Disney Girl Challenge: Ariel (Again)

‘Round about the time I started this blog, I began a super casual, self-imposed challenge to capture all the ladies of the Disney Universe, be they princess, villain or something else altogether, in tiny, lacquered form. That extremely loose general guideline has led to some fun Disneyfied designs, although I’m now at the stage of my nail art abilities where I’m very critical of my early work, and I think I could do better on just about all of them, including – especially – this Ariel design. I was initially going to post this as a Then and Now post, but I’d rather not highlight that initial half-assed effort (although if you’re tremendously curious, you can find it here.) Like, what are those things? Seashells? Flowers? It was lazy work that barely fit the theme, and I’m glad for the chance at a redo.

These updated Ariel nails are also my entry towards week three’s theme of most expensive polish in May’s N.A.I.L. Challenge. Here I used my priciest lacquer, Enchanted Polish’s Magical Mystery Tour, as well as a couple of close contenders, ILNP’s Supernova and Picture Polish’s O’Hara. I don’t necessarily believe that there’s always a direct correlation between cost and quality, but these polishes make arguing that assertion very difficult, as they’re all phenomenal. O’Hara in particular, the lush red I used for Ariel’s hair, is Scarlett perfection.

Hello there, cutie! I knew you’d be grateful for the remodel.

The Main Mouse (31DC2014)

Day one’s theme in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge starts at the beginning of the rainbow with the colour red, and is there a Disney character more closely associated with that colour than the main mouse himself, M-I-C-K-E-Y? He does wear a seriously fetching pair of crimson red shorts, and Minnie always co-ordinates with a great red and white polka dotted bow.

For this manicure, I painted a smattering of dots and tiny Mickey heads over one of my favourite polishes, Picture Polish’s juicy, strawberry red O’Hara. Just a bit of of the House of Mouse to kick off this 31 day, Disneyfied challenge.

Holo Hearts (OMD2)

Clearly drawing Valentiney inspiration from the pink and red polishes I chose for this manicure, here is my submission for the seventh day’s theme of holographic (polish, glitter, studs) in the Oh Mon Dieu 2 nail art challenge. I love red and pink manis – sod all that nonsense about the two colours clashing – and I love them even more when they’re made up of gorgeous, rainbow-steaked holographic polishes. For these nails, I went holo-on-holo-on-holo, topping KB Shimmer’s nude In Bare Form with a smattering of hearts in two of my favourite polishes, Picture Polish’s juicy red O’Hara and golden pink Electric Dream. In Bare Form is a linear holo, meaning that when you look at the polish in the bottle or on your nail, it’ll flash as a solid line of rainbow, whereas O’Hara and Electric Dream are examples of scattered holos, which are lit from within by tiny, random specks of shimmer and glitter. Holos are essentially the alphas of the nail polish world – we all want them, and other polishes aspire to be them (so much so, you can buy special holographic topcoats that will turn any polish into a rainbow-throwing stunner.)

Don’t Be So Negative

What’s black is white is red (all over?) in this simple, glitter-based manicure that flips between the dark and the light (with just a touch of peppermint-scented red, because hey, just like your nails, life’s not always black and white…nor does it always smell all that great!)

Devilled Eggs

These nails, my submission for the first week of the February N.A.I.L. Challenge, are very much “what you see is what you get” (cartoon devilled eggs with Christian Slater’s eyebrows over top of my favourite red, Picture Polish’s O’Hara, of course.) But in case you were curious as to how I got to evil 1950s hors d’oeuvres when the challenge theme was “Red,” here’s a peek into my decision-making process:

“Eggs wearing suits would be funny. Ohmigod, RED suits! Devil suits! Devilled eggs! With Christian Slater’s eyebrows!” And scene. See, it’s really just as easy as that! 😉

All joking aside, my devilish eggs here would not look half as charming (and furious) were it not for the beautiful and thematically appropriate background they’re resting upon, O’Hara, a stunningly gorgeous, juicy red polish from Picture Polish that’s hands (and nails) down one of my top five favourite polishes.