#31DC2014 - Day 7: Black and White

Hello everyone! Again, apologies for how late this post is, least I'm still one the right day though! Packing has kept me busy, I'll be heading back to Scotland tomorrow! Hopefully I'll still get the challenge up at a reasonable hour!

On to today's! I'm actually incredibly in love with this look, its so witchy and dark. I've missed having dark, vampy colours on my nails! This was inspired by a look of fleuryrosenails' that I saw a while back and kept meaning to try! I will guiltily admit that it's not pure black but rather a franken with some shimmery blue to get a space effect - I think next time I'll use a shimmery black instead but limited tools here so making do! I did the moons in acrylic paint. They came out a tad messy but better than I anticipated!

The lighting today was not being cooperative but hopefully you'll all forgive the quality of the photos!

I'm sure you'll be seeing an improved version of this look before long, I can't wait to wear it for more than a day! I think I've finally got the hang of the InLinkz link so take a peek at what other people have been up to there are some seriously snazzy looks, I'm feeling very inspired by all the monochrome!

An InLinkz Link-up

#31DC2014 - Day 6: Violet

Second post today, sorry about he lack of clean-up here, I'm afraid I'm packing to head back to uni (yay Scotland,here I come!) so there wasn't much time! I was really reluctant to get rid of all of yesterday's manicure so I decided to keep the thumb! The bright blue and gold remind me of the sun and summer here in France so I want to hang on to it for as long as I can before I head back to the cooler climes of the UK. 

I don't have any truly violet polishes with me at the moment so I'm afraid this is really more of a lilac! The gold is the same one from the last post, it's called 'Genie in a Bottle' by Catrice and I have the sneaking suspicion I picked it up in Penney's (the Irish Primark). I used to dislike the undertones it had but since picking it up over the last few days I've really fallen for how dusky and almost duochrome it is.

I went for a simple chevron pattern with striping tape to offset the curls and swirls of the thumb and have something a bit more understated on the rest of the fingers. I like how delicate this colour combo is though usually I'm more of a fan of dark, shimmery purples!

That's all for today, see you tomorrow!

T xx

31 Day Nail Challenge - #31DC2014 - Blue

Apologies that this #31DC2014 post is late, I had my nails all done yesterday and pictures taken but I never got round to uploading them! I was originally going for a water pattern, with phosphorescence like in a swimming pool but it just wasn't working for me so I started again and ended up with this almost baroque swirly pattern.

I actually really like how this turned out, it looks elaborate and ornate but didn't take that long at all! I just painted the nail with Barry M's Blueberry Gelly and then drew the swirls in with a toothpick! 

I'm still fiddling with the lighting and whatnot for these pictures so please bear with me! I'd love to hear any tips you guys have below!

Tara xx

31 Day Nail Challenge - Green

This manicure is a bit messy I'm afraid, I managed to smudge it almost straight after painting it - serves me right for painting them when I knew I was going to have to use my hands! The idea is taken from The Nailasaurus' post a few days ago -  the idea is so simple and chic but makes such a great impact! Anyway not much to say bout this one other than apologise for its messiness and hope tomorrow's is better!

31 Day Nail Challenge - Yellow

Oh Yellow! This is a colour I rarely wear on my nails as though I love it on other people It never seems to flatter me. But as I was thinking about what to do for today's prompt, my iPod started playing the Sex Pistols' album'Never Mind the Bollocks' and I knew exactly what to do! This is inspired by that album cover:

I took the writing and colour scheme from the album and added an anarchy symbol on my ring finger in homage to the iconic song 'Anarchy in the UK'. I haven't had much practice with letter nail art but I think it came out alright! The only part I'm disappointed in is the index finger because it was hard to cram the word in so it looks a bit messy but I suppose that's all in the punk spirit of it! 

I used Seventeen's Lemon Tart and layered a shimmery yellow that I think I got in a magazine (it says it's from Missguided?) then painted the pink stripes on using an old Maybelline polish. I then used a toothpick to paint on the anarchy symbol and writing with black polish. 

Anyway I hope you like it! Any one else fond of the band/done nail art in tribute to a band they liked?

31DayNailChallenge - Day 2: Orange Nails

Again slightly later than anticipated but still today so not late, I'd like to present you with my attempt at orange nails. Orange isn't a colour that particularly flatters my skin tone so I kind of swung between hating and not minding this mani. I think I'd love it on someone else though! 

The polishes used were Barry M's Mango Gelly and Gold Foil as well as Konad's Black stamping polish (I didn't have another black!). Neither the black or the gold were great for using like this, they were both a bit thick and didn't level very well - though that's only because my Gold Foil is ancient and overused and needs replacing.

I ended up liking this a lot more than I thought I would I think the gold kept it from being too Halloween-y while the twist on the French mani made it feel like a quirky classic.If I had used a shimmery orange I think I'd have loved it!

Apologies for the photos here, I didn't get a chance to edit them at all and some of my nails could have used a clean up. Hopefully tomorrow will be tidier!

 Do you guys use orange polish often? What's been your favourite entry for #31DC2014 orange nails so far?

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 1: Red

Hello everyone!
 Welcome to my little corner of the internet. I'm Tara and I'll be using Crimson Claws to share my love of lipstick, nail varnish and various other beauty bits with you! I'm brand new at this so apologies for any messiness, I'm still getting the blog looking how I want it and getting the hang of everything! I thought a nice way to start off would be the 31 Day Nail Challenge (see Chalkboard Nails' wonderful FAQ if you'd like to know more!). I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with doing new nails everyday but that's part of the fun, I guess! I am a day late posting this, I had meant to have it up yesterday but oh well it just means you'll have two posts today!

With this challenge, I want to try and keep my nails looking a bit vampy, somewhere between elegant and rock and roll. For this look, I went for a twenties, Art Deco vibe, using Barry M's Gold Foil and a Claire's Gel Effect Polish imaginatively called 'Red Gel'. I'm on holidays at my parent's house in France so I'm a bit short on polishes so this week's colours might not all have been my first choices but hopefully it'll get me to be more inventive! To achieve this look, I first painted my nails with the gold then waited til it had dried before marking out my design in striping tape. I then painted over it with the red, peeled off the tape before it dried and voila! 

I made a bit of a mess on my middle finger by letting the polish dry too much before removing the tape but it's not too noticeable from afar. It could also have used a coat of top coat to level it all out but my Seche Vite has turned to goop and I don't want to buy another bottle here when I know I have one waiting for me back at uni. So til then I guess we'll have to suffer soem unsightly nails, sorry guys!

 
 

Are any of you doing the 31 Day Challenge? Leave me a comment so I can see how you get on!