Half Moon Nails for the #31DC2016Weekly

Happy 4th of July fellow Americans!

Purchased by Me

I am a few days late with my mani for the #31DC2016Weekly this week but you will forgive me, right?  I have been hanging out by the beach with my mother this holiday weekend and just haven't been able to sit down and write this post.  I have a few minutes now, so let's get into it!!  This week's prompt is Half Moons.  I always like this nail art look.  It looks classy and can be made pretty funky, too.  I wanted to repeat my manicure from last year.  But that is not the point of the challenge.  You are supposed to do something new to you.  So, this year, I did a little gradient half moon.  This look was very much inspired by a recent tutorial by The Nail Trail.  In Hannah's look, she did ruffian instead of a half moon but the blue gradient under the nude nails looked so good, I just had to try it myself.   I made my half moon a little bit larger than you would typically see but I really wanted to show off the colors better.

  For my base gradient, I started with a thin coat of the lightest shade.  Then I sponged on the three color gradient horizontally across the nail.  Then I applied a quick dry top coat before using half moon Nail Vinyls.  I painted on two coats of the nude polish then removed the vinyls while it was still wet.  Top coated and done!  My nails look pretty thick here because of all of the layers of polish (8 total!)

All of the colors used in this manicure are from my favorite line by P2 Cosmetics, Volume Gloss.  This is a German drug store brand and the formula is amazing!  I love them so, so much.  I got all of these polishes in a swap with my German Polish Sister, Lotte.  I love her so, so much, too ;)  Here are the color names: Fresh Sister (minty teal), Lovely Daughter (periwinkle), Crazy Beauty (blue), Cat Lover (nude).  They apply so beautifully and are super shiny even without a top coat.  Approve!

Of course, I had to see what this looked like with a matte top coat!  I just can't help myself.  I don't know which version I liked better.  The matte does look pretty chic.  Which so you like most?

I hope you liked these as much as I did.  I want to try this with different color combinations.  Let me know if you try this nail art look!  And also, be sure to check out the other ladies doing the challenge.  You can find other manicures under the #31DC2016Weekly tag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  And of course, join in anytime!  Even if you decide that you like a challenge one week, you can just join for that week!

Hope you have a happy 4th of July!

 - Amy McG (McPolish)

*products were given as a gift/swap*

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