The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Stripes on Stripes (and Cirque Doyers Review)

 Can you believe it? We’ve finally reached the end of Digit-al Dozen week! My final look for you is my favorite of the entire week – I’ve been saving it for last! I absolutely love how intricate striping tape can make a manicure look, and I think it looks sophisticated in this color scheme (which is, of course, red and white for Valentine’s Day!)

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Reciprocal Gradient

Hi guys! Today’s Digit-al Dozen post is a (welcome) break from all the pink and red manicures I’ve been sharing all week. Since gradients are technically a pattern, I decided to try the famous “reciprocal gradient” technique coined by Simply Nailogical, and since her signature style includes holographic polishes, I figured I had to use them too!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Hearts on Stripes

Hello, everyone! I hope you are enjoying the Digit-al Dozen week so far! I know I am, but I have a bunch of fun swatches to share with you too, so I’m getting a bit eager for the week to end. Anyway, I’ve got another Valentine’s Day look to share with you today (I know I keep saying that, and all my manicures are really just regular manicures in pink and red, but this one is themed – I promise! It even has hearts in it.) I actually consider this one to be a bit of a fail, because the freehanded hearts are far from perfect, but I think a part of the challenge is to keep up and post every day, even if you aren’t 100% satisfied with your work.

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Houndstooth Florals with OMG Nail Strips

Going right along with Day 2 of the Digit-al Dozen, today's pattern on pattern nail art look is florals on houndstooth print! I achieved this look using nail stickers from OMG Nail Strips as a base, and painting over them with polish. Read on to see my nail art look, and a review of the nail strips!

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Double Stamping with PUEEN

It's that time of the month again - I mean, time for the Digit-al Dozen week! This week we are taking on patterns in a BIG way, by having double patterns (so basically, a pattern over a pattern). So get ready to see five wild manicures in a row featuring a ton of patterns! I decided to make most of my manicures for this week Valentine's Day themed (well, Valentine's colors, at least!) so get ready for a lot of pink and red, too. Shall we take a look at the first mani of the week?

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairytales: Snow White's Poison Apple

I know I'm a couple days late for the last day of The Digit-al Dozen, but I've got one last fairytale themed nail art for you guys today! Today's look is another abstract idea based off the famous Brothers Grimm story, Snow White. (Even if you haven't heard the original tale, you've no doubt seen the Disney princess or the movie adaptations!) Anyway, this manicure is inspired by the poison apple that causes Snow White to fall into a lifeless state, before her prince rescues her with a kiss.

I started off with a base of Cuccio Verona Lace, and then drew on my apples with Essie Double Breasted Jacket (and Essie Vices Versa on my detail nail for the "poisoned" apple.) Then, I outlined them with Cuccio 2am in Hollywood, and drew little stems with Essie Fierce, No Fear. I also made a little highlight in the apples with Verona Lace. I topped everything off with a semi-matte top coat from Born Pretty Store. (Don't forget, you can use the code RFL91 for 10% off your order and free shipping!)

I chose this look because even if you aren't a fan of the fairytale (like myself!), this is still a super cute apple manicure to rock! Although it's probably more appropriate to wear in autumn.

I also think the color scheme of this manicure is a refreshing change of pace from my last few Digit-al Dozen manicures, which tended to be blue themed. (Plus, my nails are finally back to an acceptable length! Yay!) And it's definitely nice to have finished my first DD challenge - I can't wait for the next one!

Here are the polishes I used. They are all from HB Beauty Bar - you can use the code POLISHCHALLENGE at checkout for 15% off your entire order.

Make sure you see what the other lovely ladies of the Digit-al Dozen did for their last day!

An InLinkz Link-up

PRODUCTS USED:
Base: Duri Rejuvacote, purchase here

Polish: Cuccio Colour 2am in Hollywood + Cuccio Colour Verona Lace, review hereEssie Double Breasted Jacket, review here
Essie Vices Versa, review here

Essie Fierce, No Fear, review here


Top: Born Pretty Store Matte Top Coat, purchase here (use code RFL91 for 10% off your order!)

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairytales: The Little Mermaid French Tips

Continuing with my mermaid theme for the fourth day of The Digit-al Dozen, I've decided to do some funky French tips inspired by the coolest mermaid of them all, Ariel from The Little Mermaid! This is the first nail art I've done since my unfortunate nail break, so please don't mind my shorties ;)

Yes, I know this is a very abstract interpretation of Ariel, but I wanted to go for something simple and wearable, while still subtly evoking the iconic mermaid. To achieve this look, I started with a base of Essie Urban Jungle. Once that was dry, I swiped on NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing, and over that Island Girl Aloha Paradise, using the brushes from the bottle. I finished it off with top coat.

Although this is such a simple look, I really love the way it came out. I didn't want to do anything too complicated, because I am still a bit self conscious about my nail length. (I know it's hard to tell in photos, but trust me - they are much shorter than I am used to!) And I do love how subtle the reference is - similar to my Alice manicure.

