Gnarly Gnails: Challenge: 52 Week Nail Challenge

52 Week Challenge - Flag Manicure

Thursday, June 14, 2012
By Missy
9 Comments

When it comes to holidays like the 4th of July, Memorial Day and the like, I'm not the one you will find doing red white and blue mani's! For one, I hate that color combo and I just don't find myself very patriotic about flying those colors around!

BUT - I do love a good Union Jack. Don't know why - never even been to the UK! But I love the culture and any chance I get to create something with this on it, I'm ALL over it!

So I present to you - my flag mani!

Colors Used:

White Art Striper Polish

China Glaze Frostbite

Sinful Colors My Day Red Striper Polish

China Glaze Dorothy Who & Kleancolor Blue Eyed Girl on blue nails over CG Frostbite.

I know my flag is a little wonky...and then to top it off my cat came wagging her tail right in my wet mani!

P.S.
Don't forget to enter the Gnarly Gnails 300 Follower Giveaway!
Ends 6.15.2012 and is open Internationally!

And also the Gnarly Gnails 400 Follower Giveaway!
Ends 7.31.2012 and is open Internationally!

Brand: Color Club

52 Week Challenge - Ombre Nails!

Thursday, June 07, 2012
By Missy
5 Comments

I'll be the first one to jump on a new trend but I gotta say - I'm pretty certain this is the first time I've done Ombre Nails.

There is slight confusion between some people about the difference between Ombre and Gradient Manicures. Ombre means a gradation in colors within the same color family from light to dark, one of each color per nail. Gradient nails are a color gradation per nail that combine any colors in any amount.

So...these almost seem more like skittles to me than Ombre's.

I chose to go with all Color Club pinks/purples and after editing the photos they just don't seem as Ombre-like as they did in person.

C'est La Vie!

ALSO - I have a new watermark.

Does it distract too much from the nails? Or is it good? Any input, always welcome.

My boyfriend was of little help with opinions on this!

On to the digits...

Colors Used:

Gimme a Grape Big Kiss

Raspberry Rush

Warhol

Poptastic

Yum Gum

P.S.
Don't forget to enter the Gnarly Gnails 300 Follower Giveaway!
Ends 6.15.2012 and is open Internationally!I also should be launching my 400 Followers Giveaway today or tomorrow!

Brand: F4 Polish

Saturday Summary and some Ice Cream.

Saturday, June 02, 2012
By Missy
5 Comments

Happy Saturday!

It's time for.....

The blog world seemed a little quiet this week...

Chalkboard Nails made a fantastically amazing comparison of a ton of Indie black and white glitter polishes. She must have spent so much time working on this...incredible job and resource for us polish lovers! Thanks Sarah!
A great article on exactly what you get when signing up with Julep's Maven program by The Polish Jinx.
Want to see a preview of the Autumn/Winter Butter London Collection? Nailed has it!
My personal favorite mani of the week comes courtesy of Top Coat It and her awesome Brick Nails!
Dragon Lady Nails swatched the new Orly Glam FX Collection - ooooh, glitters! Go see that!

In other news related to THIS blog...no haul post this weekend.

I actually didn't haul. Ok, I DID, but I did it electronically and it won't be posted til the next one or two SS's.

So instead I'm bringing you my 52 Week Challenge 'Splatter' Mani/My final post from my F4 Haul.

This is Mint Chocolate Chip/Mint Chocolate Sundae.

The first 3 pictures are of F4 Mint Chocolate Chip on it's own.

2 buttery coats and it is divine.

Super opaque, super smooth and so beautiful I wanted to eat it.

Then I added some brown acrylic paint splatters for my 52 Week Challenge Mani and turned it into a sundae!

Enjoy your weekend!

P.S.
Don't forget to enter the Gnarly Gnails 300 Follower Giveaway!
Ends 6.15.2012 and is open Internationally!

Brand: Essence

52 Week Challenge - Fruit!

Friday, May 25, 2012
By Missy
6 Comments

The 52 Week Challenge has called upon us this week and the theme is Fruit!

