piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013: Year of the Blogger

I was so excited when I found out that I was selected to take part in this year's piCture pOlish Blog Fest; it's been so hard to keep it a secret until now!  This year's theme is 'Year of the Blogger', and we were all asked to create a unique nail art look using three piCture pOlish shades provided to us.  It was quite a challenge because we had no say in which polishes we were given, but that's all part of the fun! 

Direct artificial lighting

This post is super picture- and gif-heavy so be sure to read on after the jump for a tutorial!  :)

The polishes I received were piCture pOlish Honey Dew, Peaches n' Cream, and Paradise.  After much pondering, I realised that the colours would work quite well for something Patrick Star-related.  I apparently thought it would be a good idea to go with the Surprised Patrick meme on an accent nail, with the rest of them replicating the pattern on his pants. 

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If you're unfamiliar with the Surprised Patrick meme, please educate yourself here.

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This meme can basically just be stuck anywhere.  Including Matt Smith's nose.

And, of course, on my nails. 

Artificial lighting in lightbox 

I know that the polishes aren't a perfect match, but I think it worked out pretty well!  I used Honey Dew for the base, Paradise for the flowers, and Peaches n' Cream for Patrick and the dots.  Unfortunately there was no way that Paradise was going to be opaque on it's own for nail art, so I used piCture pOlish Violet Femme as a base for the flowers, and then went over it all with Paradise for an opaque look.  There's a tutorial below for the flowers, so keep reading!

Direct artificial lighting

There are three awards: each is a chance to make a new piCture pOlish collaboration shade!  All of the manicures by everyone participating will go in the running.   The three awards will be determined by votes and chosen as follows through the special Pinterest Blog Fest 2013 board:

·  1 x Award - as voted by piCture pOlish friends and fans

·  1 x Award  - as voted by all participants of Blog Fest 2013

·  1 x Award - as voted by Jules & Megs of piCture pOlish

Voting is through the Blog Fest 2013 Pinterest board which you can find here, so go and vote for your favourite manicure!  :)

Artificial lighting in lightbox 

Tutorial time!  There's a photo tutorial as well as a gif, so take a look at whichever you prefer!  :)

1. Start by painting your nails a base colour, and wait for it to be dry to the touch.  I used piCture pOlish Honey Dew. 

2.  Paint 'X's randomly on the nail, evenly spread out.  For this step, I used piCture pOlish Violet Femme since Paradise wasn't opaque enough alone; but if your polish is opaque enough, you don't need to use a different polish underneath. 

3.  Add two more spokes in between each line of every 'X' you painted previously.  

4. Fill in the flowers as shown. 

5. Paint over the flowers in your chosen colour, I used piCture pOlish Paradise.  Once again, if your polish is opaque alone, you can skip this step.  

6.  Add three dots in the middle of each flower, as well as at random spots in between the flowers. 

7.  Clean up with a small makeup brush and pure acetone, and float on a coat of quick-drying top coat to avoid smudging the design and speed up drying. 

8.  Repeat on the rest of your nails, and add Patrick on an accent nail if you want to!  

I've got swatches of all three of these polishes alone, which you'll see at some point over the next few weeks.  Honey Dew and Peaches n' Cream were both super easy to work with for nail art, and have become some of my go-to polishes for summer!  They've both got that super-bright-pastel look that I love, and they're perfect for the summer months.  Paradise was quite difficult to work with for nail art, but I think it turned out pretty well, regardless!  :)

You can find piCture pOlish online everywhere below: 

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I'm super excited to see what everyone else comes up with for their Blog Fest manicures, and good luck to all participating!  :)  And now, a little more Surprised Patrick.  You're welcome. 

Bad Patrick!

Good old Princess Diaries. 

Don't tell me you didn't see this coming.  Source. 

Disclaimer: The polishes in this post were provided by piCture pOlish for the sole purpose of creating a manicure for piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013.