31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2015 Round Up

After finishing the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, I thought it would be good to do a round up post where I share a bit about my experience.  As I've mentioned, I used a combination of brand new nail art created specifically for the challenge and nail art I had done in the past that I hadn't shared before.  My main goal was to post daily for 31 days.  You can see all my posts for the challenge at this link: http://www.pixiedustnails.com/search/label/31DC2015
 
Here's a look at all the nail art together...

Delicate Gold Nails

It's DAY 31 of the 31 DAY Challenge!  The theme for Day 31 is "honor nails you love <3."  There was this nail art I kept seeing on Pinterest that I thought was pretty, so I went for it!

Gold Half Moon Nails

Day 30 of the 31 Day Challenge is "inspired by a tutorial."  I had some difficulty with the half moon theme of the challenge so I decided to give it another try for this prompt!  I referred to two tutorials-Nail Art 101 Half Moons Nails Tutorial and Elle How to Create a Half-Moon Manicure.  I used paper hole reinforcements to help with the shape.  It's not perfect but I think it is still an improvement!  I used one of my favorite polishes- Burberry Light Gold No. 107.

Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas Nails

Day 29 of the 31 Day Challenge is "inspired by the supernatural." I wasn't sure what to do for this theme.  I had several ideas and finally decided on one the other day.  I chose Zero, Jack Skellington's ghost dog in The Nightmare Before Christmas!  I used the Nicole by OPI polish from the Selena Gomez collection called "Love Song" for the base color.  For the accent nail, I painted on Zero using a toothpick. I thought about doing other characters from the movie but again didn't have enough time so I settled for making him the star of my nails by putting him on the ring finger and leaving the other nails as is.

Alaska Flag Nail Art and Alaska photos

Day 28 of the 31 Day Challenge is "inspired by a flag." This nail art is inspired by Alaska's flag.  I like their flag a lot because it has the Big Dipper and the North Star on it and I really love stars.  I did this the day before we went to Alaska a couple years ago.  I painted my nails with a blue Loreal nail polish named "Jet Set to Paris."  To make it a little easier I painted yellow dots to represent each star in the Big Dipper and then painted an actual star for the North Star.

Haunted Mansion Nails inspired by the Tightrope Walker

This is the nail art I did yesterday for Day 27 of the 31 Day Challenge - inspired by artwork. Because I was going to spend the day at Disneyland, I chose one of the stretching room portraits in the Haunted Mansion- the tightrope walker.

Nails inspired by the Fourth Doctor's Scarf

Day 26 of the 31 Day Challenge is inspired by a pattern so I'm sharing Doctor Who nail art inspired by the pattern on the Fourth Doctor's scarf!  I did these nails right before I went to WonderCon in 2014 but have yet to post them here.  I dressed like the Fourth Doctor and painted my nails to match my outfit.  I painted the lines using colors similar to his scarf and then I added a matte top coat to give it a soft look.  

Psychedelic Yeti Nails inspired by a look in Project Runway

It's Day 25 of the 31 Day Challenge and the theme is "inspired by fashion."  I'm not the most fashion savvy person but I'm actually a big fan of Project Runway and have watched many seasons of it over the years.  Season 13 had one of my favorite looks created on the show because it featured a psyhedelic yeti!  The Matterhorn at Disneyland is my favorite ride so I love yetis!

Once Upon A Time Storybook Nail Art

Today's theme for the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge is "inspired by book".  Because Once Upon a Time starts it's new season on Sunday, I decided to share this nail art that is inspired by the storybook in the show.

Winnie the Pooh and friends Nail Art

It's Day 23 of the 31 Day Challenge and the prompt is "inspired by a movie."  I chose to share this nail art I did to match my Winnie the Pooh outfit I wore for the Disneyland 10K a couple weeks ago.  I think it fits the theme since Winnie the Pooh does have a couple movies!