I'd been really excited about this theme for awhile.

Then last month my swap pal Angi included some fimo fruits and Essence fruit polishes to my package and it was like KISMET!

I wasn't sure of the opacity of the Essence Mashed Berries, so I layered 2 coats of it over 1 coat of Catrice's Pimp My Shrimp. I love these Fruit polishes, they look so much like berry seeds, don't they?

P.S.
Don't forget to enter the Gnarly Gnails 300 Follower Giveaway!
Ends 6.15.2012 and is open Internationally!

Brand: Tonymoly

52 Week Challenge - BOWS!

Friday, May 18, 2012
By Missy
6 Comments

I get bad about doing the 52 Week Challenge sometimes...truth be told, sometimes I just don't like the challenge, so I don't do it!

This weeks is BOWS, and I love bows.

So here it is...no pomp and circumstance today!

^ Oops...goofed that edit didnt I? ^

This was Tonymoly Pinky Star and I used Manglaze Santorum to stamp the bows.

P.S.
Don't forget to enter the Gnarly Gnails 300 Follower Giveaway!
Ends 6.15.2012 and is open Internationally!

Brand: Catrice

And we're back with the 52 Week Challenge!

Thursday, April 19, 2012
By Missy
11 Comments

Took a little hiatus from the 52 Wk Challenge due to the other challenges I had going on, mixed with my loss of laptop and yadda yadda...but now we are back with it!

This weeks challenge is "Dotticure"

We all know this one, no googling necessary.

I have been wondering for a few weeks now (especially now that I seem to be obsessed with gradients) how it would look to do a holo sponge gradient. I can tell you now that it is AWE-SOME.

Here are my assistants for the day:

Catrice Heavy Metalilac

Color Club Fashion Addict

Color Club Wild at Heart

NABI Dk Purple Magnetic

Dotting Tool

We had matching Irises so of course I had to do this!

How gorgeous, right? The shimmer of the holos just makes it blend the colors to pure perfection I tell you.

Had to matte it before I removed it, looked great this way too!

Granted, this technique does not show any of the holo factor, but I think it looked so smooth it wasn't even needed.

This was done with a sponge gradient technique, I wet the sponge, painted two stripes, one of each color (the Color Clubs) and then bounced it on my nail that was prepped with Catrice Heavy Metalilac.

Once dry, I dotted with the Nabi Magnetic Purple and used 2 coats of Seche. Even after I matte coated later, this was still bumpy, those Nabi's are thick stuff.

Brand: China Glaze

52 Week Challenge - Valentine's Day Mani

Monday, February 13, 2012
By Missy
0 Comments

I know I know...ANOTHER Valentine's Mani....And even better is I will be posting one more tomorrow too for ANOTHER challenge I'm in. I'm so sick of myself and these red and pink and yucko cutesy nails!
Since I had two challenges that were identical, I have had these waiting for a few days. I'm going to post the one I liked best tomorrow. So todays is simple: China Glaze Ruby Pumps. With some gems I had in my jewelry making kit.

Challenge: 52 Week Nail Challenge

52 Week Challenge - Half Moon Manicure

Monday, February 06, 2012
By Missy
3 Comments

This was my first half-moon (as I'm new to nailing and blogging, there will be a lot of firsts, one of the reasons I took on a blog and multiple nail challenges) and I think it wasn't too terribly bad considering. I do admit I tend to lean towards overkill at times, I think that will settle down a bit once I've gotten over all of the initial excitement!
Anyway - why not kill a V Day Mani and Half Moon all at once, right? Yeah...that's the overkill I was just speaking of!

Used here is Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris as the base, some circle dots tapey things from the office section used for the half moon template, Kleancolor Metallic Red and then a variety of Konad and Red Angel plates for the stamps (if you want to know any plates #s just leave me a comment). There are some roses, leaves, flourishes and hearts stamped on there. I love it, but the metallic makes the stamping a little difficult to read. But it's fun! Thanks for reading, and on a side note, sorry for that wonky colored cute there, I accidentally grabbed a colored toothpick trying to clean the black off my cuticles and it bled on me!

