Inspired Galactic Rainbow Nail Art

Inspired Galactic Rainbow Nail Art

31DC2015 black favorite freehand linework nail art rainbow zoya

Today's 31 Day Challenge prompt is "rainbow." I've done an interpretation of The Illustrated Nail's "Intergalactic Rainbow" design. I like to think of it as Rainbow Road from Mario Kart, AKA the most demonic stage in the game. So pretty, yet so punishing...

This design is pretty straightforward, but like the Mario Kart Rainbow Road, can be challenging when going around the curves.

I started with a base of 2 coats of Zoya Storm. Such a winner for them, yeah? It's too gorgeous and I love the coarse fleck.

Then, I painted the rainbow stripes freehand using Zoya Yana (pink-red), Zoya Darcy (yellow), Zoya Tilda (green), Zoya Ling (blue), and Zoya Malia (purple). The intention was to make the rainbow line up between all my nails (see the first pic for the best representation of that), and I think it turned out pretty well!

More ROY G. BIV is waiting for you:

• Rainbow half moons with cloud French tips
• Rainbow gradient with black and white glitter
• Lady Rainicorn from Adventure Time
• Rainbow pinwheels

Gold and Jewels with Zoya Island Fun

Gold and Jewels with Zoya Island Fun

color block gold gold leaf tape zoya

This little numba was inspired by the luxurious tones of the Zoya Island Fun collection. The jewel toned shades were just ASKING to be paired with a bit of extra luxury, and I chose to load on the gold.

Polishes used used:
Zoya Nana (pink)
Zoya Talia (blue)
Zoya Demetria (red-orange)
Zoya Serenity (purple)
Zoya Jace (green)
Zoya Ziv (fine gold)
Zoya Gilty LE (gold leaf)

Each shade needed just two coats for opacity. I let the base colors dry, then blocked off parts of my nails using tape. I polished on a light coat of Ziv to give it a glint of gold, and then loosely added some of Gilty's gold leaf for extra luxury. Since Gilty is not currently for sale, you could also use loose gold leaf from a craft store.

Standout colors for me in this collection included Jace and Demetria. The other shades are nice and the formulas were fine, but they just didn't capture me like those two!

Zoya Island Fun (and its sister collection, Paradise Sun) are available now on Zoya.com for $9 per bottle.

Autumnal Matte Pyramid Dots

Autumnal Matte Pyramid Dots

color club dots essie indie polish matte orange polish my life red white yellow zoya

Is anyone else as obsessed with a matte white nail as I am? I put together this look quickly for an afternoon outing and really loved wearing it. It's super simple, super fast, and super chic. You could easily change up the colors to suit your mood, as well.

Nail polishes used:
LVX Porcelaine
Color Club Je Ne Sais Quoi
Zoya Arizona
Polish My Life Don't Snap My Dragon
Essie Matte About You

The process is simple: after painting on your base color, add three rows of dots in a pyramid shape. I used a dotting tool but you could also grab a bobby pin, toothpick, or other alternative! Finish with a layer of quick dry topcoat and then a layer of matte topcoat.

The key here is choosing the colors for your dots; you want them to combine to create a gradient but also be distinct enough that they don't completely blend together.

So here's my question: what are some other great fall color combos for this look? I'm thinking a caramel base with shades of dusty blue for the dots would look gorgeous. How would you wear it?

Textured Ruby Stars

Textured Ruby Stars

black nail vinyls red texture the lacquer legion zoya

Today is The Lacquer Legion post day and this month's theme is "after dark." I've got no shortage of Halloween nail art, so I've gone with something in a different direction this time. After dark... the stars come out! (But still kind of in a Halloween-esque color palette. Can't help myself.)

Nail polishes and materials used:
American Apparel Hassid
Zoya Chyna
Serum No. 5 Cut It Out vinyls - Lovely Magic

I'm still into textured polishes, no matter what the market says! I favor the ones without chunky glitter pieces, so naturally I'm a big fan of Zoya's PixieDust range and it's sparkly, small-particle goodness.

For this look, I used two coats of Chyna on my thumb, pinky, and pointer. For the two accent nails, I painted them black and applied the vinyls once they were dry. I painted over the vinyls like a stencil, peeled them off, and let the texture dry down. Voila!

Follow The Lacquer Legion on Facebook or Instagram for once monthly nail art prompts aimed at bringing together the nail polish community!

Blue Dripping Chevron Nail Art

Blue Dripping Chevron Nail Art

31DC2014 blue chevrons cirque deborah lippmann drips essie favorite freehand gold lvx matte metallic nail art priti nyc zoya

Blue! More inspirational to me than green was yesterday. I've painted some dripping chevron nail art, inspired by a pattern I saw on Pinterest. Of course, I had to modify the colors a bit to put them in line with today's 31 Day Challenge theme, but I just had to keep the metallic gold accent from the original piece. It's the right addition to break up the all blue palette.

Polishes used:
Essie Bikini So Teeny
Cirque Colors NYFW
Zoya Sailor
Deborah Lippmann Video Killed the Radio Star
LVX Laguna
Priti NYC Chrysanthos (gold)
Glisten and Glow HK Girl (topcoat)
Essie Matte About You (matte topcoat)

This look was simple to do but pretty time consuming. Each chevron was painted freehand with a small nail art brush, and then at the end, I extended a few of the chevron points into drips. I sealed everything in with glossy topcoat and then, after that was mostly dry, finished off the manicure with a matte topcoat.

 More blue for you!

• Barielle Blackened Bleu
• Blue and white china pattern
• Blue V tape manciure