I've Got GINGER-Vitus! - 31 Day Challenge - Day 2

Nothing to Disclose Press Sample

So today's prompt for nail art in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge is Orange. Hmm. All day I wracked my brain, trying to think of all the orange things. Oranges? Carrots? Sunsets? Traffic cones? By the time a late dinner rolled around, I still hadn't thought of something that I wanted to do, and panic was about to set in. Then, all of the sudden, my wheels started turning. Carrot...Carrot top... GINGER! I figured it out- I was going to do GINGER nails! I came up with the idea to do the forehead as a half-moon manicure, and then the gingery hair flowing from it (and standing on end because they're all upside down, duh!) :D Hit the jump for more pictures and info!

Have I Crossed the Line? Tutorial!

You asked for it!

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of you that wanted a tutorial for this design (in the best way!), and knew I had to let it jump queue to the top of the list!

With no further ado...

So how do you plan to cross the line?

Have I Crossed the Line?

So this design MAAAAAAAY look a little familiar. Just a little. It may have been one-fifth of yesterday's design. Ok, it was. It totally was. I seriously loved how the thumb turned out, and thought it'd look totally rad as a full manicure in that style. The main difference this time around it that I didn't stick to red, I decided to totally taste the rainbow- but only when I eat with my hands.

Someone mentioned they'd like a tutorial for the thumb (or in this case, the full manicure). Anyone else interested? Let me know, and I'll try to work it in to the tutorial schedule. :) I have some fun ones that I'm planning to film soon (if the ideas work out other than in my brain). Anyway, I won't babble on too much more, here's the nail arty-ness.

I used:

White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On

Black: American Apparel Hassid

Red: Cult Nails Evil Queen
Orange: CND Electric Orange
Yellow: CND Bicycle Yellow
Green: CND Green Scene
Blue: CND Anchor Blue

Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat

Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

Eyes hurt yet?

Sun and Moons

Well it seems to be Weather Week here at TDN, not sure how that happened, but I keep thinking of weather related nail art ideas! I have one more in my head, I'm debating whether to post it, or hold on to the idea for a bit. What do you guys think? Wait? Don't wait? Eh, maybe I'll see if the weather event that inspired it actually happens. Sound like a deal? Well OK then!

Today's nail art is (obviously) suns. Get this though- they're also, what for it—MOONS. Get it? Nerdtastical.

I used:

Blue: American Apparel American Denim
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Light Orange: Zoya Arizona
Medium Orange: Jesse's Girl Beauty Guru

Topcoat: Seche Vite topcoat
Basecoat: Seche Vite basecoat

Falling For Fall

Well, August is swiftly approaching its end, and the warm days of summer will be long behind us (well, you) soon. The cool, crisp mornings of fall are on their way, and I have to say that I'm completely jealous of those of you lucky enough to enjoy it. Fall is my absolute favorite season, and since I moved to Vegas, and then India, I haven't really gotten to enjoy it. I miss the warm scent of burning leaves in the air, the tartness of warm apple cider on my tongue, and the crisp blue skies of autumn. I know it's a month or so away, but it's already on my mind, especially seeing all the fall nail collections coming out. Growing up in the woods in Michigan, there was no shortage of Autumn experience, from the greenery-lined gravel roads of summer becoming ablaze with the flame of fall leaves, all red and orange and yellow, to the chill that forced a sweater over your shivering shoulders at night. I loved it all, still do.

Today's nail art is to bring a little autumn to my humidity-filled existence. :)

I used:

White: American Apparel Cotton
Dark Brown: Barielle Unraveled Rust
Medium Brown: China Glaze Mahogany Magic
Burgundy: CND Bloodline
Mustard: Barielle Aura Angora
Camel: American Apparel Trenchcoat
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Bright Orange: CND Electric Orange
Medium Orange: Jesse's Girl Beauty Guru
Red-Orange: American Apparel Lopez Canyon
Copper: China Glaze Harvest Moon
Metallic Gold: ORLY Solid Gold
Topcoat: Seche Vite

What's your favorite season?

