31DC2012: Day 23 Inspired by a Movie

I'm here with Day 23 of the 31 Day Challenge and the film I chose is Watchmen. We all know how I love everything superhero so this was the obvious choice as I've exhausted most of the other ones. If you haven't seen the film, watch it!

This is the first really detailed freehand nail art I've done for absolutely ages and I love it! I wish I had more time these days to do nail art like this. I miss it!

Don't forget to stop by Nails and Noms and Let Them Have Polish to see how they're getting on with their challenges.

Thumb to pinky: Silk Spectre, Dr Manhattan, Watchmen, Rorschach (kind of!), The Comedian

All the details were freehanded with nail art brushes and here's a run down of the polishes I used...

Urban Outfitters Denim Blue, Cult Nails Quench, Essie Mezmerised, Collection 2000 Sherbet Lemons, W7 Black, Barry M White, Deborah Lippmann Fashion*.

I also used white and black acrylic paint here and there for the small details.

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Superheroes Challenge: Ultimate Hero... Wolverine

I scored myself a great job this week which is very exciting but it's been a shock to the system to go from unemployment to full time work! I'm really tired so I'll just drop this here without too much explanation and go to bed. Kthanxbai!

(Wolverine Wikipedia, Marvel Wiki)

If you've got more stamina than me and want to see more hero manicures, head over to these blogs!

Jo from Northern Nails

Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails

Debbie from The Crumpet

Kerrie from PishPosh and Polish

Sarah from Spellbinding Nails

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Unknown blue, Comics, freehand, Heroes vs Villains, Marvel, NYC, Superheroes Challenge, yellow

Superheroes Challenge: DC Hero... Superman

I know Superman is kind of an obvious choice but sometimes that's the best way to go! He gets a bad rap these days for being kind of irrelevant and you have to admit his powers are kind of lame compared to the superheroes we know today. But you've gotta give the guy some credit, he's kind of 'the original' superhero and he can't really keep up with his modern contemporaries who have all those cool technologies and weapons to make them awesome.
(Superman Wiki)


I had a hectic day but I had a swatch post ready to go until I realised a few hours ago that it was a challenge day and I didn't even have any nail art prepared. Whoops! I knew who my hero was but I hadn't even thought about the nail art so I kept it simple. The 'Super S' is so iconic that I don't think it needs much else to get the point across!

I used NYC Lexington Yellow, No7 Poolside Blue and that unnamed L'Oreal Resist and Shine red I seem to be using every day this week!

I freehanded the details with a small nail art brush and outlined in black acrylic paint. The glitter, or 'glequins', came in 12 colour pack from Born Pretty Store.

As always, go check out what the other ladies came up with today!

Jo from Northern Nails

Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails

Debbie from The Crumpet

Kerrie from PishPosh and Polish

Sarah from Spellbinding Nails

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Superheroes Challenge: DC Villain...Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn is completely 'bat' crazy but you have to admire her in some ways! She's very loyal (some might say a sycophant) and incredibly resourceful. Her first appearance was in a Batman cartoon back in the 90's and the character was only created to serve as The Joker's sidekick in one episode. In 2009, Harley made it on to IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains at #45. Not bad for a psycho psychiatrist from Brooklyn! 

(Harley Quinn Wiki)

Aside from Comics, her biggest role in mainstream media was in Batman: Arkham Asylum but I would really love to see her brought to life in a movie. Damn you, Christopher Nolan! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for another Batman reboot in the future. Preferably with Zach Snyder directing but he's on that whole Man of Steel thing (hint hint) so that doesn't seem very likely. Can you imagine his slow-mo scenes in a Batman movie... heaven! Hey, a fangirl can dream!

I used an unnamed L'Oreal Resist and Shine polish for the red base and W7 Black for the harlequin patterns using a nail art brush.

I painted Harley herself on a base of Barry M White using Black Acrylic Paint for the outlines and details plus the aforementioned L'Oreal red. I used Rimmel Grey Matter to fill in the background and for the shading. Her eyes are Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Brisk Blue.

I added two top coats of Cult Nails Wicked Fast to finish it off.

