Time Periods 12: Roaring 20s

The twenties is such a great theme with loads of fun possibilities. Initially I wanted to do something based on the artist Erte but couldn’t think of a good way of doing it on my nails, so I moved on to Art Deco in general and thought of the pretty stained glass windows associated with the movement.

It was a challenge to do detailed work like this on my nails and although I’m happy with the result I know I need to keep working on designs like this to get them neater and feel really proud of my work.

I used: My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI, Unfor-greta-bly Blue – OPI, Your Web or Mine – OPI, Light Blue – Kiko, Don’t Mess with OPI, Papaya Punch – China Glaze, The Last Trial – Anny, Yellow – Sweets Sweet, 2007 – Bourjois

Polka Dots – Inspired by Flamenco Dresses

I went to the Feria in Córdoba at the weekend, which is an annual event in the city where everyone goes out for dancing, drinking and fun times for 10 days at the end of May. We also had a friend visiting over the weekend, so I didn’t have a lot of time for nail art as we were pretty busy.

I wanted to do something special for the Feria and although I was given all kinds of fantastic suggestions, due to time constraints, I ended up with simple polka dot nails inspired by the gitana flamenco dresses which most of the women there wear. They were fun and Feria appropriate!

I used: Do You Lilac It? – OPI, Mellow Yellow – Sally Hansen

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Jenny Packham

I felt like having red nails, so when I saw this glamorous red dress by Jenny Packham, I knew it was the one I wanted to use as my inspiration for this day of the challenge.

I had fun freehanding in some squiggly designs which look a bit floral but weren’t really supposed to be flowers.

I’m pleased with the result – they seem classy yet fun and quirky at the same time, which is what my nail art mission statement would be if I had one!

I used: The Boltons – Nails Inc, Don’t Pretzel My Buttons – OPI

I’ve got a bit of catching up with my posts to do over the next week or so, as I’ve fallen behind in the challenges due to it being feria week here in Córdoba, having a guest to stay this weekend and a trip to Granada planned for our long weekend next week! I’ll try to get back to more regular posts after that!

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Monique Lhuillier

I was feeling a bit exhausted from doing a new manicure every day (again) and was looking for something quite simple for this one, which is not easy given some of Monique Lhuillier’s most fabulous creations are anything but simple.

This bold but simple silver and black dress was just what I was looking for and I’d just picked up a new silver polish which I was eager to try out, so it all worked out perfectly! The silver needed several coats but was very pretty and looked amazing in the sunshine.

I was fairly pleased with the result – it was a pretty manicure but maybe a bit too simple for my taste. I think my skill with the striping brush is improving and my lines are looking less and less wobbly every time I try something like this.

I used: Just Gorgeous – Anny, Black Taxi – Nails Inc.

Time Periods Challenge: 11 – Industrial Revolution

An artist I absolutely love and associate strongly with the Industrial Revolution in Britain is L. S. Lowry whose paintings depicted the (grim!) north of England after industrialisation, with factories, mills and terraced houses, but also with quirky little stick figures and even stick-dogs filling the street scenes.

I wanted to base my nails on his paintings and particularly liked a painting titled Industrial Landscape. I used elements of this painting but I’m not sure it turned out as well as I hoped it would – it was pretty difficult to get the feeling of the painting on my little nails!

I used: My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI, French Quarter for Your Thoughts – OPI, Nein Nein Nein OK Fine – OPI, A-taupe The Space Needle – OPI, Porchester Square – Nails Inc, Cadogan Square – Nails Inc, Hampstead Gardens – Nails Inc, Vintage Blue – Marionnaud.

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Giambattista Valli

I had a great manicure idea planned for this one and then I got home and saw that just another nail art blog had done a fantastic version of the exact same manicure I was going to do! So I started searching for something new and found this pretty draped fabric dress. Surprisingly it’s my second yellow dress that I’ve used for inspiration in this challenge even though yellow is not really one of my favourite colours either on my nails or in my wardrobe.

It was also one of those manicures which I started on without really knowing where I was going with it and how it would end up. It was fun and I got quite a few compliments on it today which I didn’t expect, but I’m still not convinced yellow is my colour!

I used: Sumner Place – Nails Inc, Yellow – Sweets Sweet, Hampstead Gardens – Nails Inc, Holland Park Avenue – Nails Inc, Boot Camp – GOSH

Around the World Challenge: 4 – Rio de Janeiro

The obvious choice for Rio de Janeiro would have been carnival, but I wanted to look at a different but equally colourful aspect of this city. I’ve always associated Rio with bright colours and the pictures of its street art I’ve seen have probably contributed to my imagining it as a bright and vibrant place.

A quick google search confirmed that there really is a lot of colourful street art there with one of the most interesting being this project where 34 buildings were painted with bright rainbow stripes to create a community artwork. I loved this inspirational idea and thought it was definitely worth trying to recreate on my nails!

I was feeling a bit too lazy to do the design on both hands, so my right hand just has rainbow stripes rather than the whole building effect.

I used: My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI, Warwick Avenue – Nails Inc, Sensation – Color Addict, St James’s – Nails Inc, Psychedelic Orange – Rimmel, Light Blue – Kiko, Matte Aqua – BYS, Where’s My Chauffeur? – Essie, Take it Mint – Catrice, Def Defying – China Glaze, Mellow Yellow – Sally Hansen, Yellow – Sweets Sweet, Miss Grey – GOSH, Dreamer – Revlon.

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by L’Wren Scott

I love L’Wren Scott’s designs so much that I could do a month’s worth of nails inspired by her! So it was really difficult to choose one design to base my manicure around for this day of the challenge. These dresses screamed nail art to me though, with their vertical stripes and black or white zigzag shapes.
I painted the stripes in with a medium sized striping brush and then used tape to create the black or white zigzags over the stripes.

I felt pleased with this design, it was fun but not too in your face – I’ll be sad to take this one off!

I used: My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI, French Quarter For Your Thoughts – OPI, Black Taxi – Nails Inc.

Couture Nail Art Challenge: Inspired by Stella McCartney

I’m not used to changing my manicure every single day and this week seems to have been a busy one for me and for my nails! So I was looking for quite a simple idea for the Stella McCartney inspired manicure and found it in this bright colour-block dress.

It was an easy design to do with a layer of a sheer white topped with a curved orange block and a white tip. As much as I love challenging myself with intricate pattern and detail, it was nice to do something simple and bright!

I used: Top of the Ice Stream – Essence, Papaya Punch – China Glaze, My Boyfriend Scales Walls – OPI

Time Periods Challenge: 10 – Victorian Era

An image search of the Victorian Era threw up so many possibilities for nail art,but I decided I’d have a try at lace, which I associated with Victorian fashion.

There are so many fantastic lace nail art pictures out there, but this one caught my eye and didn’t look totally impossible to, if not recreate at least take some inspiration from. I used a more muted base colour and had a lot of fun trying to create lacy designs. My freehand skills might not be quite as fantastic as the talented artist who did the nails in my inspiration pic, but I’m pretty pleased with the result!

I used: Don’t Pretzel My Buttons – OPI, black acrylic paint.