Striped With Sophistication

I loooove sales. Love them. I love the thrill, the hunt, the attack. Why is this relevant, you ask? Well, let me tell you! Recently, I received an email in my Inbox like I'm sure several of you did, informing me of a Surprise Sale at Kate Spade. I love Kate Spade. I love the bright colors, the patterns, the simplicity. How could I pass up just a little peek? I couldn't, of course. I mean, for all intents and purposes, I'm broke. (I need to tell myself this so I can manage to save money—something that's hard for me!) :) Anyway, I did sneak a little peek, and while my (Kate Spade) wallet can sigh a little sigh of relief because I didn't buy anything, I came away from the website with some inspiration for a few new nail art ideas! :) Some are color combinations, some are patterns, some just made something else click in my head that was completely unrelated. So you're thinking, 'Hey Melissa...get to the point.' Right? OK, OK! Sheesh! :-D

Today's nail art was actually a color combination that I was inspired by. I thought it looked classy and elegant, but it had that awesome pop of color that I love so damn much! Well anywhoo- here ya go:

I used:

Camel - American Apparel Trenchcoat

Black - American Apparel Hassid

Orange - CND Electric Orange

Topcoat - Seche Vite

All Things Being Equal

A while back after seeing some super awesome nail striping tape manicures, I decided to order some striping tape from eBay (the easiest place to order nail art things here in India). This design kinda hit me today, and I have absolutely NO IDEA where it came from, but it DOES use striping tape! The only other tool required is a cosmetic sponge! The thumb nail turned out to be my favorite, since it was the easiest to apply the tape to. I sponged the gradient first (over my yellow base color), then after that dried I applied a zillion strips of striping tape and painted the exposed nail black. Fairly easy, right?!  The hardest part is making sure the stripes are evenly spaced...or dare I say 'equal'? Get it—because its an equalizer?! *groan*

I used:

Green: CND Green Scene

Light Green: Sally Hansen Grass Slipper

Yellow: CND Bicycle Yellow

Orange: Zoya Arizona

Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor

Black: American Apparel Hassid

Clear topcoat: Seche Vite

striping tape

Indian Flag Nail Art Tutorial!

You may know that I've been living in India for the past 9 months, and today is India's Independence Day! I could hardly do this Flags of the World tour and not include my current home, right? I figured that today of all days would be the perfect day to post it, too.

There's more to India than curry, saris, and Hinduism. I'll be the first to admit that this country is sometimes maddening, but to balance out the madness are some of the most kind, generous, and generally selfless people I've ever met.

In addition to my Indian flag, nail art tutorial, I wore a saree/sari to work yesterday! (We didn't have work today) I felt awkward and exposed all day, and have a whole new respect for the Indian women that choose to wear saris on a regular basis. I rewarded myself with wearing jeans today. :D My friend Sheba was an absolute godsend, since there was no way I could wrap this thing alone- every time I tried, it looked like a giant slate blue diaper.

At the beginning of the day- Jasmine flowers in my hair, bindi on, all put together. :D

My friend Diana fussing over my pleats to make sure they looked right :D

My friend Sheba fussing over my pleats at the end of the day before having pic taken again. Stupid things kept coming untucked.

The back view. I love the pallu (the hanging piece) of this sari- all gold and copper metallic threads. so pretty!

A Dash to the Finish Line

So I know I've been posting a lot of tutorials lately, and not as much nail art, so I decided to post something other than a flag today!! :-D  (Speaking of, are there any that you want to see? I have a few requests already, but I'll get to them!  :) )

It always amazes me how designs change even while I'm painting them. This design originated as dashes of all the same length in white over black, with an occasional red accent dash. It eventually evolved to different lengths of white dashes on back creating a wave-ish pattern with no red. Finally, I added color to each nail, making a sort of rolling gradient across the dashes. In retrospect, I wish I would've stuck to one color family for the entire manicure, instead of a different one on each nail. The orange and blue nails were my favorites...maybe I could've done an orange palette with a blue accent nail? (or vice versa?) Maybe next time?