Inspired by a Song- Love You Like A Love Song

Day 22 of the 31 Day Challenge is nail art that is inspired by a song.  I chose the song "Love You Like A Love Song" by Selena Gomez & the Scene.  I actually have a Nicole by OPI polish from the Selena Gomez collection called "Love Song" which I thought was perfect for it!  It's a pretty shade of purple and one of my favorites.  I used that as the base and then kept the nail art design simple.  I used a nail art pen to paint on music notes.  On my ring finger I used Sinful Colors "Boom Boom" polish to paint a heart and add some more color to the notes.

Nails Inspired by Blue

I'm a day late for this one but better late than never!  The prompt for Day 21 is Inspired by a Color so I'm sharing this nail art that was inspired by my favorite color- blue!  I did these back when I had the ends of my hair dyed blue so I was definitely feeling inspired by that color at the time.  I used Sinful Colors polish "Why Not" for the lighter blue and Sinful Colors "Blue By You" for the sparkly darker blue.  I used the same tape technique I used for my Disneyland 60th diamond nails and my 5SOS nails.  I really liked how these turned out.

Water Marble Nail Art- Lisa Frank

It's Day 20 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge and the theme is water marble.  I've never done water marble nail art before.  One time my sister did my nails for me but I haven't tried the water marble technique myself.  It was really messy and I thought I didn't do it right but once I cleaned it up and added a top coat, I was surprised to find that it looked better than I thought! 

Galaxy Nails inspired by Epcot

It's day 19 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge which means it's time for galaxy nails.  I love how galaxy nails look so I was excited for this one.

I painted most the nails to look like galaxies using a tutorial by Lacquerstyle.  I painted my ring finger silver and added some lines to try to make it look like Spaceship Earth in Epcot...because that is where I am today! Today is my husband's birthday and we are celebrating at Disney World!  Be sure to check out my Instagram account for photos- I hope to take a picture of my nails there and to post it.  Here are a few more photos of how they turned out.  I'm really happy with them.

HPB Presents Candy Corn Nails

It's the return of candy corn nail art! I did this for two challenges- the 31 Day Challenge and HPB September Blog Link Up. The theme for 31 DC is half moons and the theme for HPB is fall/autumn. This was my first time I've ever really tried to do half moons and I struggled with it. I wanted to do simpler half moon nails with orange polish since I was going for a fall look but it didn't look right so I added yellow to try to fix it. Then it looked so much like candy corn that I decided to go ahead and add white to the tips.

Pink Sparkly French Tip Nails

Day 17 of the 31 Day Challenge is glitter.  For this one, I used shimmery pink polish for the accent nail and then used that same polish to paint the ends of each nail.  I used a polish that was part of the 2013 OPI Couture de Minnie collection called "Magazine Cover Mouse." I originally thought it was a glitter polish but I just learned that it is actually a liquid sand polish.  It's more of a textured polish but it is so shiny and sparkly, it reminds me of glitter!  I decided I'd still go ahead and use it for today's theme because I don't have time to redo it.  This challenge is definitely pushing me to learn more about nail polish and nail art with each prompt!

Geometric Nail Art

The theme for today is geometric. I'm not sure exactly what falls in this category but because this nail art has shapes and lines I think it works.  The design kind of resembles constellations but was actually inspired by the opening credits of a TV show called Selfie.

Pink And White Swirl Nails

Today's prompt for the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge is "Delicate Print." I wasn't sure what to do for this one since it is such a broad theme and I feel like a lot of things could fall into this category (flowers, lace, etc).  For some reason, I kept thinking back to this light pink and white nail art I did.  Not sure why but the look of it seems delicate to me, maybe because of the combination of the light pink and white or maybe it's the swirl pattern. Either way I'm calling it a delicate print.

Sunflowers Nail Art

Day 14 of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge is flowers.  I like yellow flowers so I painted little sunflowers on my nails using a toothpick over a clear base coat.  I was really happy with the result.