I think the appeal of this manicure is that it's something you can wear anytime, with any color scheme - plus, it's so easy and requires no tools.

Here are the polishes I used. I reviewed Essie Urban Jungle here and NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing here. The Island Girl polish was a gift - this brand is only available in Hawaii and Las Vegas, as far as I am aware.

Make sure you see what the other talented ladies are up to in The Digit-al Dozen today:

An InLinkz Link-up

PRODUCTS USED:
Base: Duri Rejuvacote, purchase here

Polishes: 
Essie Urban Jungle, review here
NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing, review here
Island Girl Aloha Paradise, available in stores in Hawaii and Las Vegas

Top: KBShimmer Clearly on Top, $5.50 USD here

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairytales: Mermaid Scales

Day three of The Digit-al Dozen is upon us, and I've decided to tackle something that I'm not totally comfortable with - dotticures. I know I post my fair share of dotted manicures, but the truth is, I find them to be pretty difficult! Getting the dots to be a consistent size can be a pretty tough task. Anyway, I figured I would try out this mermaid scale tutorial for today's fairytale theme!

To achieve this look, I started with a base of Habit Cosmetics Prairie and with my dotting tool, dotted on a ton of colors in a random order. I've listed them all below (with a handy photo guide) so make sure to check that out if you're interested in a particular color. 

I absolutely love the color scheme and I found that using a mix of cremes and shimmers gave this manicure an awesome scaled effect! I am so pleased with how it turned out, even though it was pretty time consuming.

Of course, this is more polishes than I generally use, so I couldn't fit them all into my usual bottle photo. I've reviewed almost all of these polishes, so check out these links for product details:

KBShimmer Stonewashed, review here

Glam Polish Polar Lights, review here

China Glaze Wait N Sea, review here

Glam Polish Don't Rain on My Parade, review here

NCLA Lead Vocals, Me!, review here

Habit Cosmetics Prairie, review here

OPI I Saw... You Saw... We Saw... Warsaw, purchase here

Glam Polish Ladies Choice, review here

Whew, that was a lot! Anyway, I hope you liked today's nail art look - unfortunately, this is the last manicure I did before I had to shorten my nails :( I've been hoping that my nails will grow back in time for me to complete this week's nail art, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen! Ah, well, they'll grow back soon enough.

What do you think of today's manicure? Make sure to check out the other talented ladies and their Digit-al Dozen fairytale looks!

An InLinkz Link-up

PRODUCTS USED:

Base: Duri Rejuvacote,  purchase here

Polishes: 

KBShimmer Stonewashed, review here

Glam Polish Polar Lights, review here

China Glaze Wait N Sea, review here

Glam Polish Don't Rain on My Parade, review here

NCLA Lead Vocals, Me!, review here

Habit Cosmetics Prairie, review here

OPI I Saw... You Saw... We Saw... Warsaw, purchase here

Glam Polish Ladies Choice, review here

Top: KBShimmer Clearly on Top, $5.50 USD here

The Digit-al Dozen Does Fairytales: Alice in Wonderland

Day 2 of The Digit-al Dozen is upon us, and I decided to go with one of my classic nail art styles - the simple skittle manicure! I was inspired by the storybook character Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, mainly her blue dress, big bow, and striped socks! I was partially inspired by a nail art look I found online, but the blogger who posted it seems to have removed her website. You can see the thumbnail here.

On my index and ring finger, I painted a base of Cuccio Verona Lace, and on my middle and pinky nails I painted on a base of Color Club Factory Girl. On my index nail, I painted on the ace of spades design (get it? Alice? With an A?!) with a fine detail brush and black acrylic paint. On my middle nail, I placed these black studs from Born Pretty Store in a bow shape using top coat. On my ring finger, I painted stripes with Cuccio 2am in Hollywood. I topped everything off with top coat.

Although this is a simple design, it wasn't as easy as it looks! It took me several tries to paint the ace of spades correctly (those are so not easy to draw!) I do love the way the bow turned out, though, and it was so easy to put together with the studs.

I am really pleased with how this turned out, though. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite stories and I've always wanted to translate it into a manicure, but I figured the subject matter was too daunting! I think this is definitely a wearable look, though.

Here are the polishes I used. I reviewed the Cuccio shades here and the Color Club here. Again, you can get the black studs here (don't forget to use the code RFL91 for 10% off your Born Pretty Store order!)

Well, that's it for Day 2! Make sure you check out the lovely manicures from the other ladies of The Digit-al Dozen!

An InLinkz Link-up

PRODUCTS USED:
Base: Duri Rejuvacote

Polishes: 
Cuccio Verona Lace + Cuccio 2am in Hollywood, review here
Color Club Factory Girl, review here

Top: KBShimmer Clearly on Top, $5.50 USD here

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:

An InLinkz Link-up

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