random pattern on each nail with Sinful Colors "Endless Blue" Then when that was dry I added a Shades of the Season Glitter polish. They don't have names, but this one is a really pretty iridescent glitter that looks so beautiful with this manicure. Just like fresh sparkling white snow. Considering we got 8 inches of snow dumped on us today, this seemed like an appropriate manicure!

Be sure to check back again and see what I come up with for the rest of this challenge. :)

Advent Calendar Nail Art Challenge Day 12: Family

Two manicures in one day? That's how you play catch up on a nail art challenge! Today's theme is family, and I racked my brain trying to figure out a cute design to go with that theme, and I was stumped. So, I decided to include my family in the nail art process today. I let my two sons each pick out a nail polish to use in my manicure. They actually made it quite easy on me, as the polishes they picked matched well, and one of them was a glitter top coat so I didn't even need to do any real art!

My oldest son chose the base color. It's Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Polish in the color Golden Conduct. I am honestly not crazy about the whole magnetic nail trend but I do have multiple magnetic polishes and I generally just use them as regular nail polish like I did here. My youngest son chose the Elf mini polish in Gold Star which is just a chunky gold glitter in a clear base, so I slapped that on top of Golden Conduct and called it a day. I actually quite like this combination! Don't you?

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 11

Well, I have managed to fall a day behind in the challenge. I suspected that would happen. I am certain it won't be the last time. In fact, If I finish this challenge by the new year I will be happy. haha. The theme for Day 11 was gifts.

The purple-y shade I used is China Glaze Positively in Love. It's a magnetic polish. Obviously I did not use the magnet. The green shade is Pure Ice Not Now. And the little bows are decals that a friend from a nail polish swap group sent me that I have been wanting to use for a while. They are actually a little small for this design, but I decided to use them anyway and I think it's cute!

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge: Days 9 and 10

Today I am bringing you yet another comical attempt at nail art. I hope you're ready to laugh! Note: Ignore the abysmal state of my hands. They are dried out from the acetone I use to remove my nail polish, and I took these photos before I moisturized. Sorry!

Day 9's theme was pine. I decided to attempt little pine trees on each of my nails.

I started out with a base of Julep's Dendrie, a soft grey cream. Then I used a little nail art brush to add the tree details. The brown is Elf's Chocolate. The darker green is China Glaze Holly Day. And the khaki green shade that I used to add accents is Sinful Colors Beau Khaki. You can see some of the trees got a bit smudged, but overall, considering what a novice I am with the nail art brush, I think I did a decent job.

Day 10's theme is lights.

I used Wet n Wild Wild Shine in "French White Creme" as the base color for my nails. The Black that I used for the cord on the lights in NYC Black lace creme. I used a little nail brush to draw on the cord, and then used a small dotting tool to add the lights. The red is NYC "Big Apple Red" the purple is NYC "Purple Pizazz" and the green is NYC "High Line Green"

Hopefully as I continue on with this chalenge I get better at this whole nail art thing. At least my nail art attempts are good for a laugh!

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge: Days 7 and 8

I was so busy yesterday that I didn't find a free moment to photograph my nails and write up the blog post. I did find time to create the mani though. It's laughable, but I thought I would share it anyway. The theme yesterday was Ornaments, and so I attempted to free hand an ornament on each nail. It looks like my 5 year old did my nails, but hey, at least I tried!

I used my usual black and white. Wet n Wild Wild Shine "Black Creme" and "French White Creme" For the red, I used China Glaze "Poinsettia". The Green is China Glaze "Holly-Day" The Gold ornament is done in China Glaze "Gold Fusion". The Silver Ornament is Milani "Tricky Treat" and the Blue ornament in the Sally Hansen complete Salon Manicure in "Nightwatch"

Day 8's theme for the challenge is Starry Night"

For this design I used the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish in "Nightwatch" as the base. It's a bit darker than it shows in the photos. Then, as accent nails I painted the Step 3 polish from the Kiss Gradation Set in Film Noir. It's a pretty holographic glitter polish that I think gives the look of a night sky spattered in stars. Then, I used the  Konad image plate number m3 and stamped the star design using wet n wild wild shine "french white creme" on the remaining nails. I love the overall look.

So there ya have my designs for days 7 and 8. Be sure to check back tomorrow when I attempt a design for day 9, when the theme will be pine!

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 6: White!

Today's theme for the Advent Calendar Nail Challenge is white. It's the last of the color themes. Starting tomorrow I really have to get creative. For white, I wanted to do something classy and simple. Here's what I came up with!

I started out by applying two very thin coats of the Nailtini polish in "Frappe" It's a very sheer pinky nude color that doesn't show up much, but I just wanted something to add a little shine to my nails. Then using a small dotting tool and Wet n Wild "French White Creme" I added the dots and I also painted along the very tips of the nail with that same dotter. I love the overall look! Very feminine and pretty in my opinion. And super easy to re-create!

I hope you enjoyed My White manicure! Be sure to tune in tomorrow and see what I come up with for the theme: Ornaments!

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 5: Blue!

Today's theme for the Advent Calendar Nail Challenge was blue! I couldn't decide which blue I wanted to use, so I decided to use a few of my favorites and create a sort of mix and match mani! I really love the finished result!

