31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2015: Week Four (and Final) Round Up

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Hi everyone! Here is my fourth and final round up of the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge (or #31DC2015) that I have been posting on my Instagram. Here is Week One and Week Two and Week Three. 

I had a lot of fun doing this challenge and the last 31 days. It pushed me to try something different in my nail art and technique, even though I have done the same challenge in the past. So yes, next year, it will be even more boundary-pushing and that much more exciting! 

If you have never done the challenge or would like more info on it, check out Chalkboard Nails' blog and her FAQ of the challenge.

Day 24: A Book

I read Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun months ago and the cover was a visual that stuck in mind so much I decided to use that as inspiration for the book prompt. I used American Apparel Cotton for my base and the rainbow rays and sun were done with acrylic and then added a layer of matte topcoat. Here is the cover for those who may be able to go through the link: 

Day 25: Fashion

For this prompt I initially was planning on intricate floral design but after browsing Anthropologie's, I decided to go with a big bold floral print, inspired by this dress:

I used Elevation Polish The Vivid Unknown for my base and mixes of a few different creme polishes to get the bright blue and orange coloring just right. Final layer of matte topcoat and that's it. I love how abstract it looks and the colors work really well together. 

Day 26: A Pattern

I went with a dotted mosiac pattern for this prompt. I didn't want something very precise, but a more fluid pattern. American Apparel Hassid for the black base, and older China Glaze polishes for the orange, purple, blue, white, and violet dots. 

Day 27: Artwork

This one turned out to be one of my favorites of the entire challenge. I took a cue from Very Emily and picked a watercolor print from Etsy, specifically this "Stars in Your Eyes" abstract watercolor print from BrownBearStudio. As for my final look, I applied a white polish for my base and using various blue and purple diluted acrylic polishes, I blended the blue sky background. Some white and light blue stars were hand-painted and then a last layer of topcoat. Here is the artwork I used as my inspiration: 

source 

Day 28: A Flag

For this prompt, I wanted to go outside the norm so I went with the LGBT Rainbow Flag! Inclusion for everyone! I used a watercolor technique for this again, diluting various acrylic colors to apply flowing lines of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. It felt like it was missing something so I added white dots and matte topcoat to tie it all together. 

Day 29: The Supernatural 

This is a prompt that has is harder for me to think of unique inspiration. Since October (and Halloween) is coming up, I like to do spooky, creepy nails then. I ended up re-doing what I did last year for the same prompt, which are Dragon Scale nails. I applied Rescue Beauty Recycle for my base, added a layer of Indigo Bananas A Field Trip with Butterflies and then matte topcoat. After it all had dried, I then hand painted the gold and black scales with acrylic. I liked the textured look of the dry paint over the darker green flaked base. 

Day 30: A Tutorial

I have had this tutorial bookmarked since the beginning of this challenge! I love Kelli's (of The Nail Polish Challenge) tutorials. They are fun looks and very easy to follow. The tutorial of hers that I used is this one. I didn't recreate her aqua to purple nail exactly, I decided to do a two one turquoise look using Essie Blossom Dandy and Garden Variety for the gradient. Then I went over the entire nail with dots using Blossom Dandy and one more layer of matte topcoat (again, matte was a theme this week). The result is this cool toned turquoise dot gradient. 

Day 31: Honor Nails You Love

And finally we have reached the end. Throughout this entire month and challenge I have been bouncing ideas off Emily of Very Emily. She is a blogger I admire a whole lot and her nail art is flat out stunning. Don't even get me started on her nail swatches! So it was truly an honor to re-create a look she did earlier in the month, specifically her turquoise stone nails. 

I applied Elevation Polish The Merchant's Son for the turquoise base. Then I used a water-spotted technique and Elevation Polish NYC for the black marbling. A final touch here and there with Elevation Polish The Latin of 4 Languages and Zhenjin and that's it. I didn't apply topcoat for this, to give it textured look. 

That's it, we're done! I hope you enjoyed these looks as much as I enjoyed creating them. I will be posting more nail art look here on my blog in the future, so be on the look out for that!