Paint It Black

Paint It Black

31DC2015 black china glaze favorite freehand girly bits gradient nail art nicole by opi rainbow sponging

For today's prompt, "inspired by a song," I decided to do some nail art inspired by The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black." The song is about depression and loss, and wanting to paint everything black to match those feelings.

If you're familiar with the song, the obvious choice would have been do a red door and then put some black on it, but I wanted to go for something a little more colorful and (only slightly) less literal. I opted for a bright base, splattered and smeared with black paint.

I began with a white base to help the colors above it pop.

Then I cut off a strip of a makeup sponge, and painted swipes of my three base colors directly on to the sponge. I used China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights, and Girly Bits Hip Hoop Hooray.

For the big black swipe, I wiped most of the polish off of the brush of Salon Perfect Oil Slick, and then dry brushed it across my nails. I used a small nail art brush to add the splatters and drips, then finished with topcoat.

See how I've been inspired by songs in the past:

• Tik Tok - Ke$ha
• Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
• Lose Yourself to Dance - Daft Punk
• Undone (The Sweater Song) - Weezer

Bejeweled Galaxy Nail Art

Bejeweled Galaxy Nail Art

31DC2015 black china glaze color club galaxy girly bits glitter lvx sponging

IT HAS ARRIVED! Galaxy day of the 31 Day Challenge! I love this day because I never do galaxies, even though I should, and they're so easy to do, and they always turn out lovely, and the sparkles are overwhelming, and yeah. Galaxies are the best.

As with all my galaxy manicures, I started with a base of black polish.

Then, I tore off tiny pieces of a makeup sponge, and used it to create layers of the following shades:
LVX Cameo
LVX Viola
Girly Bits Hoop There It Is
Color Club Peace Love and Polish

Next I added the bitty stars! I always use China Glaze Fairy Dust for my stars. The key is to swipe it on randomly, instead of covering the entire nail!

The final step was to add the individual stars. I used a pinpoint dotting tool and Polish My Life's Saint, then added some lensflares on a couple of the stars.

I totally love how these came out and honestly they took me maybe 30 minutes to do. A win all around!



Check out my galaxy nails from years before:

• Maroon and yellow galaxy nails
• Hyperspace jump nail art
• The Pleiades Star Cluster galaxy nails
• The Pelican Nebula galaxy nails

Bobtail Squid Pattern Nail Art

Bobtail Squid Pattern Nail Art

31DC2015 animal print china glaze dots girly bits lvx orly

wikipedia.com

It's animal print day in the challenge and I'm continuing my tradition of choosing an unusual animal! Last year I did a goldfish pattern, and the year before that was a manta ray, so I'm also sticking with the underwater theme in my choice. It's a bobtail squid! I've actually been saving this picture forever to try to recreate it, and it was more an exercise in color matching than actual nail art.

Since we're talking about color matching, here are the polishes that I used:
China Glaze Secret Periwinkle
China Glaze Raindance the Night Away
Girly Bits I've Got High Hoops
Orly Skinny Dip
LVX Legendaire
Salon Perfect Oil Slick (and variations mixed with white)

So I don't think I did too terribly in terms of getting the colors right, though one thing I'm a little short on is iridescence. One of my blues had a bit of shimmer in it, so that helped, but if I were to try this again I would definitely incorporate nail art foil. I may have to attempt that soon!

Animal print from years past:

• Blue poison dart frog nail art
• Manta ray patterned nail art
• Nudibranch sea slug nail art
• Stylized goldfish scales

Trippy Mickeys Nail Art

Trippy Mickeys Nail Art

31DC2015 dots favorite freehand girly bits indie polish nail art rainbow

It's "polka dot" day in the 31 Day Challenge and I'm pushing the boundaries of the prompt a bit! That is, I used polka dots to create a major part of the design!

The Mickey Mouse head is such a major part of pop culture that pairing it with a trippy, psychedelic background creates a really unique combination. I'd say it's almost kind of unsettling if I didn't find it so cute and fun!

I put down a light base to begin (I'm actually wearing gels underneath this regular polish look!).

Then, I painted on the tie-dye look using five shades. I used the same method I did in this Rodarte-inspired tie dye tutorial from 2013!

Girly Bits Hoop! There It Is
Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights
Girly Bits It's Hoop to Be Square
Girly Bits I've Got High Hoops
Girly Bits Hip Hoop Hurray!

The final step was to add the Mickey heads with Salon Perfect Oil Slick! I used a rhinestone picker for the larger dots and a dotting tool for the ears. If you don't have anything you could use for the bigger dots, you could use a pencil eraser.

Check out more of my polka dot nail art:

• Ladybugs
• Polka dot pyramids
• Punchy dot mix
• 70's style polka dot floral print

Deck Your Nails Out With Girly Bits This Winter

Deck Your Nails Out With Girly Bits This Winter

blue girly bits gold holographic indie polish pink purple red shimmer silver texture

Let's face it... We don't need an excuse to deck out our nails with gorgeous shimmers, glitters, holographics, and textures. However, why not celebrate the season with luxurious lacquers and fantastic formulas from Girly Bits? Let's take a look at a few of the shades I've tried recently!

Arctic Sunrise is a beautiful bright blue with a heavy pink shimmer. I think it's appropriate for both winter and for upcoming spring and summer months. Gotta love a polish with good seasonal mileage! Three coats.

Bette Davis Eyes is a pale silver with a light textured finish. Cool! This was one of the newer Girly Bits shades that I was most curious about. I wasn't disappointed, it's really neat. If you prefer low-intensity textured finishes, this one has a really subtle grit to it. Two coats.

Ho Ho Hope is a red-toned-violet holographic shade with a subtle holo rainbow. The formula was lovely, needing just two coats for the coverage shown, and the color is enchanting.

Lover's Coral is a soft peachy-coral shade. I've worn this one twice recently, it's a great clean pink for when you are looking for something sweet and simple. Three coats.

Too Hot For Pants is a red-fuchsia jelly with heavy shimmer and holo microglitter. It's a very rich shade, which makes it a perfect choice for the holidays. Two coats shown.

Walk Like an Egyptian is one of my most favorite Girly Bits shades to date. This champagne gold is so luxurious. It's holographic in the sun, but looks just as lovely indoors! If you are a gold nail polish fan, this is totally a winner. This is three coats but many could get away with only two.

So, which one is your favorite? I love the variety of colors, textures, and finishes in the Girly Bits lineup, and am always impressed by the formulas. My top picks would be Walk Like an Egyptian and Bette Davis Eyes. Siiiillllver and gooooold, siiiiilllver and gooooolllddd....

Girly Bits polishes are sold on girlybitscosmetics.com and via distributors. Keep up with the brand on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more info.