On my pinkie finger I simply did two coats of the Wet n Wild Fergie nail polish in the color "Havasu Blue". For my ringer finger, I did three coats of Sinful Colors "Cinderella" and on top of that I did two coats of the China Glaze glitter polish in "Bells Will be Blinging" My middle finger is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in "Blue It" with Wet n Wild Wild Shine polish in "French White Creme" dotted on top. My index finger is the same "French white Creme" with all three of the previous blues I mentioned done in the saran wrap method on top. And my thumb is once again "French White Creme" with a design from the Bundle Monster BM02 plate stamped on using the Fergie Polish in "Havasu Blue" again. I love the way the different blues compliment one another and adding the same blues in the different designs help tie each nail together to make it look cohesive and cute! I really love this mani and I am going to be sad to take it off tomorrow, when I do day 6 of the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Be sure to follow me so you won't miss a single day of the Advent Calendar Nail challenge plus lots more!

Advent Calendar Nail Polish Challenge Day 4: Silver!

Today is day 4 of the Advent Calendar Nail Challenge, and the theme is silver. I painted my nails plain silver early this morning, and then it took me nearly all day to decide what else I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to do a tape mani! It's been a while since I did one, and this one didn't turn out perfect by any means. But it's nice enough, I like the finished product! I didn't bother to clean up around the edges, since I will just be scrubbing this off tomorrow for tomorrow's design. But I am pleased with the look overall!

I started out by polishing my nails with the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear nail polish celeb city. Then, when I figured out what I wanted to do, I used scotch tape and taped off half my nail in a diagonal design to create this cool look. I painted over the tape with Wet n Wild Megalast polish in Clack Creme, and then removed the tape to get the two toned effect. Then once that was all dry I went over the whole thing with a Silver glitter Shades of the Season polish. I think it's a great look that would be perfect for the holidays, which makes it perfect for this challenge! What do you think?

Be sure to come back tomorrow to see what I come up with for tomorrow's theme, which is blue!

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 3: Green!

The theme for Day 3 of the advent calendar nail challenge is green, and I was super excited for this one! I purchased a nail polish that has been on my wish list for ages a while ago and I thought this was the perfect chance to use it! There isn't much art to this particular manicure. Not like yesterday when I did the stamping. But I love it nonetheless. I just wish the picture did it more justice. I found it hard to capture how pretty this is and have it look true to color. I did my best. You all know I am no photographer.

Sorry about the dreadful photo. When I attempted to take it using the flash it turned the green polish I used this bright neon green color, that was not at all true. So this was the best i could do. I used China Glaze Holly Day as the base color. It's a gorgeous christmas tree green from a holiday collection three years ago, if I am not mistaken. And then, the star of the show is Sinful Colors Green Ocean which I put on top. It's a gorgeous green flakie polish that I believe they re-promote every year around St. Patrick's day, but that I managed to find randomly in a sinful colors display at walmart a month or two ago. I love it, and I think it makes the perfect green manicure for this challenge!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Be sure to follow my blog so you don't miss the rest of this challenge! Tomorrow's theme is "Silver"

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Day 2: Gold!

Day Two's theme is gold. For this one, I decided to do a bit of stamping. It's been a while since I stamped!I started out with a plain black base and then stamped with gold to fir the theme. I used a bundle monster plate, and the specifc design that I chose is a bit too small for some of my nails, especially my thumb. So instead of stamping them and having the design look wonky, I painted my larger nails- my thumb and my ring finger a sparkly gold.

The black base color is the Wet n Wild Wild Shine polish in Black Creme. I stamped my first, middle and pinkie fingers using the China Glaze polish in Gold Fusion, which is actually a magnetic polish. The magnetic polishes make great stamping polishes because they are thicker than the average polish so they work wonders. I used the bundle monster plate number BM19 and the accent nails are polished with China Glaze Mingle with Kringle. I could have used the same polish I used for the stamping, but I liked the idea of a bit of sparkle. I like the finished result a lot!

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to come back tomorrow to see the next design in the challenge. Green!

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge: Day 1

If you follow me on instagram you might have already seen that this year I am going to attempt to participate in a manicure challenge that I came across while searching for inspiration for nail art for December. It's the Advent Calendar Challenge, which was created by someone named Kristi and Happy Hands and it goes a little something like this.

So each day you create a manicure based on the theme for that day. I thought this would be a great way for me to get back into nail art and challenge myself a bit, all the while giving me fun things to share with you all here on my blog and get me in the mood for the holiday season!

So hopefully everyday leading up until Christmas I will be posting a new fun manicure to share with you. I can't promise I won't skip a day here or there. And I can't promise that each day is going to be amazing, since I am still very much a novice at this whole nail art thing. Needless to say some of my attempts might not be all that "artistic" at all. But, while this is a challenge, I mean for it to be fun so I am going to have fun with it, do my best and not take it terribly seriously! I would love it if any of you would like to join me and begin this challenge as well. Even if, since I posted this so late in the day, you have to start a bit behind.

Day 1 of this challenge is just Red. So I started out super simple!

I painted my nails with two coats of the Sinful Colors Nail Polish in the color Sugar Sugar, which is a gorgeous Metallic Red. Then for a subtle added touch, which doesn't really show up at all in the photos, but promise me it's there, I added a coat of the Wet n Wild Megalast Polish in the shade On the 101 which is a sheer black base with medium red hex glitters. I applied this very thinly so the black base wouldn't effect the color overall much and would just add some subtle glitter. I really like the way it turned out. I wish it translated better in the photos.

So that's it for day 1 of this challenge. I am already thinking about creative ways to create my mani for tomorrow when the theme will be "Gold"! I can't wait! Thanks for stopping by! And if you are interested in getting a sneak peek of these manis before they hit my blog, you should add me on instagram, username Jwhackers, since I will be posting my manicures there as well!!