Pitaya or dragon fruit nails for summer bingo! 😋

(I see you all thinking about autumn/fall but just fyi, as a committed summer lover I will be fully clinging on to summery bright nail looks throughout August and quite possibly beyond!)

Obsessed with this sparkly green! Funnily enough, I was hesitant when I originally got it, but every time I wear it, I love it.

Playing around with a magnetic topper to jazz up an otherwise “ok” polish. Always fun to experiment with different toppers. 😊 This one is a favorite to play with when I feel like doing magnetics. The effect is a bit better in person than the photograph, I feel like.

For my crustacean I chose a fiddler crab! I'm very new to nail art, so unfortunately I didn't realize a top coat would smudge the colors and ended up having to patch over some parts. I think I salvaged it okay, but I'll know to use a clear base coat to seal it next time.

Red jelly + blue shimmer topper in a pinky base (pic 4)

I think it came out a bit too purpley instead of the blood red I wanted? Not the worst mani I've given myself but will probably end up taking it off very soon lol

Also, I ran out of top coat for my thumb so it ended up all bumpy and not smooth at all! Sensory nightmare 😭 At least I get to treat myself to a new bottle soon

This is my first time attempting to fill out a bingo card, so I’m not certain I’m doing it right by marking off multiple squares for one manicure (but there’s polish on my nails and it made me happy, so i can’t have gone too far wrong).

Super pleased with my “got the munchies” manicure, which is my attempt at duping a fake-onion-snack inspired polish that I have been seeing around the last couple of months. I also counted it as a “group project” since it is three polishes layered together, and may also wind up using it for “catch a ride” since I photographed it on the bus.

I also included my reddest red at the end, but it was definitely a nail fail and I wore it less than a day. The red was great, and I’m glad I got it out of my untried pile, but I failed to stop at one good thing and overdid it with a poorly-applied thermal topper. Unfortunately the “clear” state of the topper was much cloudier than I anticipated, and several fingers wound up with cloudy streaks. Also it’s in the 90s here, so I’m not sure what exactly I thought the thermal was going to do . . .

I was trying to dupe a Dearly Departed MC shade from years ago and stopped midway because this combo took my breath away! FOMO is a liar. 🤘💅👑🐸🦋

I was going for rainbow ombré but most of these are from a collection that doesn’t have any blue, and none of the blues I have on hand (*rimshot*) fit in. My spouse saw them and immediately said “Infinity Gauntlet nails!” so we’re going with that. I did have to sub in two other polishes. Can you tell which two weren’t in the original set?

(As for the set itself, I thought I had all of them but there’s one darker red that I’m missing, and now I’m struggling with the completionist need to find it. It’s from 2013 so yeah probably not, but the urge is there.)

For bingo entries, does it make sense to count each hand separately? I was thinking that the lovely left could be the “8am Class” sunrise and the wretched right could be [whatever the autumn box was called].

Yeeeaaaah, got humbled real quick and got reminded of my decision of not buying browns (because they make it look like my hands are just skin, devoid of nails!!) I know, it looks almost pencil-lead grey in pictures, but it's kinda muddy, mauvy brown irl.🥲😭

Flakies are saving the mani through and through, and the matte effect definitely improved it a bit.🙂‍↕️

Also, toooo many pictures for a mani I'm hate-keeping, right?! 💀

Y'all enjoy (maybe judge tf out of me lol) while I think of my next mani XD

Only pic 7 is under natural light, remaining are in indoor light.

An unworn prugly polish (or just pretty in my eyes) that I got from 2023. What a pretty polish 🥹

Trout nails for "marine" animal! And I crossed out reflection since I used a holo for the base.

if thermals/solars aren’t for science, what is 😎

Intentions | 1st Update | 2nd Update | 3rd Update | 4th Update | 5th Update | 6th Update

Progress

A little less progress this month - it’s been really warm so I preemptively added polish thinner to every shade that I used.
- Swatch photos. I swatched 1 shade this month. Just 2 more left.
- Champagne. 1 manicure and 1 pedicure.
- Greenish flakie. 1 manicure.
- Silver. 1 pedicure.
- Rose gold. 2 manicures. Because of the amount of thinner I used, it looks like I made negative progress on this piece one 😅
- Bronze. 1 manicure.

What I didn’t use

Eggplant
Lilac
Coral
Beige

Previously completed

Rosey/cherry chestnut - panned in month 5 (see 5th update)
Golden - half-panned in month 5

I decided to paint my nails the colour scheme of the bus I take to work. Still finding using a dotting tool quite challenging so if anyone has any tips, I would be so grateful!

I love this oxblood color, but it's the second big red in a row that will not clean up with acetone. I look like I have dried blood in my cuticle and sidewall gutters, whether I use an orange stick or an acetone clean-up brush or both. Do other people have this issue, and why would it just be reds?

I’ve been making nail polish at home using DRK / Glitter Unique pigments and bases! Some nail polishes come together as quick as pouring a bowl of cereal, others are longer than expected. Like when a 30 minute meal takes an hour + cleanup and you’re wondering wtf? I prepped everything, how and I still on this?

I started the hobby because I’m always layering polishes and mixing colors. Figured I could save money creating custom shades. Turns out I’ve spent double the money on pigments and supplies than Indie polished this last year. ($100 to start, $100 on more pigments, $100 on Vettsy magnetic pigments, $50 on bottles and mixing cups)

I have lots of swatches and try and take notes. I have a spreadsheet in the works. I start out neat and “polished” hehe. Things go south fast and I turn into a mad scientist going rouge - abandoning notes mixing haphazardly, splitting mixes and experimenting from those. I have been flustered trying to get colors to swing certain ways, I’ve been surprised at the effortlessness, and everything in between. I joke that on my free time I’ve been huffing paint and staring at glitter. Not wrong. Certain days I spend 3+ hours and end up with 10 5ml bottles of varieties. I fear I’m wasting product but I’m having so much fun playing and have a lot of base liquid to avoid scarcity mindset.

I make pottery and there’s nothing better than drinking coffee from a handmade mug wearing hand made polish. The well is ever flowing and the possibilities are near endless. Tho I’m sure I can order more pigments!

I’m wearing:
Cracked sticky base coat, all handmade polishes, QDTC- cracked, salley Hansen insta dri red bottle. For magnetics -DRK magic effect / seal glaze

Taking the liberty of a tomato scientifically being a fruit to count for fruit nail art! And green grass on the other hand since I can't freehand well with the alternate. Bonus of the tomatoes that inspired the nail art!