piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013!

Celebrating The Year of the Blogger

Hello everyone! I'm so excited today to be able to tell you that I've been given the wonderful and priceless opportunity to participate in piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013!  Yayyy!! :D It's the first time I participate in something big! So I'm really excited! And I'm so so grateful and really thank God, Jules and Megs, the ambassadors of piCture pOlish for this rare chance! :)

This year's theme is "Year of the Blogger", which is all about the bloggers and celebrating what we do - nail art! Woohoo! Participants of this year's blog fest are required to create nail art featuring 3 of piCture pOlish nail polishes which are sent to us. I sure felt my creativity mind being pushed to it's limits! Still, I am glad and happy with the results, I hope you'd like them too! But before I show you the nail art, these are the details of the challenge: -

The Challenge: 

• Create your most 'amazing nail art manicure ever' using 3 piCture pOlish shades that are provided to you.
• Include a step-by-step tutorial to show everyone how you created the manicure.

The Nail Art Challenge Guidelines:

• Please use only 3 piCture pOlish shades provided to you.
• You can use black or white nail polish in your creation of your design however, the 3 piCture pOlish shades must shine through.
• You can use accessories however, they must not overshadow the piCture pOlish shades (eg: studs,beads, glitters...etc).
• Stamping is okay as long as it doesn't overshadow the provided shades.
• You can use tape or any other form type of items to assist in the creation of your manicure.

The Awards:

• All nail art creations go into the running to be chosen to create a collaboration shade with picture polish launched in 2014.
• There is 3 (only) awards that will be voted and chosen as follows via piCture pOlish special Pinterest Blog Fest 2013 board: 

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

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

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

Now that I've alerted you the details, on with the nail art! I was sent these three beautiful shades and they are my firsts from piCture pOlish!

Left to right: Honey Dew, Peaches n' Cream, Denim

(cute names and beautiful shades!)

As much as I love the colours, I was unfortunately clueless on what nail art to do. For weeks I've been searching for inspirations but nothing seems to be 'right'. At times when I feel really stuck, I like to review back the reasons behind those crazy searches - am glad I did. Since this event is about blogger, I thought I'd just share with you more of my love for triangles and geometries. Here is the picture to what sparked off the idea.

Pattern of Arrows

Side note: I would like to clarify again, this nail art manicure were done using piCture pOlish shades provided to me. If you've taken a liking to them head over to their Shipping and Networking page to know where you may get yourself some piCture pOlish shades. See bottom of post for more links!

Another thing I love is patterns. If you have been following my blog for sometime now, one thing that would be obvious is that I love attempting pattern designs. I really love how different shapes, textures and placements of design could give off a whole new look and feel to something, or even in a room! Makes things look a little bit more interesting, no? :)

By arrows, I meant those pointer heads. They could also pass as little chevrons, maybe? o.O Anyway, after many attempts and tries, drafting out ideas.. I've finally settled with these.

Looking at these colours, they remind me a lot of jeans and spring. Or those kind of days when you would feel like putting on your favourite pair of jeans/denim paired with your favourite top, feeling really comfy and relaxed.

Hehe, so yeap! After tons of design explorations, I'm very glad to have settled on these and happy to share them with you as these made me feel so authentically me. Hahaha! You know, I really like it when a nail art design feels more like a part of me (or you) naturally and not feeling like you're wearing something but rather, wearing yourself. Which I think, is one of the most beautiful aspects of a customized nail art design. :)

Pattern of Arrows Nail Art Tutorial

So, did you like them too? Want to know how you may achive the same look? Well, I hope you've ready-ed yourself for a longgggg post ride *wink wink* as I try my best to guide you through the making of this nail art! :) 

What you may need: 

• 3 different nail polish colours plus a white polish to assist in some designs.
• 1 small make up sponge
• 1 cleaning sponge
• Scotch tape
• Tiny nail art brush
• A piece of scrap paper

Let's Get Started!

Thumb Tutorial Step by Step:

Step 1: 

Prep a white base for the design.

Step 2:

Dabbed your first colour, I used piCture pOlish Denim lightly in random areas with cleaning sponge. 

(explanation: cleaning sponges have bigger pores enables it to create a random speckled dots effects)

Step 3:

Select a second colour. I used piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream. Using the same cleaning sponge, dabbed the colour on lightly onto the nail plate. 

