"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Recreation

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday! And your Halloween holiday if you celebrate. I have the last of my posts for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge and what will most likely be my last Halloween design of the year. Today is recreation.

Thick oozing blood. Not exactly as I imagined, but I still like it. Looking at them in person, they look like I've been scratching at something containing blood. Blood drips are all over the internet, so I do not have one particular person to credit. For my dripping blood, I used Essie Blood Curdling, a little Blood Curdling plus black mixed together, and black. 

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Trick or Treat

I hope you are enjoying your Tuesday! One day closer to Halloween! I have another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge. Today is treat or treat.

When I think of trick or treating, candy comes to mind first. And the first Halloween candy I think of is always candy corn. So I decided on a candy corn gradient. Fun, easy, and just screams candy corn.

I started with a coat of Pure Ice Super Star! as my white base. Then I painted wide stripes of Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow, NYC Times Square Tangerine, and Super Star! onto a makeup sponge. Gradients are one of the easiest nail art techniques. The only hard part is the cleanup if you end up with too much polish on your skin.

I looked yesterday at some of my nail art and realized that an Asian site had stolen one of my images. They very badly tried to erase my watermark and then added their own. I've been considering adding a watermark  closer to the nail, something that cannot be cropped out and is hard to photoshop out. Let me know what you think of the new watermark.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Graveyard

I hope you are enjoying your Monday! Halloween is almost here! The next three days including today, I will have themed nail art to share.

What says graveyard more than headstones? I started off with one coat of Julep Dendrie, a light gray creme. I only own one gray, so I did a little mixing. I mixed up two shades of gray using black and white. One slightly darker than Dendrie and the other almost black. I sponged on the lighter shade to give my nails a stone look. The darker shade became my background/shadow. The grass is Pure Ice Wild Thing and Ulta The Jungle Look. Finally, I wrote RIP with black and a small dotting tool.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Witches

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Its a little late in the day, but I finally have my post for the This Is Halloween Challenge. Today is witches.

As soon as it all came together, I realized the black and purple look random. But I still like it. For half of my fingers, I used two coats of Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, otherwise known as Scandalous. Facets of Fuchsia was released in a limited edition collection. When they decided to make it a core color, they changed the name. So if you decide to purchase it now, look for Scandalous.

The rest of my finger got one coat of Zoya Skylar. Then I sponged on Wet n Wild Saved by the Blue to give my sky some dimension and depth. On my index finger, I drew grass with Pure Ice Wild Thing and Ulta The Jungle Look. On my ring finger, I drew a glowing moon with Sinful Colors Unicorn. Finally I stamped on a cat and witch with Sinful Colors Black on Black and plate BM13.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Gradient

I hope you are enjoying your Monday! I have another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge to share with you. Today is gradient. 

I wanted something without orange or black, but still Halloween-ish. So I went with green and purple. After   base coat of white, I sponged on a gradient of Kleancolor Neon Green and Beauty UK Electric Purple. Little more sheer than I wanted, but I still like it.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Bats

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! Another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge is here. Today is bats.

I took inspiration from a gorgeous design done by Macabre Manicures. For my gradient background, I started with Sally Hansen Diamond as a base. Then sponged Sinful Colors Midnight Blue heavily on the tips and lighter as I went almost all the way to the cuticle. I love how little bits of the holo show through the blue. Then with Sinful Colors Black on Black, plate BM13, and KKCenterHK plate m80, I stamped on two different bat images.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Zombies

I hope you are enjoying your Monday! I have another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge. Today is zombies. I'm not a big fan of zombies, but deciding on a design was fun.

This design was inspired by The Daily Nail. Her skin seems to be sliding off and bunching up. Mine is melting off in blobs. I started with one coat of Julep Molly. When it was completely dry, I added two coats of Julep Alyson. I wish I had a nude closer to my own skin color. I think it would have made it creepier looking. When it was beginning to dry but still tacky, I used my finger to gently push the nude polish toward the tip of my nail. For the oozing globby blood, I used Julep Demi and Essie Blood Curdling. To give the blood a nice shine but keep the glob look, I dabbed on Gelous with a nail art brush. Finally for depth, I smudged on Barielle Back to Nature to give the flesh some dimension. I cleaned up a little, but I think leaving it unperfect made it more fitting for zombie nails.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Jack-O-Laterns

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! I have another post for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge. Today is jack-o-laterns.

For my pumpkin orange, I used Essence No Better Way to Sky. The light burnt orange creme is a perfect pumpkin color. Next I drew on faces with a tiny nail art brush and black acrylic paint. I think they're kind of cute. But the next time, I'd like to try something a bit more intricate. Possibly realistic.

"This Is Halloween" Challenge: Ghosts

I hope you are enjoying your Monday! Sorry for the late post. Today I have another bit of nail art for the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge.

Ghosts! They honestly did not turn out how I wanted, but maybe I'm just being my own worst critic. I got compliments on them from co-workers and customers. One customer asked me if they were stick on. The design is very easy. I did two coats of Pure Ice Super Star! as my white base. Then with acrylic paint and a dotting tool, I made the eyes and mouths. I saw a design like this somewhere that inspired me, but I honestly cannot remember where.

Halloween Water Marble

I hope you are enjoying your Friday! I have another part of the This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge to share with you. Today is water marbling. This was my first time doing an actual water marble. I've done one marble before and scooped it out with a piece of plastic, but this is the first time my fingers have actually been dunked. It was fun, frustrating, and messy.

Not the best, but not the worst. And please excuse the mess. The clean up was difficult. I taped off the skin around my nails, but the polish still got on me. I used Pure Ice Super Star! as my base. For the marble, Beauty UK Black, Sally Hansen Die-Hard Fan, and NYC Times Square Tangerine.

One, Two, Freddy's Coming For You

I hope you are enjoying your Monday! It is the first day of October (YAY) and the first day of the challenge I am participating in. The This Is Halloween Nail Art Challenge started by Bec at Lacquer Dreams. The challenge runs the length of October, just not everyday. Today is horror movies. I LOVE horror movies! I based my design on my favorite man in the horror genre.

If the title didn't give it away already, this manicure is all about Nightmare on Elm Street. I absolutely love Freddy Krueger! I did green and red stripes for his dirty sweater, slashes for his razor fingers, blood splatter, and brown for his hat. I'm hoping the sweater and slashes are enough to scream Freddy.

For his sweater, I used Essie Blood Curdling and Color Club Artsy Crafty. I sponged on a sheer layer of Color Club Rebel Spirit to give it an even dirtier look. For the slashes, I painted on two coats of Orly Decades of Dysfunction. When it was mostly dry but still a bit tacky, I ran lines of Blood Curdling over it with a nail art brush. The blood splatter starts off with two coats of Decades of Dysfunction. Then I used a straw and blew polish to create the splatter. Finally the brown for his hat. I used Rebel Spirit and sponged on light patches of Julep Olivia to give a bit of dimension.

So, what's your favorite scary movie?

 Check out the other amazing designs done for this challenge!