Because I've been in a bit of an inspiration funk lately, I've really been trying to figure out why and I think it came to me while I was doing this mani. I've done so many stamping designs over the past few months that I'm just kind of saturated and my brain wants to do something else. A few years ago, when the veil method first hit the internet, I did try something very similar to today's mani, but I think that both my skills and my attention to detail have evolved and this is definitely a step up from that first try. It's also a phenomenal technique if you're just starting out in nail art because technically all you need is a couple of different nail polishes, a cup of water, and some acetone for cleaning up. 

Without further ado, keep reading for more on this mani!

You may recall, if you saw my Amethyst Inspired Smooth Marble Mani recently, that I felt inspired to try this technique using different polishes for more of a white quartz inspired look. Admittedly, I'm having a bit of a moment with pretty rocks these days and I'm having a lot of fun playing with different ideas for how to get the look of natural stone onto my nails. For today's mani, I neutralized the color palette to almost white and added some modern abstract stamping for a little bit of interest and punch, and I am completely and totally obsessed with the final result.

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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.)

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I must admit that there are definitely times when I completely mess up a mani and ultimately decide not to post it here on the blog. Sometimes I end up trying again and other times I delete all of the photos and video and pretend it never happened. In this case, it is obviously the former. I'll detail a little bit why the first mani didn't work out while I tell you how I did it, but I think it is important to be honest - only seeing the final product of people's work, I think, can be a little bit discouraging when no one talks about the fails and the retries and whatnot.

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For our January #CBBxManiMonday theme this year, we went with Blue & Purple which was inspired by the Pantone 2022 Color Of The Year - Very Peri. Periwinkle is such an interesting color because it does sit really perfectly between a blue and a purple and I actually found, as I was going through my collection, that I didn't have many shades that I really felt like fit into the Periwinkle category, but then as I had a bit of a lightbulb moment and the design for today's mani came together really, really quickly in my head and then on my nails.

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I've noticed a bit of a pattern with myself that I'm not entirely sure what to make of, if we're being honest. This will be the third January in a row where I've found myself inspired to do some sort of marble or natural stone look nails. I don't know what it is about the post holiday season that leads to this, but it is definitely a thing I just keep doing without realizing it until after the fact. For this mani, I was actually inspired by an amethyst ring that I picked up at the local crystal shop recently (you can see the ring in one of the photos below, if you're interested) and though this didn't turn out quite as smoky and purple as intended I do actually really, really love it.

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The beginning of the year is always a weird one for me when it comes to nail art, because after being so wrapped up in really specific themes I find myself a bit in limbo. There's a part of me that just wants to play and experiment and be entirely free of themes and then there's another part of me that sincerely has no idea where to go from here. That being said, this year I definitely had some new-to-me nail polishes to play with along with some stamping plates that have been hanging out in my collection for a while now, so I decided to just experiment a little, which is where today's nail art design comes from. 

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Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season. I have to admit that after so much firmly themed nail art over the past few months, my brain feels firmly in the no more theme zone, so over the course of this month you'll probably be seeing a fair bit of abstract or graphic nail art while I recalibrate my brain a little bit. For our first #CBBxManiMonday theme of the year we decided to lean into the Pantone Color Of The Year, but also keep it a little loosey goosey with a theme of Blue & Purple. Lucky for me, I had some beautiful new polishes from NailStuff.ca** that fit perfectly in that theme just waiting to be used. 

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Admittedly, after wrapping up holiday themed nails, I was a little bit sapped of inspiration and really not sure what I wanted to put on my nails. Luckily, Christmas Eve brought me some gorgeous and exciting new polishes from NailStuff.ca**, including the base polish I used for this mani, and there was definitely some inspiration there. Because we're still recovering from a somewhat unfortunate quarantine Christmas, I kept it simple, but I think the base polish for this one needed its moment to shine anyway. 

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