31 Day Nail Challenge: Week 27 - Inspired by Artwork

This week's challenge was fun for a few reasons,
1. I got to browse lots of artwork on google!
2. I got to rummage through my entire polish collection look for colours to use!
3. I got to use some colours I hadn't opened before!
4. MY NAILS ARE SO SHINY.

Anyway, moving on..

My nails are inspired by the artwork of Gustav Klimt, mostly The Kiss (1907) and The Tree Of Life (1905). Klimt used a lot of gold leaf if his paintings so my nails this week are painted using various shades of gold! 

Usually I stay away from gold because it looks weird with my skin tone but I actually own a few shades of gold that are really wearable! My skin looks very red in most of my pictures and the ones that look more colour accurate are a bit.. wishy washy.. can't tell you why. No idea. So I included one of the crazy red-skinned ones for you to see the nails better. Sorry about the lobster.

These are the golds I used:
Barry M - Gold Foil
Models Own - 25 Carat Gold, Gold Rush and Champagne

Gold Foil is an antique-gold shade that only really needs one coat. It isn't really a foil exactly though, not like MO Champagne is, and it does show a lot of brush strokes, however it is fab for stamping as it's so pigmented. The colour reminds me of those gold marker pens that you get, where you have to push the nib down to make the ink flow. Champagne is a very pale gold that looks rose-toned when compared to the others. It's a foil finish so no brush marks and SO shiny. Gold Rush is sheer sparkly yellow-gold but because it is quite sheer it allows some of your nail colour to show through meaning it is less stark and more wearable. It essentially is very fine gold glitter in a clear base. Surprisingly I really enjoyed wearing this one and will definitely bring it out in summer! 25 Carat Gold is a yellow-gold shimmer polish. It isn't quite a foil but it isn't so frosty that you're left with lots of brush strokes. The shimmer is very fine which makes it glow. It's looks like gold leaf.

And here are the colours on each of my fingers:
Thumb - Base of Barry M Gold Foil, topped with a coat of MO Gold Rush (to make the colour more yellow-toned). The swirl is painted using China Glaze Harvest Moon <3 using a small paint brush.
Index - Base of MO Gold Rush (2 coats, quite a sheer polish but super sparkly) circles painted with MO 25 Carat Gold and outlined with CG Harvest Moon and Barry M Gold Foil.
Middle - Base of MO 25 Carat Gold, lines painted in CG Harvest Moon, No7 Grey Skies, Barry M Gold Foil and Rio Nail Art Pen.
Ring - Base of MO Champagne, triangle at base of nail using Barry M Gold Foil, outlined in CG Harvest Moon with Rio Nail Art Pen triangles. 
Pinky - Base of Barry M Gold Foil topped with a coat of MO Gold Rush (same as thumb) squares painted using CG Harvest Moon.

PHEW.

I think these are very Klimt-esque, especially as there are so many different shades of gold. The patterns that I picked out are very characteristic of his style.

Those of you that have been following for a while will remember that China Glaze Harvest Moon was on my May Wishlish .. Well I FINALLY bought it last month along with Luxe and Lush (also on the wishlist) and Electrify. I cannot wait to use Harvest Moon properly! I'll swatch it very soon. 

Gem's nails are superly gorgeous this week! 

"This week I wasn't sure what to do. It's difficult to replicate art on nails! I picked Peggy Garr to try and replicate her art on my nails. I really like her paintings with the earthy toned background and the abstract floral/trees in the foreground.So I gave that a go!
I used:
Models Own Golden Peach
Models Own Snow White
Models Own Lemon Meringue
Revlon Cherries in the Snow
These were sponged on to create the background. I then use Snow White to dot on some flowers and Andrea Fullerton black nail art brush in black to draw on the tree."

I LOVE the background colour. I may need to try this myself! Golden Peach is such a pretty colour. When summer (eventually) comes I know I'll be wearing it a lot.

That's it for this week's challenge! Next time the theme is 'Inspired by a Flag' which perhaps isn't the most exciting but I have a good idea for what to do =)

See you soon!

-Lei.