I was in the mood for rainbow nails, but rainbows with some oomph. I sat down with four bright polishes and this just sort of happened. There's no real inspiration or idea behind it, I just started painting. The best things (and the most obnoxious, apparently) seem to happen when you start without a plan. I wouldn't suggest it in other parts of your life, like choosing a career for instance, but with paint, it's no big deal. Art is cool. Yeah.
Products used:
- China Glaze White on White
- China Glaze Purple Panic
- Color Club Explosive
- OPI Did It On Em
- Finger Paints Blue Raspberry Taffy
- Wnw Black Creme
- Seche Retain (as base coat)
- Seche Vite topcoat
Click for more photos!
Believe it or not this manicure started out simply enough. First I just wanted to wear OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh? because I haven't worn it yet. Then A Roll in the Hague in all it's bright orange glory was staring at me, so I put a little line down the middle and said I'd call it a day. I gave it a couple hours, did a little stuff around the house, read a little of my current book (A Storm of Swords, if you're interested) and then I just couldn't help myself. I got out a couple more polishes and kept on for a few minutes without a real plan. I didn't have anything in particular in mind, but it ended up looking sort of tribal. Maybe like feathers. So that's what I'm saying those little marks are. Sounds better than Random Brush Strokes.
Products used:
- OPI Did You Ear About Van Gogh?
- OPI A Roll in the Hague
- China Glaze Aquadelic
- Wet n Wild Black Creme
- CND Anchor Blue
- Nubar Lemon
- China Glaze White on White
- Seche Vite topcoat
Click for another photo!
I have to tell you, doing this series is so much fun so far. It's a fun challenge for myself. Though there's very little information in the books about some of the districts, which will make it a little challenging, I think it's fun to come up with something for each one. I plan on making my way through the districts in order and then I have some other designs based on The Hunger Games I'll be adding to the series. In the end, the series will hopefully be pretty sizeable. In the meantime, it's a lot of fun. On to the description!
District 4 in The Hunger Games is home to a ocean-based society. They make fish hooks, they use nets and tridents to fish, and overall it's a somewhat wealthy district. To reflect this rich ocean culture I painted the nails with sea greens, coral red for the, um, red coral, and gave it some gilded accents to reflect the fact that this district is a bit more rich.
Products used:
- OPI Thanks a Wind-million
- OPI Red Lights Ahead... Where?
- Sally Hansen Fairy Teal
- China Glaze 2030
- Seche Vite topcoat
Click for more photos!
I've been wanting to do a zebra gradient for a while, and I finally gave it a whirl. I used some polishes from the newest OPI and China Glaze polishes together to make a nice rainbow along with a striping brush. with the flash the deliniation between the colors is really obvious, but in most lights and not so close up it looks like a true gradient, which is cool. Very excited to try this with neons and then over black instead of white.
Products used:
- China Glaze White on White
- China Glaze Purple Panic
- OPI A Roll in the Hague
- OPI Did It On Em
- China Glaze Aquadelic
Click to see more pics...
For the third installment in my Hunger Games nail art series, I continued on with the districts. This time it's District 3 which we know from the books is mainly and electronics. For this nail set I did a circuit board, some random holographic based lightning bolts, some bright blinky light thing and then lastly the 3 for the district done in a digital style. It's a really abstract interpretation of the district, but I thought it was colorful and fun, and definitely felt sort of electronic-y.
Products used:
- GOSH Holographic
- Wet n Wild Black Creme
- OPI Who the Shrek are You?
- Sparitual Yes I Can
- China Glaze 2030
- China Glaze Purple Panic
- CND Anchor Blue
- OPI Rinse Charming
- OPI Roll in the Hague
Click for more photos...
I've been dying to do something that incorporates these two shades. My winter coat is the same color as Nails Inc Belgrave Place and one day I held something bright orange against it and I've had a one track mind since then. I didn't want something busy and I wanted something that was simple and only incorporated these two colors because the two of them together make such a statement on their own. I painted the nails orange first, then when it was dry I applied some nail art striping tape from dollarnailart.com. I applied the purple over it and then waitied (not quite long enough, sadly) for it to dry and applied topcoat. The concept for the manicure was inspired by pshiiit.com! If you haven't seen her work yet, check it out! It's in French but the photos really are breathtaking.
Products used:
- China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
- OPI A Roll in the Hague
- Nails Inc Belgrave Place
- Nail art striping tape
- Seche Vite topcoat
Click for another photo!
In honor of the soon-to-be-released movie version of The Hunger Games, I decided I want to do a nail art series based on the books. The first book actually makes a reference to nail art, when Katniss' prep team paints flame designs on her nails, and while re-reading the books this latest time in anticipation of the film I decided it would be crazy not to do a series.
The first installment is based on District 1, the district that produces luxury items for The Capitol
Products used:
- China Glaze Millenium
- MAC Military
- Wet n WIld Black Creme
- Zoya Roxy
- CND Copper Chrome
- Essie Trophy Wife
- OPI Save Me
- gold studs
- plastic jewels
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!
A few days ago we showed you swatches of the beautiful new OPI Holland Collection, and now here's your chance to win this set of minis featuring four of the colors from the collection! There are a couple simple ways to win, so read on to find out how!
Giveaway is active from the time of posting until Friday, February 17th at midnight. Winner will be notified the following day. This giveaway is open internationally except where prohibited by law or shipping restrictions.
How to win:
You MUST be a follower of Beautopia on OnSugar to win (you can follow by clicking "Start Following This Site" on the widget to the right of this post, directly below the Google+ badge), and do one or both of the following:
1) Comment on THIS post telling us which of the Holland colors you like the most. If you haven't seen them yet, click here to view swatches.
2) You can earn a second entry by tweeting the text below about this giveaway, just be sure to add the tweet link to your comment on this post.
" WIN an OPI Dutch Treats set from @BeautopiaNails! Visit http://tinyurl.com/752y5x8 for more info! "
GOOD LUCK and have a great week!
Edited to add winner.
OPI Holland Collection - in stores starting February 8, 2012
For the first time since 2007 when the Australia collection was released, I actually purchased an entire OPI collection. Since then not one collection has appealed to me as strongly as did both Australia and Holland. This time around it's for a lot of reasons. When I think of Holland, I don't just think of the things everyone else does, like windmills and tulips. Being a nailie, you can't avoid the fact that some of the most talented nail bloggers and nail artists come from Holland. I don't know why this stuck in my mind, but I thought since I admire Dutch nailies so much, I wanted to pay homage to them all and buy the whole damned collection. Another reason I wanted the whole shebang is that while this collection is color-wise just more quintessentially OPI than any recent collections, it also has some interesting finishes and slightly "off" shades. There were a couple shades I could take or leave in the end, but overall this is the only collection I've even come close to going mad over for a long time.
Click for the swatches!
Spring has sprung at Vera Bradley, and one of Spring's four new patterns has me yearning for (my husband's gonna kill me so hard) more bags and accessories! Island Blooms is bursting with my favorite colors; citron, teal, white, black and grey. A better color palette there is not, my friends. And the mixture of bold florals and and an accent pattern that would make Frank Lloyd Wright weep with joy are a siren's call to this girl. I decided that I'd pay homage to yet another perfect Vera pattern by replicating it for nails, and it was so much fun!!! I used OPI Did It On 'Em, China Glaze Flyin' High and some striping paints to do this look.
Click for another photo!