Tigger - Tiger Animal Print Nails

It's T-I- double guh- er nails!  Day 13 of the 31 Day Challenge is animal print so I decided to try to do a design that resembles Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.  I painted my nails orange and then added black lines.  I made the lines a little messy hoping that it would make it look more like fur.  Unfortunately when I added my top coat the black got a little smudged but despite that I think it still resembled a tiger.

Bright Pink Striped Nails

Day 12 of the 31 Day Challenge is stripes! After doing a base color, I painted just a single bright pink stripe at the end of each nail.  It is a simple mani but I like how the bright pink stripe makes it more interesting.  I also liked how it is one long stripe when I line up my nails together. 

Blue and Orange Dotty Nails

Today is Day 11 of the 31 Day Challenge and the prompt is polka dots.  I love polka dots!  They are probably my favorite thing to do when it comes to nail art.  They're easy and you can do a lot of things with dots including Mickey ears!  Although I had a few options I decided to share this simple mani that I did to match a dress I wore during the Fall Dapper Day weekend at Disneyland last year.  I painted my nails a sparkly blue and orange and then added 3 dots to each nail.

Colorful Gradient Nails

I have reached Day 10 of the challenge- double digits- woo hoo!  Day 10's prompt is gradient nails.  I've only tried gradient nail art once back in 2012 when I did my pink ombre nails.  I did today's nails specifically for the challenge and used a make up sponge to try to create the gradient effect. I wish I had gotten better photos but the ones I originally took had weird lighting so I had to take a couple more after they had already started to chip at the ends. The nail art didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped and I need more practice at it but I thought the colors were a pretty combination.  They remind me a little bit of a sunset.

Paint the Night Inspired Outfit and Nail Art

It's day 9 of the 31 day challenge and the prompt is a cheerful one- rainbow nails! It was hard to choose between a couple colorful manicures that I haven't shared yet but in the end I decided to post my recent attempt at paint drip nail art.

I had put together an outfit inspired by the new nighttime parade at Disneyland called Paint the Night so I thought paint drips would match well. Instead of picking a color to go underneath, I decided to just do a clear base coat and then added different colors to the tips of my nails trying to make it look like it was drippy paint. 

Silver Glittery Nails for Disneyland 60

Day 8 of the 31 Day Challenge is metallic so I'm sharing some simple silver nails I did for Disneyland's Diamond Celebration.  I had done Disneyland Diamond Nail Art before but when it came time for Disneyland's actual birthday on July 17th, I needed to change it up since those were already starting to chip. I decided to do something simpler and painted my nails a silver color.  Once it was dry, I used some glittery blue polish to carefully add glitter to the end of each nail.  I thought the result was really pretty.

Black and White Nails- Sleepy Hollow

Day 7's prompt is black and white nails so I'm sharing these nails I did last year but never posted.  Like my Flash nails, I also did these before PaleyFest but it was in 2014 and it was for the Sleepy Hollow panel.

Violet with Gray's Anatomy Nail Polish

Day 6 of the 31 Day Challenge is violet nails.  I wasn't sure about what shade of violet it needed to be so I looked at what other bloggers have done for this prompt in the past and it seemed like most shades of purple would do.  I decided I'd share a mani where I paired a violet color with a nail polish by Wet n Wild called "Gray's Anatomy."  The Gray's Anatomy polish is a very interesting shade.  It seems more purple than gray and also has somewhat of a metallic look.  The color looks different depending on how the light is hitting it. I added some hearts to them with the violet polish. Unfortunately I didn't get the best photo of these with the hearts on them but here's what I have! 

Scrooge McDuck Inspired Nails

Day 5 of the 31 Day Challenge is blue nails so I'm sharing this nail art I did a long time ago but never posted here. It's nail art inspired by Scrooge McDuck's jacket!

I did this one shortly after a Long Lost Friends week at Disneyland during which you could meet characters that you don't usually see at the park. Lots of great characters were there but we were most excited about Scrooge McDuck and Ludwig Von Drake.  My husband and I were both big DuckTales fans (I loved Disney afternoons!) so we wore all our DuckTales apparel and got in the line to meet them. The line was long but they were worth the wait.