Previously: Batman and Foes Nail Art

I'm excited to see what the other girls come up with today! I'm hoping to see a Joker for my Harley somewhere!

Jo from Northern Nails

Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails

Debbie from The Crumpet

Kerrie from PishPosh and Polish

Sarah from Spellbinding Nails

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Superheroes Challenge: Marvel Hero... Wasp!

So we've seen the Villain and today, Marvel's hero is riding, or should I say flying, in to save the day! I know that Venom is Spider-Man's arch enemy but I've done Spider-Man nail art in the past so I thought I'd try something new today. I've actually done most of the popular Marvel heroes before (Marvel even has it's own tag!) so I had to reach a bit further than the Hollywood blockbusters for today's nail art.

I chose to do Wasp, aka Janet Van Dyne. Some of you might recognise her from one of the Avengers cartoon series. I know that's where I first saw her and when I was coming up with ideas for today's nail art, I had an idea for her immediately! The wings came out better than I expected since I had the idea to make them pearly right at the last second and it definitely makes them more convincing as wasp wings!

I used NYC Lexington Yellow and Cult Nails Cruisin Nude as my base colours. All the black detail is done with a small nail art brush and black acrylic paint. Finally, I used Rimmel Daisy Chain to go over the wings and give them that delicate, pearly effect.

I finished it all of with two coats of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

Previously: The Amazing Spider-Nails, Marvel Nail Art and Avengers Nail Art

Shoot over to these blogs to see what the other ladies came up with today!

Jo from Northern Nails

Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails

Debbie from The Crumpet

Kerrie from PishPosh and Polish

Sarah from Spellbinding Nails

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Superheroes Challenge: Marvel Villain... We Are Venom!

Welcome to the Heroes and Villains challenge! I'm so excited about this challenge, I love love love nerdy nail art so I know I'm going to be creating some kick-ass manis over the next four weeks and I'm sure the other ladies will too. I can't wait to see what we all come up with.

In case you missed it, I posted all the details of the challenge on Sunday. This week, it's Marvel and today a nasty villain has come to town. I chose Venom who normally appears as Spider-Man's arch enemy! I can't think of much else to say today so I'll just leave you with the pictures!

I used W7 Black as my base colour. All the white detail was done with White Acrylic Paint and the grey is Rimmel Grey Matter.

Previously: The Amazing Spider-Nails

Head over to the other ladies' blogs to see which Marvel villain they chose to immortalise on their nails!

Jo from Northern Nails

Charlotte from Charlotte's Nails

Debbie from The Crumpet

Kerrie from PishPosh and Polish

Sarah from Spellbinding Nails

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The Punisher Nail Art!

So today's nail art is based on Marvel's Punisher. I've never read a Punisher comic or seen a Punisher film, but I'll take any excuse to draw a skull on my nails! 

I'm starting a new challenge in June which Jo from Northern Nails came up with and I was gonna save this idea for then but it doesn't quite fit the criteria. I don't want to give too much away but given my history with this theme and the fact that I'm super excited, you might be able to guess at what it is!

The colours here are W7 Black and a red from L'Oreal which has no shade name on the bottle (gradient tutorial here). The details are done with white acrylic paint.

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Avengers Assemble!

I finally went to see The Avengers (or is it Avengers Assemble now?!) today! It was released last week here in the UK but today was the first chance I got to go and see it!

Of course, I loved it but I was distraught to find that there was no stinger at the end of the credits. Even though I'd already read that there was no final surprise on the UK release, I waited right until the very end out of habit and defiance anyway! I almost feel cheated that I went to see a Marvel movie and there was no credit cookie!

Well these are the nails I wore which I kind of threw on last night but you can see some more in detail Avengers nail art from the archives here.

The base colour is Rimmel My Denim and I used a coat of Girly Bits Cosmic Ocean on my pointer for a bit of sparkle. I used Barry M Silver Foil and black acrylic paint for the 'A'.

I'm slowly falling in love with Rimmel polish. I've been finding a lot of them at bargain prices recently and although I probably wouldn't pay full price (£3-5) for them, I find myself reaching for the ones in my collection a lot recently.

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Unknown blue, Comics, freehand, Girly Bits, Marvel, Movies, Nerdy, Rimmel