31 Day Challenge - Day 14: FLOWERS!

Welcome back for Day 14 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge, sponsored by Kimber of Kimber's Lacquer Korner! I thought that I would approach today's challenge from a different perspective than my past offerings. Today you get a 3-for-1: Challenge Post, Tutorial, Review. This way, if you so choose, you can follow the directions at home. Brace yourselves, it's about to get intense!!!!

Flowers!
Oh man, it's so intense already.

Spoilers, Sweetie!

Alright, before I go any further, let me weave you a tale... many, many moons ago (last month, I think...) I was at Ulta and noticed that by the ORLY polishes they had a display featuring "Instant Artist" nail art tutorials. Being the polish fiend that I am, I quickly took one of each card and ran off into the night (after buying a few polishes... because... really... it's a given if I'm at Ulta). One of those cards was floral inspired, and I thought that it would be perfect for today's challenge.

"Easy to follow instructions" you say?!?!?!?!

Tiny font, multiple steps... it's looking less and less easy as this adventure goes on.... just sayin'...

Before moving on to the instructions, the card outlines the necessary tools and polishes. You should have a dotting tool (check!) a detailing brush (check!) and paper to use as an "Artist Palette" (check!). ORLY also suggested using the following polishes: ORLY - Fiery Red, ORLY - Sunshine, ORLY - True Blue. Immediately I noticed a theme... I owned none of these polishes. Luckily (I reasoned to myself) I have a collection full of gorgeous colors, so I would be able to find similar shades easily.

Close enough (OR SO I THOUGHT?!?!!).... (dun Dun DUUUUUUUN!!!!!)

I raided my stash and came up with the above polishes. ORLY - Dayglow, ORLY - Shockwave, Sally Hansen - Mellow Yellow, and Finger Paints - Curator's Crimson. I would like to point out that a white polish was not listed in the supply list. Minor gripe.

Because this post is extremely picture and text heavy, please continue after the break...

Step 1. Apply over white painted dry nails.

- Liz's Notes: Um.... Okay. Not much of a step. If I could rewrite the instructions, I would have the first step be to apply white polish to nails. Anywho, I applied Dayglow - I used two coats. There were a few patchy areas, but I reasoned that I could get away with it by painting over any flaws.

Step 1 complete! BAM

Step 2. Using your Fiery Red create 3-4 flowers using the tip of the brush. Let dry.

- Liz's Notes: Alright, this isn't too bad so far. My "flowers" kind of look like bugs that hit the windshield, but I have faith that it can get better.  I used the diagrams next to the instructions as a model. I will note that because my nails are much shorter than the model, I decided to do 2-3 flowers per nail.

Well, it could be worse!

Step 3. Using your Artist Palette and Detailer brush, mix Sunshine and Fiery Red to create a warm yellow-orange shade. Create 3-4 smaller flowers around the red flowers to compliment the patter. Don't be afraid to overlap flowers. Let dry.

- Liz's Notes: I am not pleased. Clearly the colors that I picked were wildly different from the recommended ORLY colors. I could get past that, EXCEPT for the fact that the act of mixing the polishes together made the resulting "orange shade" thick, gloopy, and difficult to work with. I had started out doing both hands... at this stage I gave up and focused on my "picture hand." I was more determined to see the manicure through than I was to wear it the next day.

Sorry about the not-so-cute cuticles. My excuse is that this is not the finished product... please don't leave!

Step 3. Using the Artist Palette and Detailer brush, mix Sunshine and True Blue to create a cool green. Paint tiny leaves in between the flowers, using the tip of the brush.

- Liz's Notes: Once again, same gripes. My colors were obviously very off, and the mixed polish was very, very difficult to work with. Also... this wasn't a typo on my end. This is the second step 3. Why? Why can't this be step 4?!

Step Three 2 - Electric Boogaloo

Step 4. Pour a small amount of the True Blue onto your Artist Palette and dip the small side of the Dotter Duo into the True Blue. Create small dots in the center of your flowers.

- Liz's Notes: Finally something that my truly limited artistic skills can handle! This step was a breeze. Shocking, I know.

Ooooooh. Dots.

Step 5. Seal with a topcoat.

This seems like a no-brainer, but I am glad that ORLY included this step. I would point out that they should have instructed to let the blue dots dry completely before using a top coat to avoid smearing... but eh, minor gripe. I took the oportunity to do a quick clean up before taking the below pic. The sadness of my cuticles/fingers was driving me up the wall, so I slapped on some cuticle cream and lotion faster than you were able to read this sentence.

The finishing touches made a big difference. I went from resentment to full-on surprise that I liked the manicure.

Final thoughts: 

I think that there were some aspects of the instructions that could have been better. My biggest gripe is that I think it is a waste to mix the orange and green shades. I suppose it makes sense if you don't have a wide collection of nail polish, but the end result is difficult to work with. 

If I use this tutorial again it will be completely revamped in an attempt to make it less annoying. 

Final verdict? Annoying.

If you have stuck through this blog post to this point, congratulations - you are a patient person! Thanks for hanging in there!!! Hopefully you got something out of this... regardless of if you did or didn't, I suggest that you join me in checking out what the rest of the 31 Day Challengers came up with for today's floral theme.

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Mari at Nailista
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance 
-Me, Myself, and Polish 

Thanks for stopping by!