Shrek Green Nails

It's Day 4 of the 31 Day Challenge and the prompt for it is Green Nails.  I don't use green very often so I didn't have any green nail art I hadn't shared yet.  I rushed to do this nail art a couple days ago so that I'd have time to post it.  I used an old OPI green polish I have called "Who the Shrek Are You?"  I tried to keep the nail art simple but still ended up having a few issues.

Yellow 5SOS Nail Art

Today I'm sharing yellow 5SOS inspired nail art! Day 3 of the 31 Day Challenge is yellow and I'm excited to post these because they are a part of a happy memory. 5SOS is short for 5 Seconds of Summer and is a band from Australia.  My sister is a fan and got concert tickets for her birthday so I made plans to visit so I could go with her and all my sisters.  Before I went, I painted my nails yellow and black and painted the band's tally logo on my thumb.

Pinapple Nail Art / Dole Whip Disneybound

Day 2 of the 31 Day Challenge is orange so I'm sharing some pineapple nail art that I did.  I painted my nails with a bright orange nail polish and then painted pineapples on my ring fingernail and my thumbnail.  I used a toothpick to add the lines to the pineapple.  When I first did this nail art, I wasn't happy with it but looking back at the photos I actually really like how it came out!

The Flash Nail Art

This nail art is inspired by one of my favorite superheroes- the Flash! Day 1 of the 31 Day Challenge is Red so I thought this was the perfect day to share it. I did these for when I went to a panel at Paleyfest about the television shows The Flash and The Arrow.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge - 2015

Tomorrow is September 1st and it is that time of year where a lot of nail bloggers take on the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge.  You can read all about it at one of my favorite nail art blogs, Chalkboard Nails. It is described there as a challenge "where participants create nail art inspired by 31 themes. The themes are broken up into three blocks: colors, styles, and "inspired by." The original intent of the challenge is to post one nail art look per day."

A lot of the people who take on the challenge create nail art for 31 days straight according to the prompts. I've wanted to try it in the past, but I didn't think I could complete it.  I was looking at it again this year however and it seems like the challenge is somewhat open to completing it however works best for you.  Some people take their time with it and spread out the amount of days and others start on it early.

So...I think I'm going to give this a shot!  I'm going to bend the rules a bit to make it work for me.  I won't be painting my nails every day but I'll try to challenge myself to try to at least post each day.  I have lots of nail art that I have yet to share so I'll be using some of those in addition to new ones I do.  Not sure if I'll be able to keep it up for 31 days with my schedule especially since I'll be going out of town for one of the weekends this month but I'm going to try!  It may take me longer than 31 days but I'll do my best!  You'll still see some Disney in there occasionally. ;)

Now on Instagram!

Hi all!  I finally created an Instagram account specifically for Pixie Dust Nails! Originally I had been posting all my photos in my other blog's account but I thought it'd be nice to have all my nail art related posts in it's own place. Please stop by and follow along! :)

Finally created an Instagram account to share my nail pics! Thought I would start with a throwback to my Epic Mickey inspired nails that I did in 2012!

A photo posted by Pixie Dust Nails (Nerissa) (@pixiedustnailsblog) on Aug 27, 2015 at 3:27pm PDT

Happy Friday!

Dark Green and Gold Matte Nails

Here is a manicure I did a few months ago!  I used a dark green polish by Essie called "Mind Your Mittens" and a gold polish by Burberry called Light Gold No. 107.  Once it was all dry I added some dots with the gold and finished it off with a matte top coat.  I used one that I received for Christmas called Ciate Mattnificent matte top coat.  I love the effect a matte coat has on nail polish!  It gives it a softer, less glossy look.  For some reason I didn't get more than one or two photos of this mani.  I still thought I should share it though because I like how it came out! 

