Freehand Nail Art: Cloudy with a Chance of Rainbows

My first attempt at utilizing the sponging technique. I LOVE it. I think sponging is one of my new favorite nail art techniques. I love the way it turns out and the amount of control I have. I had started out with a grey polish and was going to do some dotting (inspired by this tutorial) but when it took FOREVER to dot just one nail, I decided to do a cloudy sky look on the rest of my nails but it looked weird with just white and grey so I sponged some blue around the white and then sponged some more white to make it look "fluffier"/more cloud-like and voila! I got so many comments on these nails. I ended up sporting this mani for almost a week (I usually can't go more than a day or two between manicures)!

Polishes used (L to R): SH Insta-Dri Blue-Away & Whirlwind White (sponged clouds); SH Insta-Dri Rapid Red, Borghese Capri Coral, SH Insta-Dri Lightning, Revlon Posh, SH Insta-Dri Brisk Blue, Borghese Palermo Plum (rainbow dots)

I redid my accent nail so the dots would be smaller.

For the sponging I just used some generic (walgreens' brand I believe) cosmetic sponges that I tore up into bits. I'd describe the process of sponging but there are already so many great tutorials out there, like this one @ Nailin' It.

A Year's Challenge: Week 3 - Color Block Mani

I had no idea what color blocking was before this challenge! I googled it and after reading a couple articles and searching images, I had somewhat of an idea. So here is my interpretation of a color block mani, inspired by this photo of Rihanna (photo from teenvogue.com):

Left hand, natural light.

Right hand, natural light.

To create this look I used lots of tiny slivers of masking tape (any low-adhesive tape would work though), small paint brushes, patience, and the following colors:

• Essie - Case Study (base)
• Revlon - Plum Seduction (fuschia)
• Borghese - Capri Coral (orange)

I might have taken the term color blocking a bit literally! I like how it turned out though and I learned something about current fashion trends in the process! :D

To check out the details of "A Year's Challenge" and see how others participating in the challenge interpreted the Color Block manicure, go here.