Sometimes when I'm stuck for nail art ideas - or just not in the mood to do the things that I already have ideas for - I just sort of wing it, as you do. Honestly, a lot of the time that ends up being a disaster that leaves my going to bed with naked nails, but there have also been times that I've done some of my all time favorite designs during those sessions, so it's worth it. This mani definitely started with frustration and a lack of inspiration, but ended with a result that I'm pretty in love with and I'm really excited to share it.

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Recently, I've been picking up more polishes that fit into a very specific category for me: indie polishes that are light in colour with unique but not overwhelming shimmers, glitters or flakes. I love to use these types of polishes as bases for nail art and I like to have a lot of options in this category because they give me a light, easy to build on canvas but also bring something a little extra. (Also, full disclosure, I just absolutely loathe working with white créme polishes and will avoid it at all costs.) 

This polish is KBShimmer Take Me For Granite and it's described as "a soft, pale gray crelly accented by bits of black, silver, and gray glitters." It was apparently inspired by the first snow of the year covering asphalt and I just love everything about it, but especially how perfect it is as a base for a monochromatic nail art design. For this mani, I applied two coats to all of my nails. 

Once I had my base polish applied, I wanted to add a little bit more to the base before I went in with my stamping, so I grabbed for white and charcoal stamping polishes to add a little bit of dry brushing at a corner of each nail, being sure to keep it quite subtle so that it didn't overwhelm the mani. Next, for my stamping, I went in with just sort of random images from the Pict You PY-J049 Stamping Plate. I chose images that had those sort of free form line drawings along with solid shapes and placed them in the center of the nails at slight angles. Once I had finished my stamping, it felt like there was something missing, so I went in with a tiny dotting tool and some of my black stamping polish and added some dots at corners that felt a little bit bare.

Once I was happy with the overall design of all of my nails, I sealed it in with a water based top coat and then finished with my new favorite matte top coat to take down the shine and give a sort of unpolished stone look to the mani. And voila!

I'm honestly really loving the way that so many different styles of abstract nails are happening in the nail art world right now and I really love that I can sort of build a simple nail design a little bit willy nilly and it works. Also, highly recommend this base polish. It has a really nice application and the tone of this really pale grey is just kind of perfect, in my opinion. KBShimmer continues to be a favorite indie brand of mine.

Be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In PINK to check out more nails for this week's #CBBxManiMonday!

Thanks for reading!