The Handmade Perspective: Day1CNT: 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge

BKD Signature is participating in its first ever nail art challenge! I'm joining a group of lovely bloggers in showcasing some gorgeous polishes and stunning nail art skills. Of course, not MY stunning nail art skills, so this is a fun challenge I'm participating in to expand my skillset and challenge myself. You can admire everyone else's beautiful works and giggle at my attempts. ;) But most importantly, say hi to some awesome indie polishes! My goal is to try to stick to only using handmade lacquer.

Today is Day One of The Thirteen Days of January Nail Art Challenge or #Day1CNT! Today's theme is Follow A Tutorial. I found inspiration from one of my awesome blogger friends, Chalkboard Nails. I followed her ruffian mani, which you can find on Instagram.

I used NailNation 3000 "The High Life" under Girly Bits Limited Edition "Joyeux Noël". I did this quick mani after a long day at work so please excuse the poor lighting. I prefer to snap my mani's under natural light, but I figured moonlight wasn't enough. ;) I'll snap better ones tomorrow and edit this post.

The High Life is a gorgeous yellow gold chock full of holo. Joyeux Noël is a stunning magenta-leaning red with microglitter. Had some trouble getting the NN3000 to dry (usually indies dry on my nails crazy fast), but the formula and brush were awesome for application. The Girly Bits dried fairly quickly and also had nice application, as is my experience with GB. Because I am not good at freehand, I used french tip nail guides to help me (which I could use practice applying). However, I AM proud to say that my using polishes with amazing application leads to almost zero need for clean-up!