33 DC: Based on Pattern in home

Again this is going to be a quickie because I'm quite busy at the moment. I got some Deborah Lippmann polishes really cheaply from TK Maxx and I wanted to show you them so here is Cleopatra in New York and Nefertiti with a bundle monster splatter stamp (which I love!)

You might be asking what's the pattern- it is mess, I love having a lot of stuff out on my desk which is perfectly organised to me but messy to others. Sadly this is the last design for a while in which I will have long nails because I had to cut them down to look a bit more professional for an interview :(. I'll be back tomorrow with a pre prepared post and some awesome nail art :)

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33DC Indian Design

I decided to go with an intricate design inspired by the sort of patterns often associated with Indian art and henna. Also today is the exciting debut of my new rounded nail shape! I broke off the corner of my middle finger doing some heavy lifting earlier this week and decided to try a new nail shape rather than losing all my length.I was really worried about it but now I really like it :).

I started this design with a base coat of Collection Scorched, then added the details with Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, NYC Water Street Blue, Full Metal Jacket and my Barry M black nail art pen.

This design came out really well and I love the autumn feel this has with a pop of blue.

Remember to check out everyone else's Indian themed nail art and pop back tomorrow to see a new UK indie polish with some cute nail art (I'll give you a hint, it's about balloons)

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31DC Inspired by a Book

These nails are inspired by the cover art on the book Beauty by Robin McKinley. It's a fantastic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, slightly darker and a lot more realistic. Anyway the cover of the book is red with silver roses and flourishes so I thought I'd recreate that look.

The base colour is Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, the glitter is Pocket Money Polishes Sparks Fly. I did the stamp with Barry M Silver Foil which I also used for the roses along with A England Dorian Gray and Dance Legend Teleportation. Teleportation is incredibly holographic and I love the effect this gives the roses.

The stamping plate is Moyou plate 04 from the Sailor Collection. My moyou plates are simply incredible, perfectly etched with really cool designs.

I love how this turned out, the contrast of silver on red is exquisite and the tiny holographic flash is great. I actually have plans to do some more holographic roses for a later manicure in the challenge.

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31DC Galaxy

I wanted to do something a little different for galaxy and try and portray the majority of space which is big and black and dusty. Forgive me for the shine on these pictures, I am going to be making a lightbox asap but I need to find a suitable box first.

I started with a layer of black and then sponged my dark effect polishes over the top. The circles came out of Smitten Polish The Ghost of Jupiter and they represent distant planets and stars. 

The polishes: A England Bridal Veil, Deborah Lippmann Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Dollish Polish The Man in Black and Smitten Polish The Ghost of Jupiter. 

I then matted this and it looks amazing matte, you can see the sparkle in the black undies and more of the colours from The Man in Black. 

Two days of space themed manis, I'll have to try and avoid them for the rest of the challenge. Tomorrow is the dreaded water marble which I am definitely not looking forward to, it's the technique that just doesn't work for me.

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31DC Polka Dots

I love challenges! I love when you push yourself to do something a little unusual because 40 other people are doing the same prompt and you come up with something like this:

This is so not me; it's bright pink but also subtle because of the nude base.

This manicure started off with two coats of Deborah Lippmann Prelude to a Kiss. I then used a striping brush to add the shapes in Emily de Molly Where Boys Fear to Tread. I picked this up on a sale site on facebook and it's not one I would have bought new but I do love it, it's so holographic and the colour is a gorgeous bright fuchsia. I used my striping brush to add pink dots with Where boys fear to tread and OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls then for the finishing touch added the dots in black with my Barry M nail art pen. The following photo is deliberately blurred to show off the holographic nature of the polish.

This is one of those "I'm not really sure where it was going when I started but I love where it ended up" nail art designs. You can do this too, just stick to a really simple colour palette (I chose pink and ran with it) and try to keep your lines curvy because that way they look much more organic than if there are sharp corners.

I feel like my skills with my nail art brushes are getting better and I'm really pleased with the content I've been making for this challenge and I hope you've been enjoying it too :)

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Blood and Fire Nail Art

I did some nail art on top of yesterday's swatch of Dragon Glass Nails Blood and Fire. I have been fancying doing ikat nails for quite a while and thought that doing them in darker colours would be cool.

I love this, it's two coats of Blood and Fire, two coats of top coat, the ikat design in NYC Full metal jacket, Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire and the drew on the lines using my Barry M black nail art pen.

It's not perfect but it looks fantastic, really vampy and cool.

Ikat is very versatile and can make all sorts of polish combinations go together. It's also very very easy to do.

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Flakie and holographic dotticure

I returned to my favourite style of manicure- the gradient dotticure. This time I used a pale pink base OPI Bubblebath which I got really cheap in a set from TK Maxx. I then dotted over with Ray of light by Deborah Lippmann and Moondance by Topshop.

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Hidden holographic tape mani

I decided to do a taping manicure over my Topshop holographic polish Moondance. I went for something very simple, just three diagonal lines but this looks really classy and makes your nails look longer.

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Ray of Light

I got Deborah Lippmann's Ray of light after seeing this post by Globe and Nail even though it was horrifically expensive and I had to have it shipped from America. It was worth it- this polish is beautiful, a deep blue with flakes which shift between red and green. I actually copied the stud detail from Globe and Nail as well although I used yellow rhinestones.

Ray of Light

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