Monthly Manicure Challenge 2024

[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!

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

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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

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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!)

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May 2024 - May Flowers

In Case You’re Interested In Other Challenges

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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!

[jaaayp]

@JoSometimes daw. Thank you 😊 just practice practice. Definitely wish I took pictures of some of my older manis because they were like 🤪🥹

[JoSometimes]

Teach my your ways @jaaayp! This is seriously so elegant and beautiful. Absolutely nailed (pun totally intended) the challenge!

[Titian06]

@jaaayp - Are these stickers/decals?  However you did this mani, it's gorgeous! 🤩

[jaaayp]

Stickers @Titian06 !!! I definitely recommend to everyone who wants lux manis in a short period of time! 

[CynthieLu]

This turned out beautiful and elegant @jaaayp Wow! These are soo well done 😍 

[jaaayp]

@CynthieLu daw. Thank you 🥰 really appreciate it!

[Mellmars1185]

@jaaayp Lovely May Flowers. I really like how the gold and white flower contrast with the black polish base 🤍🖤💫🌸

[jaaayp]

@Mellmars1185 thank you! I actually tried a different base and I did notice it didn't pop as much so I opted for black. My black is so streaky tho 🥹

[CookieGirl1]

@jaaayp Now THAT'S gorgeous!  I love the designs.

[jaaayp]

@CookieGirl1 thank you ❤️ love that you love it!!! 🥰

[Mellmars1185]

@JoSometimes, thank you for the tag! I like the idea of a monthly challenge. It will give me a reason to get some tools I have been thinking about getting! I am looking forward to seeing all of the nail art!

[JoSometimes]

I can’t wait to see what you come up with @Mellmars1185!

[Saradestin]

This is awesome @JoSometimes !! I will find so much inspiration here! 

[JoSometimes]

Hooray @Saradestin! I can’t wait to see how that inspiration translates into your manicures!

[RGbrown]

May flowers, eh? I am all about the lazy, low effort mani most of the time, but I can rise to a challenge every now and again! My art skills atrophied around third grade and some mild tremors don't help, but hey, I tried, ok? 😅 Maybe one day I'll pull out some of my stamping stuff for neater results, but that's a whole different effort I wasn't up to yesterday lol.

Natural overcast light; mostly stormy today, but I managed to catch a break in the rain ☔

The polishes:

Cirque Marsala Jelly: somewhere between mauve and plum, a beautifully dusty pinky-purple shade. Sheer but goes down evenly, not streaky (It's worth noting that this is with my upgraded wide brush...not sure how it would go with the original skinny one)

Cirque Jade Jelly: true to the name, it's a soft jade green. Also sheer but not streaky (also wide brush)

Smith & Cult Glass Souls: an assortment of silver glitters in a clear base. Wonderfully sparkly, their glitter seems a little brighter somehow than many other brands, and the glitters are thin enough that they don't leave a ton of texture. 

Morgan Taylor Arctic Freeze for the lines, and Revlon Vivacious, Tangerine, and Zealous for the flowers.

The method:

For the glitter nails, I laid down three coats of jelly, added one coat of glitter about three quarters of the way up the nail, added one more coat of jelly, and then just a smattering of glitter near the tip.

For the plaid + flower nails, I did one coat of jelly, then drew one horizontal and one vertical line with the white, and let dry for a bit. Topped with another coat of jelly, then added the other two lines and few sparse dots of glitter, let dry again. One more coat of jelly, dot on the flowers, and add a hint more glitter, then let dry before carefully adding topcoat. 

I hated this when I first got done, mostly because I know my freehand skills are non-existent, but it has grown on me and I'm mostly happy with it now! I do wish I had used different colors for the flower over Marsala Jelly, it doesn't stand out as well as it does over Jade Jelly, but all in all, I'm pretty thrilled with my results 🌼 

[Samtian]

@RGbrown 3rd grade? Ok show off 🤣 Mine never started. I really love this look!

[RGbrown]

@Samtian @CynthieLu @ather 

Thanks so much y'all! 

[ather]

@RGbrown  Love these! So pretty! You do a way better job at flowers than I can! 

[CynthieLu]

Your take on may flowers is lovely @RGbrown You added your own flare and the final result is really fun to see 🙂 

[JoSometimes]

Love, love, love! And you’ve definitely still got some art skills @RGbrown! I usually don’t go for orange coloured anything because it ends up just blending in with my skin, especially in the summer, but I do love the Tangerine you used for the flowers. 

[RGbrown]

@JoSometimes 

I disliked orange for the longest time, it's one of the last colors I got into for nail polish, but it's sooooo much fun for a mani! I hope you can find a good one for your skin tone one day 🧡