Amazing Where Are My Challenge Posts? AKA How I'm Participating This Year Trendy

Hi everyone! Today is the first day of the 31 Day Challenge 2016, and I'm so excited to see what everyone comes up with! Personally, I've decided to do things a little differently this year. With all the changes in my job, my life, the scope of blogging and social media... It seemed best to try something new. 

So, my plan for this year is to do all of the challenge prompts on sets of plastic nail tips and film insta-tutorials at the same time.

Here's why:

1. I don't make enough video content, and this will force me to do it. I love watching everyone else's videos, and now I will actually be contributing!
2. I get to keep the nail tips after I'm done and add them to my sample board at work for clients!
3. Working on a nail tip is closer to working on a client than if I were to do the nail art on my own hands. I'll get more practice!
4. Everything I wear on my own hands gets thrashed at work.

Between you and me, I am feeling a bit guilty about not sticking to my usual challenge format. But I'm trying not to be too hard on myself about it, and I know this will still be plenty challenging. I hope you will enjoy the tutorials just as much as my old types of challenge posts! 

As for what you can expect here on ye olde blog...

⋗ I added an Instagram widget above the main post area which will take you right to the Insta posts (you can view them all regardless of if you have an Instagram account or not).
⋗ I will also likely do a few summary-style roundup posts throughout the duration of the challenge.

And finally...

Not into Instagram? The posts will also be pushed to my Facebook and Tumblr.

Thank you, and enjoy! 

Amazing The 31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2016 Trendy

September is almost here, and that means the 31 Day Challenge is almost here, too! I always take on this challenge every year, and, also as always, I invite you to join me! if you're interested in challenging yourself and your nail art, The 31 Day Challenge is perfect for you.

Unfamiliar with the challenge? Stop by the 31 Day Challenge FAQ to learn more!

Want to check out the work that I've done previously? Check out my roundups for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

And one final note: don't forget to use this year's hashtag: #31DC2016!

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Here are the 31 Day Challenge prompts for 2016! Feel free to share, repost, upload to your blog, put on Instagram, etc. Click to enlarge.

Amazing The 31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2015 Roundup (& Only a Year Late, Too!) Trendy

Almost a year ago, in September 2015, I tackled the 31 Day Challenge for the fifth time ever. I shamefully forgot to do a roundup last year, but figured "better late than never" and completed it this morning. You can also check out the roundup of my manicures from 2015 on my 31DC2015 Pinterest board.

Click any photo to be taken to the original post.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

My personal favorites are the crop circles, the lavender blossoms, and the southwest-inspired final manicure.

Amazing The 31 Day Challenge 2016 Update Trendy

Hi everyone! I've been receiving lots of tweets, messages, and emails about whether or not I am hosting the 31 Day Challenge this year! The good news is that, yes, I will be hosting it! The bad news is that I don't have the prompt images ready yet. I will have them ready to go in the next week or so, and definitely before the traditional September 1st start date, so just bear with me for a few days.

In the meantime, you can check out the 31 Day Challenge FAQ to start learning more about this fun yearly tradition!

See you soon!

Amazing Watercolor Wash with Splattered Accents Trendy

Recently, I had the very exciting opportunity to do an interview with our local CW station here in Phoenix, CW6! I knew they would be filming an up-close view of me doing some nail art, so I knew I had to do something jazzy on my own nails, too. I adapted this look from a Neiru lesson called "Fuchsia Swirl" by Mariko Shida.

It's super easy to get this look, especially if you're working with gel. I'm sure many of you guys have seen the drag marble looks with nail polish, right? Well this is the same, but in gel, you aren't working against the evaporating solvents and drying nail polish!

After prepping and applying your base coat, start with one coat of your main base color and cure. I'm using Presto Sordino.

Apply a second coat of your base color, but don't cure just yet! Add some swipes of your additional colors, as well as some thin lines of black gel. Clean off a striper brush, and use it to drag through the wet gel. This look is more of a "long, swoopy lines" type of marble, but you can draw whatever pattern you want. Cure your marbling.

