12 January 2015

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairytales: Once Upon A Time

Big news, guys - I've been invited to join The Digit-al Dozen!! For those of you who haven't heard of them, The Digit-al Dozen is a diverse group of nail artists who post 5 days of themed manicures in a row, once a month. It's a serious challenge and I've seen some of my favorite bloggers push themselves to do incredible work during those weeks! I'm super thrilled to be a part of it, because I am always trying to improve myself as a nail artist and try different styles of nail art.

Anyway, this month's theme is fairytales, which an awesome theme to start with, and I've decided to interpret it pretty loosely for my first month of the DD. I wanted to push myself to do different styles of nail art for each day this week, so today I went with a grungy and abstract approach with these "Once Upon A Time" nails. This look was completely inspired by this gorgeous body painting tutorial from Madeyewlook, a YouTube makeup artist.


When I heard the theme "fairytales", I instantly thought of those old, leatherbound story books with weathered pages, and I wanted to achieve that style on my nails. And of course, Madeyewlook's tutorial was just perfect for it! I basically followed her directions for body painting, but on my nails.

I started with a base of NCLA Catwalk Queen, and once that was dry, I sponged on Zoya Spencer and Essie Partner in Crime, mostly focusing on the edges of my nails. I also very lightly sponged on KBShimmer Chick Me Out to achieve a yellowed look. With a very fine brush and black acrylic paint, I wrote a couple of sentences on my nails in a scripty font - this was definitely the hardest part - and then sponged lightly over that to fade them. On two of my nails, I drew some old clocks using the same three polishes. Then, I accented my nails by dabbing on Essie Good as Gold in random spots. I topped everything off with top coat!


I'm definitely obsessed with how this turned out - it's so different from my usual style of nail art, which is exactly what I was going for! Plus, writing actual words with a paintbrush on my nails was great practice! (Fun fact: I actually wrote a couple of complete sentences on my nails. The first one was "There once was a girl who dreamt she could be anything, and so she was." The second sentence wasn't nearly as poetic!)

Of course I had to mattify this look:


As much as I liked this nail art with the matte finish, it dulled the gold accents a lot - so I definitely preferred it glossy.

Here are the polishes I used:


Looking at this color palette, it's so different from what I usually reach for! I absolutely loved going out of my comfort zone for this manicure. You can find buying information on all of these polishes at the end of this post.

Anyway, that's it for my first day of The Digit-al Dozen! What do you think?? Make sure to come back tomorrow to see my next fairytale inspired nail art look, and of course, check out everyone's Day 1 manicures below:





PRODUCTS USED:
Base: Duri Rejuvacote, purchase here

Polishes: 
NCLA Catwalk Queen, review here
Zoya Spencer, review here
Essie Partner in Crime, review here
Essie Good as Gold, available here
KBShimmer Chick Me Out, review here

Top: KBShimmer Clearly on Top, $5.50 USD here, OPI Matte Top Coat, purchase here

50 comments:

  1. Honestly, one of the most beautiful and layered posts I've ever seen! Happy to be a part of this new adventure with you.

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  2. I love the details you used to bring this concept to life, just amazing! All your work really shows, you've done an incredible job with this manicure. LOVE IT!!!

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  3. Zoya's Spencer has been my latest obsession, it's amazing. This mani is gorgeous, so creative! And also a big congrats on joining the Digital Dozen!

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  4. Oh my goodness! Girl you are amazing!!

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  5. This is stunning!

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  6. This is absolutely amazing! Great job, Kelli!

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  7. Wow! That is absolutely gorgeous!

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  8. This is such a cool look! Amazing job!

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  9. Oh I love the aged look here. The layering really creates a nice depth! Fabulous!

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  10. These are amazing! Love the rustic and vintage feel to these nails have.

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  11. The Dalai Lama's NailsJanuary 12, 2015 at 12:37 PM

    AWESOME first day, lady! Seriously, I love this interpretation of the theme. So creative and wonderfully executed!

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  12. Well my jaw just dropped! This are amazing...that's really all I can say...I'm speechless!

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  13. So happy that you're part of the "team" and I adore the grungy vintage look of this, you definitely did push yourself. :)

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  14. beautiful!
    I love this manicure and I think you've managed to create a beautiful and inspiring nail art creation <3

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  15. Thanks Meghan, glad to be a part of the group :) I'm excited to see what else I can do!!

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  16. Yay! I'm glad you like it :) I was hoping it wasn't too abstract, lol!

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  17. Thanks so much, Amanda :) I am so excited to see what everyone else comes up with!

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  18. :) :) I am so happy you like it! Thank you so much!!

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  19. I agree, I'll have to wear Spencer as a full mani soon - it's perfection! Thank you so much!

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  20. I am LOVING these, very original. It has almost a Steam Punk/Victorian feel to it.


    xo Emily @ Curator of Cute

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  21. Absolutely gorgeous! I love these nails so much I nearly squeal!

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  22. A Girl and Her PolishJanuary 13, 2015 at 6:08 AM

    This is gorgeous! Easily connected to Cinderella's time limit!

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  23. I already loved you and followed you but I have to say this may be my favorite mani of yours so far! It's STUNNING!

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  24. This is so beautiful! Just so complex and outstanding!

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  25. These nails are incredible!! I'm so excited to see what you do the rest of the week!

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  26. This is so perfect, Kelli! Completely evokes 'fairy tale' to me and I love that you went out of your comfort zone a bit and did something so different :) Welcome to the club! :D

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  27. I love layered manis that have so much depth and this one is at the top of my favorites! Love it!

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  28. Wow! These are stunning! Very antique looking with some Steampunk vibe thrown in!

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