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!
April 2024 - April Showers
I’m sure we all know how the idiom goes: “April showers bring May flowers.” So let’s see your water themed manicures this month!
And it doesn’t have to be typical blues for water either. Feel free to try techniques that involve water in some way! Hydrodipping, water marbling, droplet effects, etc… Feel free to try any of these and show us the results!
See My Original Post That Started This Challenge Here
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.
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 December 2024 - Happy Holidays: Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, New Years! January 2024 - New Year Newness February 2024 - Love and Fortune March 2024 - Spring Cleaning
Upcoming Challenegs (*Spoiler Alert!* ⚠️ Click at your own risk!)
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.
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
@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.
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.
Love the colors you choice for this gradient mani @Samtian! The different shades and tones of rose look beautiful. I forgot Ellen Tracy made nail polish. Did you find them to be long wearing?
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