31 Day Challenge, Day 25 - Inspired By Fashion: Denim

Denim! Jeans are such a staple of the fashion world, and I was all set up for this challenge. Some time ago I bought Ciate's Denim Manicure kit, and I've been saving it for the right occasion. And not only is the theme for today "fashion", but tomorrow is a casual Friday. Perfect! (I always do my nails in the evening and wear them the next day.)

Ciate also fits the fashion rule in that you pay a premium for the brand name, unless you are like me and wait for it to pop up on Catch Of The Day. :D

The kit comes with a blue polish, Regatta, which quickly dries to a kind of semi-matte finish. It also has some water decal stitches, some nail studs, and some nail glue. Overall the kit was easy to use, with clear instructions, except for the nail glue. It had to be cut open and then had a tendency to go everywhere. I much prefer my other nail glue, which comes in a little bottle with a brush to paint it on. Much easier to control.

This kit was a lot of fun and I like the end result. Check it out!

(Note: the thumb is part of the picture on the packaging, not my own thumb!) 

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Talk to me, Harry Winston, tell me all about it! 31 Day Challenge, Day 22 - Inspired By A Song, Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

I really liked this prompt! I've been listening to music during some of my other manicures and waiting for inspiration, and I chose to do a manicure based on the song Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. Here are some of the lyrics:

A kiss on the hand may be quite continental,

But diamonds are a girl's best friend.

A kiss may be grand: but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat 

or help you at the automat.

Men grow cold, as girls grow old,

and we all lose our charms in the end.

But square cut or pear shape, these rocks don't lose their shape:

 Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

Tiffany's! Cartier!

 Black star! Frost Gorham! Talk to me Harry Winston, tell me all about it!

I rummaged through my blue polish drawer and unearthed an unnamed pale Tiffany's blue by Portmans. Four coats later and I stamped some diamonds on the accent nail using Bundle Monster BM09, and stuck some little heart studs on the other nails. The silver stamping doesn't really have enough contrast but it's getting late so there you go.

As a bonus, here's Marilyn Monroe performing the song in the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes:

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend from Ars Memorandi on Vimeo.

And here's an audio-only version of the cover/adaptation by Nicole Kidman from the movie Moulin Rouge:

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm pretty fascinated by the way that, so far, everyone has chosen to do blue nails. Maybe music is blue coloured? :)

31 Day Challenge, Day 18 - Half moon studs

For my more "standard" half moon manicure, I decided to take on the recent trend for exposing part of your nude nail bed. After applying my base coat, I stuck on some hole reinforcements and painted my nails with two coats of OPI's Every Month Is Oktoberfest, a nice shimmery vampy red. I then peeled off the reinforcements and used some acetone and a brush to clean up the half moons, and then a nail art brush to draw in any points that weren't sharp enough.

It looked nice, but I thought it could use a little something else, so I stuck on some studs which I got from Born Pretty Store.

I really like the finished look!

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A-England's Ascalon with hexagon nail studs armour

A while back, I bought a packet of silver hexagonal nail studs from Born Pretty Store with the intention of doing a full-nail armour look.

I painted my nails with A-England's Ascalon, a silver nail polish with a muted scattered holo effect and a distinct pink-green undertone which makes it quite warm toned. Formula was excellent, as I have found for all A-England polishes.

I then stuck the studs on the ring finger of each hand. I found that the best effect comes from starting at the side and working in a bit of a diagonal, making sure to always press each stud up hard against the edges of the other studs. Coverage was pretty good, with only a few awkward gaps - I did find that you can cut the studs to size for the gaps, but it's hard to get them to stay on the tips because it's such a high-impact area. It was fine on the side, though.

The studs are shiny, attention-grabbing, and the texture is lovely. I'd definitely recommend them!