31DC2013: Day Thirty - Inspired by a Tutorial

There are so many wonderful tutorials available to help with various nail art techniques today. Some of these have really helped me so much. I really appreciate all the wonderful bloggers who have shared their experience and expertise with  us. I have used a few tutorials to do some of my challenge manicures. I used various tutorials to do my water marble and galaxy nails, although I didn't follow one tutorial for them - it was more a mix of what I learnt by watching various video tutorials. I also used tutorials to do my Flowers, polka dots and animal print manicures.

My nails today are inspired by a dry needle marble tutorial. These nails are not hard to do and are quite unusual, unstructured and fun.
I used two colours for my nails - Essence My Fortune Cookie and Color Club Ulterior Motive. I painted one thick stripe with the gold, then one stripe with the glittery pink and again a third stripe with the gold. I used a needle to zig zag lines across the nails. I then added topcoat and the rhinestones.

31DC2013: Day Twenty-Nine - Inspired by the Supernatural

Posting my nails inspired by the supernatural very late today. It took me a long time to  decide on  how to do this manicure - I'm not really into anything related to this subject. It seemed fascinating when I was very young and although it still is, I just haven't really been interested enough to read up about it.
I started with Barry M Gelly in Lychee. Then I stamped with Konad Black from the image plates QA8 for the skull and crossbones, the Gals Fairy Set GA36 for the single skull image, Konad M94 for the bat image, which I stamped multiple times and Konad M91 for the black cat. I finished with the Rimmel Pro Matte Finish Topcoat.

31DC2013: Day Twenty-Eight - Inspired by a Flag

My Manicure for day twenty-eight of the challenge is inspired by the racing flag.

For this manicure, I used Rimmel Riviera Red, Barry M Black and Matt White. The chequered flag on the middle finger is stamped with Konad Black from the image plate Konad M93. The champagne bubbles on the ring finger are stamped with Essie Penny Talk from the messy mansion image plate MM02. The silver rhinestones on the red nails represent the chrome fittings on a shiny, new red car!

31DC2013: Day Twenty-Seven - Inspired by Artwork

My manicure today was inspired by this beautiful painting by Vincent Van Gogh - Starry Night Over the Rhone.

For the three nails with the rhinestones, I used OPI Sea You In Hollywood. On the accent nails, I used horizontal brush strokes to paint with Barry M Blackberry, Cyan Blue, before adding the other details with NYC Lexington Yellow and Konad Yellow. I think this was definitely the hardest bit of the challenge. If I do this challenge again, I definitely need to visit some art galleries for inspiration!

31DC2013: Day Twenty-Six - Inspired by a Pattern

For this part of the challenge, I knew I had to go with a sari pattern! There is such a large variety of patterns to choose from and the colours are so vibrant and gorgeous. I chose this beautiful silk sari -

And here are the nails, inspired by the pattern ...

For this manicure, I applied base coat and once dry, I taped off the ends with the french manicure guides. Then I painted the top part of the nail with Color Club Secret Agent. I stamped the paisley image from the plate QA59 with Essie Penny Talk. I painted the tips with Essence My Fortune Cookie and added the hex glitter.

This is my first Essence Polish. Its a glittery, yellow gold, which was exactly what I wanted. I got it on a recent trip to Belgium since I had heard about this brand but never tried it. Right after I got it though, I found out that Essence is coming to Wilkinson's in the UK soon. I believe its already available in selected stores. Check out the Essence Facebook page for details, if you are interested and live in the UK.

31DC2013: Day Twenty-Five - Inspired by Fashion

For my fashion inspired nails, I chose a dress by Balenciaga, AW12.

I started with a base of Barry M Matt White and stamped with Konad Black with the image plate, Konad M57. I then added a layer of top coat. I was planning to use scotch tape to section off the nails diagonally before painting with the second colour. But I was too impatient to wait for the nails to dry - Scotch tape manis can end really badly if the nails are not completely dry! So I used a nail art brush to draw diagonal lines across the nails before filling them in with NYC Midnight in Amethyst.

See what the British Nail Bloggers have been up to this week!

An InLinkz Link-up

31DC2013: Day Twenty-Four - Inspired by a Book

My nails for day Twenty-Four of the challenge are inspired by the book, Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. Since I have been hooked on to the TV series for the last few years and its coming to an end this week, this manicure seemed appropriate for this part of the challenge!

For this manicure, I used Sally Hansen Wet Cement for the grey and Barry M Black. I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri Rapid Red and the image plate Konad M21 for the "Blood Spatter". I sponged a gradient on the black nails with Maybelline Deep Red.

In other non-challenge related news, I had the privilege of attending the Olympia Beauty Show in London on Sunday, the 22nd of Sept, 2013. I also had the pleasure of meeting up with three wonderful ladies, Lucie of  Lucy's Stash, Vic of Glowstars and Dimpal of Crazy Polishes. Please see the photo reports of the day posted by Lucie and Vic. This was my first experience of the Beauty Show so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was definitely a sort of nail polish wonderland with row upon row of different brands of nail polish, among lots of other beauty products. Lesson learnt for the next show - save up before the show to splurge in the next one!!

31DC2013: Day Twenty-Three - Inspired by a Movie

For day twenty-three of the challenge, my nails are inspired by one of my favourite movies, "My Fair Lady"

I think these are the toughest few days in the challenge. Its really got me thinking as to what music, movies and books can inspire my nail art. I am quite happy with these nails. I did the flowers because she was a flower girl, the vowels and phonics she had to practice over cups of tea and a glimpse of the pattern from her dress for her first outing as a lady!

For these nails, I used a base of Barry M Matt White. I wrote the vowels with the black Barry M Nail Art Pen. I used scotch tape for the pattern on the ring finger. The cup of tea is stamped from the Pueen 30 image plate with Konad Black. The steam was drawn with the black Barry M Nail Art Pen. The flowers were stamped from the MoYou London XL Pro Plate 10 with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Flashy Fuschia.

31DC2013: Day Twenty-Two - Inspired by a Song

The days are getting shorter and colder - its almost autumn. That and this lovely song by Ed Sheeran inspired this manicure - Autumn Leaves - it just seemed so appropriate for this time of the year!

I used NYC Pure Air as the base. Then I sponged on some 2True Shade 9, a glittery bronze, on the tips. I stamped one nail with the music notes and bird image from  the plate Pueen47. The stamping is with Essie Penny Talk and Konad Black. The stars stamping is from the image plate QA15. I free handed the different coloured leaves with a fine nail art brush, using Rimmel Camouflage, Konad Yellow and Essie Penny Talk. I definitely need to improve on my free hand leaves but its a start ...!