Finally, add some splattered details. I actually used Gelish Pinch of Pepper for this particular manicure, but you could hand paint on some black and white as well.

Full product list:
Gelish Foundation and Top It Off
Presto Sordino (grey)
Presto Bis (mustard)
Presto Garante (blue)
Presto Con Amore (neon yellow)
Gelish Carnaval Hangover (purple)
Gelish Pinch of Pepper (black and white glitter)
Gelish Matte Top It Off

If you're curious, you can also check out my interview with the CW! Here is the manicure I was working on for the segment (shoutout to my friend Kristi for stepping up as a last minute model).

A photo posted by Chalkboard Nails (Sarah) (@chalkboardnails) on Jun 3, 2016 at 10:08am PDT

Amazing The Collector - Golden Decals for Your Odder Side Trendy

I titled these nails "The Collector."

Doesn't it seem like an amalgamation of weird items that you'd find in some spooky antique shop, owned by a weird dude that probably does a little spellcasting on the side?

These golden Wrap Artist decals pair with the soft, pink base in a really cool way. It's a sort of girly-meets-peculiar juxtaposition that I really enjoy!

I began by applying Presto Secco as my gel polish base. It's a really pretty soft pink that I actually bought for bridal season, but that works great year round as a more "natural" look!

Then, I applied the Wrap Artist decals. These are water slide decals, which is my preferred method of application for decals. They just work better! I used decals from both the "Bone Structure" and "Oddities" sheets for this look, but you should really just go look around the Wrap Artist site, 'cause there are so many awesome options.

After blotting off any excess water, I applied my gel topcoat to seal everything in and cured. The decals are very thin - I only needed one coat of gel top to smooth everything away.

I had a few people at work questioning the weirdness of this manicure (though just as many thought it was awesome, too). A client was like, "Um, did you know you have bugs on your nails?"

Yeah, I'm aware, and I love it!

Amazing Sushi is Bae Nail Art Trendy

I love sushi and so does most of the rest of the world. It's fresh and delicious and actually gorgeous. Have you SEEN the color of raw tuna? I want to paint my LIFE in it!

Anyway, as with most things I love, I decided to try to put it on my nails. Because, naturally. I've seen a lot of gorgeous interpretations of sushi nails lately, but I did try to make mine "my own."

On my thumb, I put my bae tuna. My pointer is tamagoyaki, which honestly I chose more for it's color than anything -- I have only eaten it once! My middle finger is salmon, my ring finger is rice, and my pinkie is intended to look like avocado with sesame seeds.

Quick sidebar about the rice nail that might give you some insight into my brain: in hindsight, if I were to do this all over again, I would paint individual white grains of rice over a negative space clear nail. I think that would read more like rice and look cooler than what I attempted here. The grey patterning is hard to read.

I used gel polish for this, but won't be able to list out all of the materials I used. I did a lot of color mixing, layering, and blending, and beyond that, I wore this manicure a month or two ago and I don't remember the specifics. Oops! 😇

Are you a sushi fan? What's your favorite thing to order?

Amazing Simple Constellation Nail Art Trendy

I was due for a fresh set of gel polish this week, and have been craving black and white lately. I don't usually gravitate towards dark nail colors, because I feel like they make my nails look small and (sometimes) weird. #truenailconfessions. BUT, I've been seeing black and white nails all over my feed lately, and it had me wanting it on my own fingers.

Since I try to ride out these gel polish sets as long as possible, I can't slack on the nail art for my right hand. I figured constellations would be easy enough that I could pull off something passable using my left hand.

I started with two coats of my new favorite black gel polish, Presto #060 Minaccioso. Next, I used Wildflower's Art Paints in Powder to paint on constellations and stars. Then, I used two coats of gel topcoat to seal the paint details in. Easy peasy!

P.S. They're all based on real constellations! I wanted to do my zodiac sign, but who knew Sagittarius had so many stars in it?!?!?