Brand: Butter London

Weekly Challenge Mani - Plaid!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012
By Missy
0 Comments

This is Week 4 of the Weekly Challenge. This is also my first week doing it!

I'm not very "Mad for Plaid" - but I do love Argyle. So I figured it was close enough to work for this weeks challenge: Plaid.
This was my first time using stamping on my own nails. I practiced when I got the plates on one hand of my boyfriends...so I am actually pretty proud of how well these turned out. They're nowhere near perfection, but they aren't half bad either!

This is Revlon Metallic over Butter London The Black Knight, using Konad Plate M60.

Challenge: 52 Week Nail Challenge

The Challenge is in the Motivation

Saturday, January 21, 2012
By Missy
0 Comments

I've had a challenge list sitting on my desktop for about a week now that I conveniently set out of my mind. When I first got it I was gung-ho to do some cool challenges and really sink my teeth into this new passion of mine. But then I just sorta forgot about it in lieu of trying all the loads of new polishes I'd been collecting.

But the time has come - I feel like I'm getting overwhelmed with the amount of polish I've started collecting and when I pull out my drawers to do a mani I just don't even know where to start. So here's the challenge - its a weekly, which will work out good for me since I only do my nails about 3-4 times a week.

Of course, I'm starting with Plaid, which seems pretty difficult!

4. Jan. 22nd - Plaid Mani.
5. Jan. 29th - Newspaper Mani.
6. Feb. 5th - Half-moon Mani.
7. Feb. 12th - "Valentine's Day" Mani.
8. Feb. 19th - Corset Mani.
9. Feb. 26th - "Vintage" Mani.
10. Mar. 4th - Polka Dot Mani
11. Mar. 11th - "St. Patrick's Day" Mani.
12. Mar. 18th - Skittle Mani.
13. Mar. 25th - Ruffian Mani.
14. Apr. 1st - Striped Mani.
15. Apr. 8th - "Easter Day" Mani.
16. Apr. 15th - Dotticure Mani.
17. Apr. 22nd - "Earth Appreciation" Mani.
18. Apr. 29th - Cartoon Mani.
19. May. 6th - Floral Mani.
20. May. 13th - Bows Mani.
21. May. 20th - Fruit Mani.
22. May. 27th - Splatter Mani.
23. Jun. 3rd - Ombre Mani.
24. Jun. 10th - Flag Mani.
25. Jun. 17th - Pride/Rainbow Mani.
26. Jun. 24th - Neon Mani.
27. July. 1st - "4th of July" Mani.
28. July. 8th - Gradient Mani.
29. July. 15th - "Rockstar" Mani.
30. July. 22th - Water Marble Mani.
31. July. 29th - Crackle Mani.
32. Aug. 5th - Needle Marble Mani.
33. Aug. 12th - Galaxy Mani.
34. Aug. 19th - "Bling" Mani.
35. Aug. 26th - Cupcake Mani.
36. Sept. 2nd - Tape Mani.
37. Sept. 9th - "We Remember 9/11" Mani.
38. Sept. 16th - Metallic/Magnetic Mani.
39. Sept. 23rd - Dry Marble Mani.
40. Sept. 30th - Animal Print Mani.
41. Oct. 7th - Patchwork Mani.
42. Oct. 14th - "Pink 4 Breast Cancer Awareness" Mani.
43. Oct. 21st - Spider Web Mani.
44. Oct. 28th - Halloween Mani.
45. Nov. 4th - Tribal Mani.
46. Nov. 11th - "Mustach, 4 Movember; Prostate Cancer Awareness" Mani.
47. Nov. 18th - Thanksgiving Day Mani.
48. Nov. 25th - Feather Mani.
49. Dec. 2nd - Glitter Sandwich Mani.
50. Dec. 9th - Snowflake Mani.
51. Dec. 16th - Red Mani.
52. Dec. 23rd - Christmas Mani.
- 30/31 - you've learned enough; go all out and show 2O13, what its all about