30 Inspirations Nail Art Challenge 2014

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Courtnee ♥’s ... said:
Wow, everyone's is amazing.

I done mine but I used glitter instead of doing dots, is that OK?

I'll redo it and post it when I'm happy with it. :D /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
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Glitter is totally fine. Just like the colours aren't cast in stone (many have chosen blue or something else over nudes/roses) the dots aren't either!

 
Here's my mani. I used Juleps Jeanne, Margaret, Monaco, Bailey, Lacey & Bunny. I really like how it turned out. My original plan was to also do the dots on the ring finger, but I kept smudging it so I gave up and put glitter on it.

image.jpg

 
Since I previously did a mani based on the first inspiration, I wanted to push it a little further.

This is a mint/teal dotted gradient. They remind me of a cute speckled dinosaur lol

I painted the base and then worked my way from lightest to darkest, from base of the nail to tip, with a small & large dotting tool. I LOVE the way they turned out!

*Butter London - Fiver (base)

*Essie - Mint Candy Apple

*Butter London - Poole

*Zoya - Zuza

* Butter London - Slapper

20140614_024744.jpg

 
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Stitchie said:
Since I previously did a mani based on the first inspiration, I wanted to push it a little further.

This is a mint/teal dotted gradient. They remind me of a cute speckled dinosaur lol

I painted the base and then worked my way from lightest to darkest, from base of the nail to tip, with a small & large dotting tool. I LOVE the way they turned out!

*Butter London - Fiver (base)

*Essie - Mint Candy Apple

*Butter London - Poole

*Zoya - Zuza

* Butter London - Slapper

20140614_024744.jpg
Click to expand...
Love this! It does look like a cute speckled dinosaur :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
 
Stitchie said:
Since I previously did a mani based on the first inspiration, I wanted to push it a little further.

This is a mint/teal dotted gradient. They remind me of a cute speckled dinosaur lol

I painted the base and then worked my way from lightest to darkest, from base of the nail to tip, with a small & large dotting tool. I LOVE the way they turned out!

*Butter London - Fiver (base)

*Essie - Mint Candy Apple

*Butter London - Poole

*Zoya - Zuza

* Butter London - Slapper

20140614_024744.jpg
Click to expand...
This is FANTASTIC!!

 
Lolo22 said:
Love this! It does look like a cute speckled dinosaur :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
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jesemiaud said:
This is FANTASTIC!!
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Thank you everyone! =)

jesemiaud said:
My interpretation of Challenge #1.

I used Julep Ariana as the base and the dots are an unnamed polish from The New Black (don't you hate when polishes aren't named? Serious pet peeve) and Deborah Lippmann Mermaid Eyes.
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Cute! I like the layering of the different color dots on top of each other, gives it some extra fun =)

And YES!!! Unnamed polishes drive me crazy! I won't buy them if they don't have a name, even a code number is ok, just something to identify it.

 
I have just posted the full first set of inspiration manis in the first post of this thread! 

I am loving all the creative nail art so far. I am excited to do my own mani and share it later this weekend.

 
So many awesome manis!

@@Meggpi I'm really enjoying the gradient effect on your index and little fingers. And blues, of course, I love those. :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

@ The colours are both so beautiful! The blue almost glows.

@@Supreme Congrats on your first entry. It's super that you chose to go for it! I'm not sure what you mean about not being able to get dots on one side of the nail; it looks good with that placement too! If it was not exactly what you intended, perhaps you can explain what the issue was and someone here might be able to give you some tips based on their experience.

@@Lolo22 Yours has a more 'edgy' feel due to the Disco Inferno. I like how you combined it with white - it's not a combination I would have thought of and it looks really neat, and makes the shine stand out really well.

@@bonita22 Wow! Beautiful blues; and sometimes the 'flubs/challenges' turn out making the mani even better - I think the glitter accent nail is a great touch, though it might not have been in the original plan. Looks like you have a nice collection there in the background. :D /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

@@Stitchie The dot gradient is something I've wanted to do for a while too, but just haven't gotten to it yet! The effect is fantastic and I like the mint/teal transition!

@@jesemiaud Love the bright combination - I have to use purple more often! Mermaid eyes is really lovely. I so agree on being aggravated by polishes sans names! I just got a pink my mom got in her Clinique bonus, and being a sample size it had no name on it. Onto the web we go, but sometimes it's almost impossible to identify the colour; and it's definitely even worse when the name doesn't even exist. Some of these brands don't seem that interested in people buying dupes/backups/replacements.

It's neat to see how everyone uses the idea differently, too. Many used dots, and many used a silvery/sparkly feature; and @@christa used both the nude and dot aspects. I think I'll not use the dots, exactly, just to be different, but we'll see, I want to do mine still!

And now we have the full Set One of Inspirations posted. Thank-you so much to @, @@Lolo22, and @@jesemiaud for their wonderful Inspirations, and @ for the combined image. :flowers:

 
Ugh. And I think pretty much every picture is going to go sideways (landscape) no matter if it shows up correctly in my phone! Grrr!

