Monthly Manicure Challenge 2023

[JoSometimes]

Welcome to the Monthly Manicure Challenge! There’s a lot of great manicure ideas and inspiration here on BIC. I find challenges are a great way to channel that inspiration, push me out of my comfort zone, and try new styles or colours I wouldn’t normally go for. It’s a great way to grow in skill and artistry. I hope you’ll join me on this journey.

All are welcome, whether you’re a pro or a novice like me, or if you have a favourite manicurist that is the only one you trust with your hands. You’re welcome to post as often or as little as you like, post late, or skip challenges completely. And feel free to post them on Show Me Your Nails 2.0 too!

December 2023 - Happy Holidays: Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, New Years!

December is finally upon us! Pretty soon, many of us will be celebrating the holidays. For some of us, it means some quiet time with loved ones and for others it means an endless list of parties and get-togethers! Either way, it’s the perfect excuse for a holiday mani!

See My Original Post That Started This Challenge Here

Spoiler

I’ve been a part of BIC for a while now. I’ve seen makeup, skincare, and photography challenges, which have been great for giving me inspiration, but nothing for mani’s. I love Makeup Challenge of the Week 2021/2022/2023 because it’s given me lots of inspiration, pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me grow in my skills and artistry. I’d probably be stuck doing the same looks if it weren’t for that. I know we have Show Me Your Nails 2.0 which has been a great source of inspiration. I don’t want to take away from it but rather give myself and others a way to narrow down all the great ideas from it and get outside of my comfort zone (which has been bright colours and sparkly toppers lately)

Would there be any interest in starting a challenge for mani’s? We could have a different theme every month or even twice a month so that people can wear their mani’s out without worrying about missing one. People could always revisit themes if they miss them but still want to participate. I’m happy to organize it and if people have ideas for themes, I’m happy to work them in. What do you all think? Let me know if we should go one or twice a month and any themes you might want to see. 

Tagging some people but feel free to tag others who I missed or who you think might be interested.

@RGbrown @Titian06 @itsfi @CynthieLu @ather @jaaayp @Saradestin @Mellmars1185 @WinglessOne @Samtian 

Previous Challenges

Spoiler

May 2023 - May Flowers
June 2023 - Child At Heart
July 2023 - Fireworks/Canada Day/Fourth of July
August 2023 - A Day At The Beach
September 2023 - We Now Return You To Your Regularly Scheduled Program: TV/Movie Inspired Manicures
October 2023 - Trick or Treat! Halloween-Inspired Mani’s
November 2023 - Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

Upcoming Challenegs (*Spoiler Alert!* ⚠️ Click at your own risk!)

Spoiler

We’ve read the final month! I’m happy to continue this next year if people are willing. I’m open to changing things up or adding bonus challenges. If you have suggestions, please let me know!

In Case You’re Interested In Other Challenges

Spoiler

Makeup Challenge of the Week 2021/2022/2023 
100 Days of Lipstick Challenge 
100 Shades of Eyeshadow Challenge 
A Year of Beauty- Photography Challenge- Year 2 
💕😌 2023 Mask of the Week Challenge 😌💖 
Please let me know if I missed any!

[Saradestin]

That’s my favorite as well @JoSometimes ! It turned out very beautiful!

[itsfi]

Cross-post from the Nails 2.0 thread. The nail art on my ring finger nail fits the month's flower nail art theme. 

Tools Used: 

• Dotting Tool 
• Striping Brush 
• Both from the Sally Hansen Salon Pro Tool Kit - I picked this kit up at my local Target

@RGbrown does a lovely job with her lines and I gave some geat tips for a smooth line. On a couple of these, I lifted my brush too soon or paused instead of making a clean lift, and it shows. The stripes on this hand (non-dominant hand) turned out much better than the ones on my other hand. 🤣

Polishes Used: 

💅 Red: Sephora Collection It Girl

💅 White: Nails Inc. Free Time is Me Time

💅Blue: Nails Inc. Need Some Vitamin Sea from the Nails Inc Mykonos Set

💅 Silver: Dare to Wear Stellar Stars 

[ather]

@itsfi  Such a perfect set!! I love the bold red and blue against the white!

[Saradestin]

This manicure is so fun, bright and cute @itsfi ! I love it! ❤️🤍💙

[itsfi]

Thank you @Saradestin! It was a fun one. I was happily surprised with how vibrant the red and blue polishes were.

[Saradestin]

Yes, they are gorgeous @itsfi! I need a bright red cream polish in my collection

[jaaayp]

@itsfi I understand the struggle with the straight lines.. I don't even attempt LOL I think we should have @RGbrown give us zoom lessons 🤣

[RGbrown]

@jaaayp @itsfi 

Ha  😂 Honestly though, I'm not sure Fi's lines look any different than ones I've done! If I want perfectly perfect, I pull out vinyls (or striping tape or whatever sticky straight edge you have) so I can just fill them in, but when I freehand them, they look just like this. Sometimes I try and "square up" the little pointy end caused by the tip of the brush, but I frequently screw that up, so I mostly just leave them be (that can also be avoided by placing the tip off the nail, aka on the skin, but I'm never willing to make that mess lol, nor do I think about having a barrier down until after the fact). 

The best advice I can give for straight (ish) stripes is to get a long brush (really long!), coat it evenly, lay the whole thing flat across your nail where you want the stripe to be, then gently drag it straight down that line to evenly distribute the polish. If your brush had any uneven blobs on it, your line may have some fat spots, but overall, it's gonna be fairly even. Going at it with just the tip of a brush makes it way more difficult, but plop and drag is pretty easy!

^my striper, from a Red Carpet Manicure brush set I picked up on sale at some point.

[Saradestin]

Thank you for the detailed explanation @RGbrown! I don’t have such long brush but have a stamping plate that has three different thickness straight lines and that’s what I will be using until I get the right brush

[jaaayp]

SUPER HELPFUL @RGbrown My June challenge will have some of these "straight lines" which I'll pass off as squigglies 😂😂😂😂

[JoSometimes]

Thank you for the demonstration @RGbrown! That is super helpful!

[itsfi]

Woohoo! We got our tutorial @jaaayp! 😊 Thank you @RGbrown; I’m bookmarking the post for future use. 👍🏼

[JoSometimes]

@itsfi That’s awesome that you found that kit at Target. Target left Canada years ago, but I couldn’t find anything at other stores like Walmart or Shopper Drug Mart. I ended up ordering from Amazon.

I actually like that the lines aren’t perfect. It adds a human element to it that I find charming. 

[Samtian]

@itsfi Whoa cool!!

[Samtian]

For the May flowers challenge I went with some of my rose colors. LÓreal Smell the roses on the index and middle. Two different Ellen Tracy colors on pinky/thumb and ring. 3 coats each. 

[ather]

Such beautiful colours that you picked out!! @Samtian 

[Samtian]

@ather Thank you!

[Titian06]

Great rose-like colors, @Samtian ! 🌹  These colors are very pretty on you!

[Samtian]

@Titian06 Thank you so much!!

[Saradestin]

Beautiful color choices @Samtian ! 😍 They really remind me of roses 🌹 and L’Oréal polish name is so appropriate!

[Samtian]

@Saradestin Thank you! I agree about the name!