I used:

Black: American Apparel Hassid
White: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On
Dark Orange: CND Electric Orange
Medium Orange: Zoya Arizona
Yellow: American Apparel Manila
Dark Green: American Apparel Hunter
Medium Green: CND Green Scene
Light Green: Sally Hansen Grass Slipper
Dark Teal: American Apparel Peacock
Medium Teal: Zoya Robyn
Light Blue: American Apparel American Denim
Dark Purple: Zoya Pinta
Medium Purple: American Apparel Imperial Purple
Light Purple: American Apparel L Esprit
Dark Red: CND Bloodline
Bright Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor
Pink: Zoya Shelby
Topcoat: Seche Vite

Richly Indian

So yeah, not sure if you've heard...but I currently live in India. (you know, that country you call for tech support?) I know that I haven't done a lot of India-inspired nail art, so I decided to do today's design for you! I'll admit, I first did this design on my friend Ruby, the most adorable girl that used to work in my office (I'm so sad she doesn't anymore). She's 24 years old, but looks about 14, and unbelievably to me has 2 kids!! She would always joke with me and say things were supaaah. (super). She's honestly one of my favorite people in India, she cracks me up! (and I'm not the only one- everyone likes Ruby!). She was going to her 'native' (this is how people here refer to their hometown) for her birthday, and wanted me to paint her nails, so I did! This was the design that I did for her, and I liked it so much, I decided to do it on myself.

I used:

Brown: OPI Suzi Likes Cowboys
Gold: China Glaze 2030
Coral/Orange: Lotus Herbals Orange Alert
Topcoat: Seche Vite

Pop Culture Giveaway! Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of the Pop Culture Giveaway! There were some comments that the last one was a bit hard, and there weren't as many entries as I'd hoped - out of over 7,000 of you, only about 30 entered! To make it even easier to have a chance to win, I added the option of getting one entry by tweeting the phrase shown in the Rafflecopter widget below and/or by pinning your favorite design on Pinterest... 

The hints:

1. It's just a guy in a mask.

2. Man, I wish I had a snack!

and an extra clue...

3. Teamwork makes the dream work.

You have 48 hours- GO! (You actually have 56 hours because Rafflecopter won't let me start/end at a time other than 12 am EST)

The Rafflecopter widget is after the jump! :)

Pop Culture Giveaway! Day 1

Ok, so I mentioned it on my Twitter and on the Facebook page, and though slightly more delayed than I'd hoped, this is the start of my celebration of having 7,000 awesome reasons why I blog!

Now, I'm not sure if it is my background as a graphic designer, or my weird notice of insignificant details, but I have a weird habit/skill of being able to recognize (and sometimes match) things from TV shows, movies, and album covers. Things like wallpaper, or pillows, or knick knacks. I've had the idea for this contest/giveaway in my head for months, just waiting for the right moment to employ it. Today is that day.

To explain:

There will be five (5) different opportunities to enter. Each photo will be something from a movie, TV show, or album cover, sometimes something obvious, sometimes something less so. I will give 2 hints to help figure out what it is from. If the first 24 hours have passed with little response, I'll give 2 additional hints.

There will be one prize per photo, you can choose between the prize determined for the day or you can choose it's equivalent in Indian cosmetics (you can choose nail polish or other cosmetics). Bear in mind, if you choose Indian cosmetics/polish, it will be over 1 month until you receive your prize. Also, this will be open to international readers, so if there is a cosmetics site in your country that you'd rather the prize be from, let me know, and I'll try to work something out if you win.

There will be a 48-hour period to enter for each photo, and only correct answers qualify. (sorry!) Entries from the Rafflecopter widget below will be the only ones accepted, the comments for these posts are closed.

OK, I think that's it. On to the first photo!

The hints:

1. This design is a wallpaper pattern on two different shows, one on CBS, the other on Showtime.

2. Both shows star a sarcastic female lead.

If you can name both shows, enter the name of one in the Rafflecopter field, and send the other to thedailynailcontest@gmail.com, but be sure to mark that you've done so on the Rafflecopter widget, or it will not count.  You have 48 hours- GO!