Step 4: 

Choose a third colour. I chose piCture pOlish Honey Dew and create the last speckled effect with cleaning sponge by dabbing it on the nail plate lightly.

Step 5:

Cut two small strips of scotch tape.

Step 6:

Position the scotch tape to create a narrow space across the nail plate diagonally. Using a make up sponge and sponge on piCture pOlish Honey Dew half way through the diagonal space. Remove tape and wait for polish layer to dry. 

Step 7:

Use the same tapes to create a second line just below the first line. Using a make up sponge, sponge on piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream from the corner-bottom-right of the nail plate towards center fading off at about a quarter of the diagonal stripe. Remove tape and gently tap down any fraying sides. Let layer dry.  

Step 8:

Use the tapes to create another diagonal line space across the nail plate; top left side of the nail. Use a make up sponge and sponge on piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream from the side to the center; fading off as it approaches the center. 

Step 9:

Remove tapes carefully and gently press down any fraying sides. Allow the stripe to dry.

Step 10:

Create yet another diagonal line space just above the one in Step 8. Using the make up sponge, sponge on piCture pOlish Honey Dew from the sides and occupy three quarter of the diagonal space. Don't forget to fade off. 

Step 11:

This is how your manicure would look like after removing the tape. Looking pretty neat, no? :)

Step 12: 

Now to draw the double stacked arrows. These arrows are basically made up of two small rhomboid geometry mirrored to each other. Start drawing from the center of the pattern, draw a small dash vertically using your tiny brush. This dash will be the 'backbone' of your arrow pattern. 

Step 13:

Using the 'backbone' guide, draw the rhomboid on the left. Fill in the space with the same colour polish. I used piCture pOlish Denim for the top arrow. 

Step 14:

Now draw your right side rhomboid mirroring it opposite of the first rhomboid. Fill in the space with the same polish colour. By now, you should have successfully drawn and painted your first top arrow. 

Step 15:

Following closely just below the first arrow, use another colour (I used piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream) to draw your left wing of the arrow using the same method as you did for the first arrow.

Step 16:

Mirror and draw your right wing of the arrow using the same colour (eg: piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream).

Step 17:

Repeat Step 12 to Step 16 for the same double stacked arrows at the bottom left of your thumb nail plate. Replace the bottom arrow with a third colour (eg: piCture pOlish Honey Dew).

Step 18:

Clean up and top coat your design. You're done! 

Middle Finger Tutorial Step by Step:

Step 1:

Prep your nail with a white polish as base of the design.

Step 2:

Dabbed lightly piCture pOlish Denim using a cleaning sponge onto your nail.

Step 3:

Using cleaning sponge dabbed lightly piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream overlapping the first colour a little bit. 

Step 4: 

Dabbed the third colour, piCture pOlish Honey Dew covering more white spaces with colours. Let all layer dry. (extra info: you may want to proceed to do other nails while waiting for the layers to dry)

Step 5:

Cut two strips of scotch tape and tape off the sides of your nail, focusing the design on the center of the nail plate.

Step 6:

Using a tiny brush and piCture pOlish Denim, draw a rhomboid from the center of the nail plate towards the side. Be sure to fill in colour to obtain a solid rhomboid shape. 

Step 7:

Choose a second colour. I went with piCture pOlish Honey Dew. Use a tiny brush and draw two rhomboids. One mirroring the opposite direction of the blue rhomboid and another mirrored to the side of the blue rhomboid. 

Step 8:

Select a third colour. I used piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream. Draw two more rhomboids. One directly below the blue rhomboid and another mirrored opposite of the green rhomboid. 

Step 9:

Now go back and use the first colour, piCture pOlish Denim. And draw your final two rhomboids. One directly below the opposing pink rhomboid. The below the green rhomboid after leaving a gap of "imaginary" rhomboid.

Step 10: 

Remove the tapes carefully. Gently press down any fraying sides. 

Step 11:

Clean up any excess mess and top coat your design. Done!  

Ring Finger Tutorial Step by Step:

Step 1: 

Paint nail with selected colour, I painted with piCture pOlish Denim.

Step 2:

Using the cleaning sponge, I dabbed on piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream randomly over the base colour. 

Step 3:

Choose a different colour, I used piCture pOlish Honey Dew. Using the cleaning sponge, I dabbed piCture pOlish Honey Dew lightly overlapping the second colour. Also in random spots.