 
@@Monika1  Thanks for the props and good point about asking for help-

General question for the group:

Did you guys use toothpicks for the dots?!?  I ended up just using the tip of the brush very carefully lol and now I'm wondering what everyone else did.

 
Here's an important update to our Set Two Inspirations. @@Stitchie was really great in getting us a submission for Set One, but it's now going to be in Set Two, so we'll have to wait to see it. :( /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />  Sorry - many images and PM threads to juggle... There are still three spots up for Set Two; I'm looking forward to more submissions! Be brave - we're all learning and experimenting here. :hugs3:

Inspiration Set Two

Please sign up by June 21st & submit photo(s) to bellatrix42 by June 29th.

1. disconik

2. bellatrix42

3. Stitchie

4.

5.

6.

Inspiration Set Three

Please sign up by July 7th & submit photo(s) to bellatrix42 by July 15th.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Inspiration Set Four

Please sign up by August 7th & submit photo(s) to bellatrix42 by August 15th.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Inspiration Set Five

Please sign up by September 7th & submit photo(s) to bellatrix42 by September 15th.

1. Courtnee ♥’s ...

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

 
bonita22 said:
@@Monika1 Thanks!

@@Supreme I use dotting tools. I got a pack of 5 on ebay for a buck. I used to use a bobby pin and it works just as well for dots.
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@@Supreme and @@bonita22 you're welcome!

In terms of the dots, I agree dotting tools are great, and many of us are using them. But anything you find at home that has a small rounder tip will give you more control in making small even round dots. Toothpick tips are good because they're much smaller than a regular brush end. You know how there are the round toothpicks and the more flat rectangular ones? - The round ones are better for getting that round dot. But the dressmaker's sewing pins with the round plastic ends (that coloured little plastic ball) are really quite good because they don't absorb as much polish and glob up as easily as a wooden toothpick. That nice round ball is very similar to the metal little ball at the end of a dotting tool. Be careful when you're cleaning them as acetone can sometimes 'melt' them. I'd use a tissue quickly before the polish gets dry. You can also use the tiny pins that just have the little flat round 'nailhead' end for smaller dots (and more remover-resilience). And the sharp tip of the pin can make super tiny dots! The back end of a plastic or wooden round makeup brush is handy for bigger dots. So lots of ideas. Take a small drop of polish with your brush and dab it on a piece of plastic or cardboard or metal < your 'palette'. Then take the pin and lightly dip in the drop and then gently touch the nail with it. When the drop starts getting sticky, your dots will get stringy, so clean the pin and create a new dot on the 'palette' and continue.

 
magicalmom said:
Inspiration #1!

Thumb, first finger, and pinkie, and dots in Color Club's London Calling. Middle and ring finger in Cover Girl Outlast in Vio-last.

image.jpg
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Nice! Violet-lime-mint - yummy. I think there's no problem with the image orientation other than you don't want it like that! :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Does anyone have any tips for getting the images in portrait as intended?

At least yours looks good in the gallery thumbnail! Mine always get warped by being stretched out there. Suggestions welcome on that too!

 
acostakk said:
My attempt! I know the base is Sinful Colors Baby Blue, the darker dots are Revlon Charming and the lighter dots are a Julep. I'm not home right now to check it :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
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Ooo, so sweet and glossy! I like the visual effect in this photo where the dots look really raised with the glass-surface of the topcoat. What is it? Or is it just the polish from Sinful Colors that does that?

 
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Supreme said:
@@Monika1 Thanks for the props and good point about asking for help-

General question for the group:

Did you guys use toothpicks for the dots?!? I ended up just using the tip of the brush very carefully lol and now I'm wondering what everyone else did.
Click to expand...
I used dotting tools also, but before I had any I used a pin poked into a pencil eraser and that worked really well too. I think you did a great job!
 
OK folks!  As @ has announced, she has placed the full Set One of Inspiration manis from our volunteer submitters in the first message of this thread under Inspirations !  Inspiration Set One. Yay! Thank-you to all of you!

Some of us might want to see a larger image for these inspirations too, so I thought it would be great for our volunteers (if you like, @, @@Lolo22, @@jesemiaud) to post their images in the thread with a little bit more detail. If not, bellatrix42 or I will make sure to pop ours and them in here in a larger form when we can.

This is what I was thinking (and all Set One mani 'larger images' and details could be posted any time now):

Here is Inspiration #1. Please aim to post response manis from June 13th to 17th.

I admire all of the Zoya Naturel-based nail art I see online, and was excited to create my own mani using the same colour palette. I used Zoya Taylor as the base, and created the dots with a few dotting tools of various sizes using Zoya Brigitte and Odette, and OPI It's Frosty Outside. I tried dot-on-dots as I haven't done much of that; and I like how the OPI textured polish created a more 'raised' look.

Yeah, I'm a bit verbose sometimes; so here's an alternate format:

Polishes used: Zoya Taylor, Odette, Brigitte; OPI It's Frosty Outside

Topcoat: Cult Nails Wicked Fast topcoat (over base) & Poshé Super Fast Drying topcoat (over dots)

Tools: dotting tools, brush for cuticle clean-up

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