As I researched street and urban art, I came across many different artists and styles of art. I was drawn to colorful, abstract art which depicted people expressing emotions as well as lots of animal references. This inspired me to use Reggie, my Sphynx cat and sidekick, as my muse for this week’s challenge. Reggie is my company CEO, logo and my copilot on driving trips around Canada. I decided to create a design that would be colorful but not obvious when the hands were separate. Everything that Reggie does is on his terms so I wanted to translate that on the nails by giving the wearer of the manicure control over whether she reveals the full design or not. Using an app on my tablet, I edited a picture I had taken of Reggie into a geometric image using my favorite geometric shape, triangles. I wrote a list of the different areas of his face and decided which color blocks would go in each area. Not being able to use black and using only pastel colors was very challenging but it was so much fun to think WAY outside of the box. I have not worked with regular polish (other than toes!) for a long time but I found the Orly products to be beautiful and smooth to work with and the high pigmentation made the coverage simple and stress-free. I chose to leave the base of the nails free of any polish or top coat. In true street art style, I found my canvas, created my art, and left the rest of the surroundings untouched.

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I read so many stories and this one really stood out. I think because it is a true story, it shocked me. The story goes like this: The man and the woman were engaged and had a child together. The man decided he no longer wanted to be with his fiancée, but instead of telling her and breaking up with her, he tasered her, bound her hands and feet with tape, and buried her in a computer box in the woods. However, there was a glorious plot twist! It was her engagement ring that saved her life. Filled with the desire to see her son again, she was able to cut through the tape with the diamond and scratch her way out of the box to freedom. Her ex-fiancé was tried and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for attempted murder. He claimed that he never intended to kill her but just to scare her; however, the jury decided he was guilty after they learned that he buried her and put a sizeable tree trunk over the burial site. I chose to depict this story in a comic book style because it reminded me of a Sin City-type story. We were given mainly reds and pinks in our sponsorship package, so I chose to use a pink scale throughout my final design. I secured the 10 tips together with builder gel so I could create a story board platform and give the illusion of a comic book page. I made 3-D elements to bring the story off of the page and give dimension and balance to the overall design.

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I was instantly inspired by the name of LeChat’s Gel Polish, Perfect Match, I chose myself and my husband as the focal point of this challenge and as my pairing of two people who go together. I am truly thankful for all of the amazing experiences that we have been able to do together such as moving from the UK to Canada in 2013. We laugh so much and make fun of each other in a playful way, I wish this kind of happiness on everyone. Instead of painting two portraits, I decided to think outside the box a little. Guy and I have “his and hers” tattoos of padlocks with each person having the other’s key. Its symbolic of us having the key to each other’s hearts. I know, I know, its super soppy! Each padlock was designed by us to represent us personally. Mine is very feminine with swirls and ribbons whilst Guy’s is very masculine and reflects his job in the automotive industry with the gears. Behind my padlock, I had some colorful smoke added to bring the tattoo to life so I incorporated that into the overall nail design by having a watercolor rainbow as the backdrop. It was a joy to use the gel-polishes as a paint medium and, I have to say, I like it more than acrylic paint.

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My research discovered that the term “Vintage Couture” applies to high fashion designed prior to 1930 so I began searching through thousands of images and sketches of clothing designs, footwear, and jewelery. I found an image of a vintage wedding gown and fell in love! It spoke to me particularly because 2018 marks the 10th anniversary of my own wedding. I began my research again, in my opinion, there is nothing more couture than a wedding gown. I found exquisite dresses made from lace and neck pieces of embroidery and crystals. When I looked at 1920-30 bouquets, I found arrangements that were “dressed” with vintage jewelry such as brooches and complemented with voile, netting, and lace decorations. This was the main source of inspiration for me with the nails and I wanted to translate the angular style from that era. I chose to depict my nail interpretation of a bridal sleeve adorned with a beautiful bouquet. Asside from the crystals, pearls and bullion, all products are by Akzentz.

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I absolutely love runway nails, so I literally squealed when I received the brief for this challenge. Having said that, this challenge was far from easy. CND’s runway designs are legendary and to translate such extravagancy into a wearable flat design was definitely an obstacle. The vision I had for my design was for it to be something that could be recreated at home or sold as pre-made looks in high street stores, so I chose my look based on what I thought would be a popular style for consumers. I combined ideas from the bright floral nail and the scarf that the model is wearing in my inspiration shot and added in bold striping for a striking contrast. I love how the angle of the edge of this area appears to wrap the nail and create a “peek-a-boo” effect. The roses and leaves were painted in two or more colors to create texture and depth. The final image was not edited in any way — it is exactly how it was taken. For my creative element on the fingers, I chose to add beads to safety pins in a colorful and random way. The pins were a huge feature throughout the overall nail looks. I found empty pill casings at my local health food store and filled them with the same beads as the pins. I painted the ends of each capsule in different Vinylux shades before applying them to the fingers. Included in the video are design steps and application steps with some tips and tricks that I have learned along my personal journey. I am filled with pride, confidence and joy to share this with you and I hope my design and video inspires others.

Click here to see a video diary of Sammi’s nails.