Let's Get Polishedaway!: Halloween Nail Art 2013

I need to invest in a light box before I start posting tutorials, but I wanted to show you guys the Halloween nail art that I did this month :)

My first Halloween mani was a simple jelly sandwich with French tips. I then used some acrylic paint & a nail art brush to add some stitches to make it more Halloween-y.

Polishes used: Zoya "Coraline", Maybelline Polka Dots "Clearly Spotted",

and Wet n Wild Fergie Collection "Glowstick", topped off with my favorite

topcoat, HK Girl "Glisten & Glow"

I'm a HUGE fan of glitter placement, so it only seemed fitting that my next Halloween mani include this nail art technique!

Polishes used: SinfulColors "Cloud 9" and Zoya Pixie Dust "Dahlia"

My poor ghost didn't come out quite like I saw him in my head, but I feel like my letters were spot-on! And, thank God, my nails are slowly getting back to this length.

For my next Halloween nail art, I decided to do an orange & black gradient, then I free-handed some bats following Cutepolish's YouTube tutorial. (I really need to learn how to embed links into my posts :-/)

Polishes used: SinfulColors "Secret Admirer" and "Cloud 9", and

China Glaze "Fairy Dust". I painted the bats using acrylic paint and

a toothpick :)

Being that this was only my THIRD successful gradient, I was super proud of these! So proud, that it entered them into a Halloween nail art contest on Instagram & won in the "Newbie" category :)

My next Halloween inspiration came from another YouTube tutorial. This time, from ArcadiaNailArt, (Seriously, how do I embed a link?!) called "Witch's Brew".

Polishes used: SinfulColors "Secret Admirer" and "Innocent"

Glitter was a mixture of China Glaze "Mosaic Madness" and

"Grafitti Glitter" Topped with HK Girl "Glisten & Glow"

*Am I the only one who is bothered by the fact that "Graffiti" is spelled wrong on the label of that glitter? Lol!*

I used acrylic paints to add the creepy eyeballs. This was my personal favorite. My mom liked this one so much, she asked me to do this design on her nails. In my 36 years on this earth, I have never even seen my mom with polish on her nails, so I was so excited to do this for her. I did switch hers up a little bit, though...

Polishes used: SinfulColors "Secret Admirer"and "Cloud 9"; China Glaze "I'm With

The Lifeguard" and Salon Perfect Neon Collision "Kaboom"; topped with HK Girl

"Glisten & Glow"

*Awkward hand pose courtesy of trying to explain how to hold your fingers for a photo to someone who has never done it before, lol*

She wanted a brighter green than what I used in mine, that's why I went with "I'm With The Lifeguard". When I did mine, I mixed two glitters together (trying to achieve a similar look to what ArcadiaNailArt used in hers) and completely forgot that I had this glitter. I definitely like this glitter better. After I won the Instagram contest with my gradient & bats, she decided she wanted those too, so I did that on her thumbs as accents. It was so cute hearing her giggle like a school girl when I did the gradient, lol. "It's like magic!" she said, lol.

Please excuse her poor cuticles. She works in retail, often unloading trucks & stocking shelves, and her nails take a beating on a regular basis :(

I also used acrylic paints to do these creepy eyeballs, but I used a red nail art pen from a set that Mom bought for me at Sam's Club, so the red veins didn't come out as well as they did in my own "Witch's Brew" manicure.

Next, I did a simple manicure using textured polishes and a dotting tool...

Polishes used: Julie G Frosted Gumdrops "Tangerine Dream" and Zoya Pixie Dust

"Dahlia"

Next, I decided to try something a little different, trying to practice my free-handing skills...

Polishes used: SinfulColors "Precious Metal" and "Smokin'" &

Maybelline Polka Dots "Clearly Spotted"

Again, I used acrylic paints for the black & white. This was my least favorite out of all the Halloween manicures that I did, but being that it was my first time trying this, I guess it came out okay.

Finally, for my last Halloween nail art, I did the free-handed bats again, but this time I used a new detail brush that my best friend got for me instead of a toothpick. I used acrylic paints to add them over a white base with a glow in the dark polish.