Halloween Challenge #1: Classic Orange and Black

Hello!!!

So I decided a little while ago that I was going to join in with the Halloween Nail Art Challenge in the Challenge Your Nail Art group on Facebook.  Here are the prompts (and a very cute graphic!):

I saw this a little while in advance, giving me plenty of time to prepare.  And it's only 4 prompts, so there is some small chance that I may actually finish it.  So how many manicures did I prepare in advance?

None.

I am a fool.

I am DETERMINED to actually do this though, so I have just been furiously painting my nails, and here's my first challenge manicure!

Yes, I did indeed attempt a water marble.  Yes, I have lost my mind.  I think it's not my worst attempt though...?

I used Barry M Black and Max Factor Bright Orange.  Then I added W7 Orange Dazzle on my little finger nail, and painted the stem of my pumpkin with Barry M Spring Green.  I'm pretty happy with this actually :)  Although, I confess, it's only on the one hand...  Must remember to take it off before work tomorrow!

Have you done any Halloween nail art yet?  I'd love to see - leave your links in the comments or post a picture on my Facebook page!

And don't forget to take a look at all the other orange and black manicures!

An InLinkz Link-up

31 Day Challenge - Day 20: Water Marble

The dreaded water marble.

I've tried water marbling before (you can see my attempt here, although I must warn you, it is not for the faint of heart).  After that attempt, I had no desire to try it again.  Ever.

So I was going to cheat for this challenge, and go with a dry marbling technique instead, like a needle-draggy sort of thing.  Then this morning I thought 'What the heck!  Let's just do it! I won't be defeated by water-marbling!'.  I was.

My logic behind giving it another go was that the water in Liverpool was soft, and the water down here is hard, so maybe this would make a difference.  I think it did, because this certainly seemed even worse than last time.

But I got there in the end.  It took me three attempts to even get the polish to spread in the water.  THREE.  And then I messed that one up whilst dragging it about to make the pattern.  So here is my FOURTH attempt - it wasn't quite how I would've liked it, but by that point the word's "f*** it" came to mind.

So there you have it.  Not awful (compared to my previous attempt, not compared to other people's...).  If it wasn't bubbly, I think it could actually have looked good.

I used Barry M Black and Matt White (honestly, they must be my two most used polishes).

Since it caused me so much physical and mental suffering, I thought I may as well get another photo out of it. So here's a nice close up for you.

Bubbalicious.

Please consider this as my official resignation from water marbling.

Hopefully some of the other ladies had more luck!  Take a look:

Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner

Kat at Hooked On Polish

Diana at Nails By Diana

Aly at Wonderland Beauty

Meredith at Perfectly Polished

Nicole at The Color Republic

Kate at The Painted Pony Nails

Cee at Absolutely Cee

Nail Narcotics

Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed

Shelby at Shelby's Swatches

Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 

Mixed Mama

Joanna at Sweet Polish of Mine

Patty Greenberg

Liz and Lisa at Lozlosa 

Mari at Nailista 

Greta at How Was Your Day?

Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 

Gini at Sassy Paints 

Chameleon Stampede 

Pam at Nail-E-Glance 

Me, Myself and Polish

First Water Marble

I have for you today a little nail fail to start the week.

I finally got round to trying out water marbling with, er, interesting results.  I shall let the photo do the talking.

I used a base of Barry M Matte White, then for the marbling I used 17 Nightshade, Barry M Grey and Collection 2000 Star Dust.

Guess which nail was my first attempt...  I'm quite pleased with my index finger though!  And I quite like my little finger, even if it is wobblier than was intended.  As for the mess on my hands, that's because I decided to ignore the countless blogs I've read that said to tape or vaseline your fingers to make clean up easier.  I am a fool.

Are you a fan of water marbling?  Have you had more success than me with this technique?

I'll have two posts for you tomorrow - the first of the My Favourite Things challenge hosted by Kelly at Ooh La La Polish! and my favourite Teal Tuesday manicure so far!

I was trying to work out how to add a suggestions box to this blog, but that was another fail.  I'd still love some suggestions for what nail art I should try though, so if you've got any ideas then post a comment on here or on my Facebook page :)  It'd be great to get a regular feature going of readers' suggestions.