Step 4:

Using the same cleaning sponge I dabbed on the final colour, white. Overlapping the other two colours in random spots as well. 

Step 5: 

Using piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream and a nail art brush, paint a big rhomboid on the right of the nail (refer to yellow border). Next, paint another big one mirrored to the side of the first big rhomboid (refer to orange border). Followed by a very thin line on the right opposite direction of the big rhomboid (refer to fuchsia border). Lastly, paint the other thin line on the left side (refer to blue border). 

Step 6:

Using your tiny brush, two similar rhomboids using piCture pOlish Honey Dew directly below the big pink ones. Then, use the tiny brush to paint thin chevron lines with the same colour slightly above the thin pink ones. 

Step 7:

Clean up excess mess and topcoat. Ring finger, done!  

Pinky & Index Finger Tutorial Step by Step:

(a) Pinky: 

Step 1:

Prep nail with piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream as base colour

Step 2: 

Dabbed piCture pOlish Honey Dew onto nail plate lightly using a cleaning sponge.

Step 3:

Dabbed random spots with piCture pOlish Denim onto nail plate using the cleaning sponge.

Step 4: 

Dabbed a little white using a cleaning sponge onto nail plate.

Step 5: 

With a tiny brush, use piCture pOlish Honey Dew and paint a vertical stripe starting from the center of bottom-half of nail plate. 

Step 6:

Using the same nail polish, paint a solid left rhomboid.

Step 7:

Paint another rhomboid using the same nail polish colour on the right side. 

Step 8:

Keeping with the same nail polish colour (piCture pOlish Honey Dew) continue to paint a thin line chevron just below the thicker one. Leave a small gap in between.

Step 9:

Mirror the same design on the bottom-half of the nail plate to the top-half of the nail plated. Leaving a decent gap in between them. 

Step 10: 

Now use a different colour, I used piCture pOlish Denim and paint two small triangles opposite each other at the sides of the center design. Have them slightly protruding from  the main design. 

Step 11 - 12:

Clean up excess mess and top coat! Pinky finger, done!  :)

(b) Index:

Step 1 - 8:

• Follow through the steps in (a)Pinky from Step 1 to Step 8 but replacing piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream with piCture pOlish Honey Dew as base colour. 
• In Step 2 replace piCture pOlish Honey Dew with dabbing piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream instead. 
• Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 on nail accordingly.
• Repeat Step 5 but use piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream instead. And start a little bit lower.
• Follow through Step 6 to Step 8 painting with piCture pOlish Peaches n' Cream.  

Step 9:

Mirror the same design on the bottom-half of the nail plate to the top-half of the nail plated. Leaving a bigger gap in between. 

Step 10:

After you have followed through (a)Pinky Step 1 to Step 9 you should arrive with this result. 

Step 11: 

Using piCture pOlish Denim and a tiny brush, paint smaller but fairly thick chevrons opposing each other as depict in picture. And slightly overlapping the pink chevrons.

Step 12:

Sticking with the same colour (piCture pOlish Denim) use the tiny brush to draw similar triangles as at the sides of the nail plates protruding slightly from the center design. 

Step 13:

Clean up and topcoat! You're done!  

Fuhh!! I think I have just hit a new record of long post! Hahaha!! Nevertheless, I hope you have find it helpful and informative. Let me know if I've missed out anything or if there are certain directions that aren't clear enough. Here are the images done for the tutorial (for the first time in a long while I have matching nails on both hands :P) hehehe!!

I have to add, being a first time user of piCture pOlish shades.. I'm super impressed! The colours applied wonderfully and I especially love the matte rubber-ish cap. It's slip proof! What a genius packaging design. And they are so easy to store and carry about! And their dry-time is pretty fast too :) If you had not known about them, I urge you urgently to check out these areas:

piCture pOlish Website

piCture pOlish Facebook

piCture pOlish Everyday Deals

piCture pOlish Shipping Page

piCture pOlish Networking Page

piCture pOlish Twitter

piCture pOlish Pinterest

piCture pOlish Instagram

piCture pOlish Youtube

piCture pOlish Google+

Yeap! Looking at that long list, I can very well conclude they are very up to date and definitely very social! Looking forward to see what other bloggers have come up with. Don't forget to check out their special Pinterest Board which should be up soon, and see what other bloggers have done for this very, very special occasion! :) 

Cheers! And if you did, read all the way until here. I'm truly grateful, thank you so much! :)