Be a Dahlia Won't You? -- and do a sweet gradient

I took a break in between challenges and game up with what I think was a pretty wonderful gradient. I started with two coats of O.P.I. - Be a Dahlia Won't You? and then did tapering layers of with Petites - Craze. I do recommend enlarging these photos to see the true awesomeness.

Not being able to leave this alone, I added a few coats of Nubar - Black Polka Dot

Click to enlarge the last two or they just look weird

I'll be back to posting for the challenge later in the day! Thanks for reading :)

Day 11 - Dots

I remember seeing a design similar to this floating around on the internet, but I cannot recall the name of the original artist. Any help would be appreciated! These colors came out unintentionally Easter-like, but that's ok because it is Easter/Spring time after all.

For the base I used Confetti - Belle of the Ball - it really is a wonderful color. Well, if you like purple as much as I do! 

The dark blue is Cynthia by Zoya, the green is Innocent by Sinful Colors, the yellow Sally Hansen's Mellow Yellow, and the pink is a no name no brand situation I got in a big pack from Ross. The generic, weird-smelling polishes actually work really well for bases or nail art as long as you have a good top coat. I've definitely seen worse formulas. 

I am pretty happy with the way this turned out - what do you think?
Thanks for reading :)

Day 10 - Gradient

I've always loved the idea of using black and another bright color in a gradient, so I had already decided to do that when I read that my beloved Hines Ward was retiring. As an extremely huge Steelers fan, I was devastated. I did this design in dedication to him and all that he has done for the black and gold!

I got this awesome pack of Steelers themed nail polishes at Fun Party Stores awhile back, so I used the yellow for the base. I then layered a couple of coats of Nubar - Black Polka Dot and finished off with black sponging. 

Here is a random manicure I have also done using my Steelers nail art supplies:

I never posted it and forgot to transfer my photos when I came back from PA, so I only have a tiny cell phone picture. 

Not only did Hines have an amazing career in the NFL, he had the privilege along with a few other players to be part of The Dark Knight Rises. You're the best Hines, and you will be forever missed!

Thanks for reading!

Day 9 - Rainbow

I'm incredibly happy with the way this day's art turned out! The pictures are kind of bad, and my cuticles look like I've been digging in glass, but dammit these nails are too awesome not to show :)

Blasted shadows!

The last picture is pretty much shameless whoring of the gorgeous sky and joshua tree. Seriously though, I'm happy with this. These pictures can be enlarged a bit, too. 

Colors used:

The red is some incredibly old polish that I found when I was home in PA. It doesn't have a name or a brand, but it has 3 friends that came with it. And they all happen to be gorgeous and have great formulas! Must make mental note to post about those soon...

Orange is Sunny Side Up by Wet N' Wild

Yellow is Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

Green is Kiwi Cool-Ada by China Glaze

Blue is Pacific Blue by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

Purple is L.A. Colors  - No name on the bottle, why do they put the name on the package and not the bottle?! It's frustrating.

I hope you enjoyed this manicure as much as I did!

Thanks for reading!

Day 8 - Metallic

Disclaimer: Apparently this isn't really a metallic, but it's as close as I have. I think. I really liked this color and needed an excuse to try it anyway. It looks metallic enough for me! ^.^

This lovely shade is Nouveau Vintage by Color Club. In the bottle it looks almost like a rusty oil, on the nail it didn't have such an effect but is still quite pretty in my opinion. It was also incredibly easy to apply. I didn't have to do any clean up on my nails at all. I think Color Club might have some of my favorite brushes. They work perfectly for my tiny nails. I finished it off with some Matte Magic.

Un-matted (totally a word!)

I'm definitely going to be using this polish again soon. It works very well with my skin tone - especially when matted! 

Thanks for reading :)

Day 7 - Black & White

I figured today would be great, and I'd have some insanely awesome inspired idea. I was wrong. I overwhelmed myself and instead went with something simple. Polishes are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear.

This definitely didn't turn out as cleanly as I would have liked, but from far away it looks amazing! Hah

I lost a follower and am sad :( Where did I go wrong?!?! *dramatic crying*

Thanks for reading!

EDIT: I had tried to scheduled this to post last night and apparently I had it on the wrong day (derp)!