I feel like I've probably already mentioned it this month, but there's something that happens to me in January where either the inspiration or the energy is just... lacking. This past weekend both of those things were definitely true and after sitting at my desk trying to come up with something - anything - to fit with the #CBBxManiMonday Blue & Purple theme, I finally decided to just grab a polish I love and pair it with a stamping image I love and then go lay down and read. As you do. (In case you're wondering, I'm currently reading It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey, which I avoided for a looooong time despite rave reviews because I don't like cartoon covers. But it is a DELIGHT.)

Keep reading for more!

I have to admit, I really struggled with the blue and purple theme this week. Not because I don't have options - I actually have a bunch of new-to-me polishes waiting to be used that would fit the theme - but because I just had nothing. I ended up digging around in my polish drawers and when I grabbed for Painted Polish's Right As Rainbows, immediately I knew that I wanted to use it. Though I don't look at this and think Periwinkle, which is the Pantone 2022 Color Of The Year and the reason for our Blue & Purple theme this month, I think that the combination of this really cool blue with those intense pink flakes really gives me the same kind of feel - just with the saturation and intensity turned up to 11. If you haven't tried out the Painted Polish jelly + flakies combo polishes yet.. Do it. Just do it. They're so stunning, every single one I've tried.

For this mani, I applied 2 coats of Right As Rainbows to all of my nails and let them dry down before I moved on to stamping. 

It was sort of necessary for my brain that I keep this design simple - as soon as I started trying to make a more complicated design this week, the executive dysfunction kicked in hard - so I started hunting for a full cover image that I knew would make a beautiful whole mani. Ultimately, I grabbed for this sort of swirly ovals image that I've used in the past. It's just such a gorgeous image and it stamps beautifully. I decided to pair it with a really pale pastel blue to get a good amount of contrast without the starkness of white. I also alternated the direction of the images to give a little bit more interest and variation to the overall mani.

Once I was happy with my stamping, I sealed it in with a nail art top coat and then followed with a generous layer of glossy top coat for shine and voila!

I feel like it's good to have standby's. Not just in nails, but in all kinds of things. The things you can count on to give good outcomes even when you're not in it. I feel like both this base polish and this stamping image are definitely some good standby's that I can lean on. I mean... as bleh as my brain is currently, I'm still kind of in love with this mani, so there's that!

Don't forget to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In PINK today to check out their Blue & Purple themed mani's for #CBBxManiMonday!

Thanks for reading!