Harry Potter Nails

Yesterday, July 31st, was Harry Potter's and J.K. Rowling's birthday!  Here's a throwback post to nail art I did a while back that were Harry Potter inspired!  I kept it simple and painted most of the nails in Gryffindor colors.  On one of the nails I added the number 9 and 3/4 to represent everyone's favorite train platform and on my pinkie I painted the Golden Snitch.  I'd like to do something like this again since I was a bit rushed but I think it still earns some Gryffindor points!  Here it is with my Hogwarts mug:

Disneyland 60 Diamond Celebration Nail Art Tutorial

This year marks Disneyland's 60th anniversary! The actual birthday is July 17 but Disneyland started the party in May with it's big Diamond Celebration. To commemorate it's big 60th, I'm sharing a tutorial on how to do some diamond nail art fit for the occasion.  It's actually really simple to do and you don't need many supplies for it.  Here it is!

Oh Tanner!

Not exactly nail art related but on the day after I shared my Teen Beach 2 inspired nails, I saw Garrett Clayton at Disney California Adventure! He plays Tanner in both Teen Beach Movie and in the sequel. He was really nice! I told him how my youngest sister also likes the movie. I was able to get a picture with him so I thought I would share it here!

Beach Ball Nails - inspired by Teen Beach 2

A couple weeks ago, Teen Beach 2 premiered on the Disney Channel.  Although I think the first one is better, the sequel is enjoyable and now there is a new set of catchy songs that get stuck in my head! Summer isn't my favorite season but the movie definitely got me more excited about summer time and I used it as inspiration for my nails!

Starry Nails for the Fourth

I hope everyone had a happy 4th!  I didn't have enough time to do any elaborate nail art for the holiday this year but I did manage to do something real quick before I went away for the weekend. For the base color, I used two coats of the Sinful Colors polish named "Cinderella."  I wanted a light and cheerful shade of blue and this was just right.  I can definitely see where it gets it's name!  It really does look like the shade of blue of Cinderella's dress and it's slightly sparkly!

Mad Men Nail Art

Today is the Mad Men finale. I've been rewatching episodes all week, mostly my favorites and whatever episode is on AMC when I turn on the television. I've always wanted to try Mad Men inspired nail art so I finally sat down and did it!

Springtime Flower Nail Art using Pure Ice Happy Hour Polish

 

It's springtime which means bright colors and flowers!  I did this flower nail art for Easter this year.  I used a nail polish I recently bought called "Happy Hour" by Pure Ice and I absolutely love the color.  It's a very pretty shade of coral. I found it for less than $2 at Walmart. I liked the color so much that I didn't add anything to it for a few days until right before Easter which was when I added the flower on the ring finger.

Nails Inspired by Chip from Beauty and the Beast

For this year's spring Dapper Day at Disneyland I wore a look inspired by Belle of Beauty and the Beast.  To go with it, I used a tutorial posted on Disney Style to paint my nails to look like Chip from the movie.  I didn't like the outlining so I skipped that part.  I was in a rush to do them because I picked my outfit at the last minute due to weather but I think they still came out okay!  I hope to try it again sometime! 

Here's how it looked with the rest of my outfit.  You can kind of see my nails in the photo below:

To read more about my experience at Dapper Day be sure to check out my recap on my other blog My World Showcase!

Mint and Gold Heart Nails

Here is my mani I did the week before Valentine's.  It was a busy week so I never got around to taking pictures of it before it started chipping!  In fact this is the only photo I have but thought I'd share it anyway.  I painted my nails with a mint polish and then used a gold nail polish to quickly add a heart to the ring finger.  I always have a hard time trying to decide what to pair mint polish with but I think the gold went with it okay.  What do you think?  What colors do you like to pair mint with?

Blue and Pink Nails- Into the Woods

 

Hi everyone!  I'm finally sharing some more nail designs!  I did this one to match another dress.

Remember that tree silhouette dress I wore to the Into the Woods Reunion?  When I was shopping for for it there was also a Ted Baker dress that I really liked but it was too expensive.  My husband continued to keep an eye on the dress afterwards and when it went on sale he bought it and surprised me with it.  Now I have two dresses with trees on them that I love!