Friday, May 24, 2013

May Challenge - Inspired by the Beach

Hi guys!

Happy Friday! This week literally went by so slowly, I can't believe it's finally the weekend. I'm excited that we get three days off because of Memorial Day, but I'll probably be studying during a lot of that time. But that's okay! Because it'll probably be really nice out, and as long as I'm studying outside, I'm happy. 

Today I have my third look for the Hobby Polish Bloggers May Challenge! If you missed my first two designs, you can check them out here and here. This week's challenge was inspired by the beach. Click on the link below to read about my inspiration and see more pictures of my nautical mani!

Okay, so I know what you're thinking... this doesn't look very beachy. I was having a really hard time coming up with inspiration, even though I've lived near the beach my whole life! I thought about doing a sunset gradient, blue nails with a starfish or jelly fish or something, or ocean and sand using Zoya Godiva - but none of those really inspired me for some reason. So finally I started thinking along the lines of the marina and all the boats and my days in sailing camp when I was younger, and it was then that I knew I wanted to do a nautical theme. It still kind of fits the "beach" challenge, just a different interpretation of it. 

For the blue nails, I used OPI I Saw U Saw We Saw Warsaw (ugh! the name!). I wish it read a little more blue... it looks darker than what I was going for, but I surprisingly don't have a very intermediate blue color!

For the red, I used Sephora by OPI High Maintenance. This is the first time I used High Maintenance, and omg the formula! It was literally the best formula I've ever used I think. It went on so smoothly and was so easy to control. And it was opaque in just one coat!

For the white, I of course used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.

Lastly, I used piCture pOlish Ruby Blou for the glitter accent nail. I love Ruby Blou so much! It's a great mix of blue, red, and silver hex glitters. It was also really easy to apply and evened out nicely with top coat. I also tried my new bottle of piCture pOlish Revolution for the glitter nail, and it's incredible! If you haven't heard, Revolution is a new base coat that's meant to be used under glitters to make removal easier. And wow! I couldn't believe how easy it was to remove! I'll definitely be wearing glitters a lot more now that I don't have to go through all the trouble of removing them! piCture pOlish is killin it in my opinion. =)

Okay, so here are the pictures!

Left to Right: MBSW, I Saw U Saw We Saw Warsaw, High Maintenance, Ruby Blou







Close up of Ruby Blou

Overall, I really like how this manicure turned out! I haven't tried skittle nails before, and I'm glad that the designs and colors I chose ended up being cohesive. The lines and the anchor are messier than I would have liked, but you couldn't really tell in person. These up close shots just aren't forgiving... haha. But oh well, I'm glad I finally found my inspiration and that I was able to come up with something I liked.

So what do you guys think of my nautical-inspired nails? I can't wait to see what all the other ladies in the Hobby Polish Bloggers group are doing for this challenge! Check out the links below to see everyone else's looks.

I hope everyone has an amazing three-day weekend! Thanks for stopping by. =)

 

16 comments:

  1. Love this one! Ruby Blou is AMAZEBALLS! I truly love it and it really pops out against ISUSWSWS ( I had to abbreviate, haha! ) Let me know if that stained your nails, I had a heck of a time with it!

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    1. Thanks, Dani! =D

      Ruby Blou is amazing, I love it so much! I did have a wee bit of staining with the blue OPI (I don't want to write it out either lol), but mostly on my cuticles and not too bad on the nail itself. Dark blues, man... haha

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  2. UGH Ruby Blou is so pretty! I live by the ocean too, and I can totally see a beach theme with this. As a matter of fact, the Ruby Blou nail reminded me immediately of the fireworks shows on the beach we have on July 4th. Great job! :)

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    1. Yay! I'm glad you get a beach feel =) I was hoping I wasn't too far off the mark with that haha

      I love that association, Melissa! It totally looks like fireworks.. maybe I'll have to recreate something like this for the 4th!

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  3. It looks amazing! :D I love manicures where each nail is different from one another too. It makes it more fun to look at. Your interpretation of the beach is so much better than mine, lol.

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    1. Thank you so much, Lisa! Don't say that... I love your beach-inspired mani! It's so cute and definitely makes me think of a nice day at the beach

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  4. I love-love-love nautical manis! This is fabulous :)

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    1. Thank you, Becca! I love them too, so I'm glad this challenge finally made me try it!

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  5. Oh my gosh, I love it! I've been trying to decided what design I want to recreate and I think this is it! Great job, Kelsey :)

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    1. Aww thank you so much! If you decide to do it, I can't wait to see it! =D

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  6. Love it! So very cute!! And apparently someone thinks our nail art is worth reposting? I almost flipped out until I saw that she left links to our blogs with was courteous of her haha...

    http://www.examiner.com/article/patriotic-nail-art-ideas-for-memorial-day

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    1. Thanks Stefanie! I love your nautical look too! I saw you posted it on facebook the same day I posted my mani. Great minds think alike I guess =D

      And thanks for sharing that! I'm so glad she gave us credit! It's cool she found both of our pictures and like them enough to share haha

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  7. Hi Kelsey! Wow! This looks so great! I love the idea and how you have interpreted the challenge!
    The glitter nail with Ruby Blou on it is stunning! I could so see that nail as a full manicure!! Please show us more Ruby Blou some day! Take care!

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    1. Thanks girlfriend!! I've been wanting to try a nautical mani for forever, so I'm glad I finally got to! I'll definitely post swatches of Ruby Blou... I love it!

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  8. What a cute mani! I love anything that is nautical inspired.

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    1. Thanks, girl! I do too... the colors and the designs for nautical themes are awesome!

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I really love getting comments, so if you like my post or have any suggestions, I'd love to hear what you think! I make sure to respond to every single one because I think this nail blogging community should be a collaborative one, and I love meeting and interacting with other nail polish addicts! Please don't post links to your blog on here, but if you'd like me to check it out, please email me at polishedprescription@gmail.com. Happy Commenting =)

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