Happy Monday! For this month's #CBBxManiMonday theme, we're taking our inspiration from the #summernails tag on Instagram. I love this idea because I frequently scroll through Instagram for inspiration, though I rarely straight up recreate nail looks that I find there. For my inspiration, I was inspired by this really crisp, pretty mani from @thegelbottleaus, but I of course wanted to put my own spin and style into it.

I really wanted to keep this look cool toned, so I shifted away from the pink shades used in the inspiration mani and grabbed for a really cool toned purple and a sort of sky blue. And like the rest of this summer, I grabbed for Color Club polishes. For my thumb and first finger, I applied a base of Pucci-Licious and for my middle, ring and pinkie fingers I applied a base of Take A Chill Pill. The cool thing about this mani is that you only have to do the one gradient, which keeps it really simple, and because you're using very similar shades you can really easily get a smooth blend. Using a makeup sponge, I applied the vertical gradient to my middle finger and got the opacity I was looking for in three coats.

I decided to deviate from the inspiration mani further from here. Because I can't really seem to resist, I decided I wanted to add a special effects top coat, so I reached for my current go-to, Glam Polish Anuenue, which amps everything up with this combinaion of really fine glitters and iridescent flakies. I also adding stamping on my ring finger to break up the look. The Maniology (formerly Bundle Monster) Festival Plates are still summer Go To's for me and I reached for BM-S305 and added this "Wanderlust" image using Maniology Straight Up Black Stamping Polish.

I finished with a generous coat of OPI Plumping Top Coat (being VERY cautious over the stamping so as not to cause a smudge) and voila!

All Products Used

POLISHES

Color Club Nail Lacquer in Pucci-Licious 

Color Club Nail Lacquer in Take A Chill Pill

Glam Polish Nail Lacquer in Anuenue

Maniology Straight Up Black Stamping Polish

OPI Plumping Top Coat

TOOLS

Maniology (Bundle Monster) BM-S305 Stamping Plate

BornPrettyStore Double Ended Clear Stamper

Triangle Makeup Sponge

e.l.f. Concealer Brush (for clean up)

I feel like I need to dip back into these kinds of really simple and easy looks when it comes to nail art because I can have a tendency to want to do too much and then I feel a little bit overwhelmed, but when I keep it crisp and simple I tend to be really happy with the results!

Keep checking back this month to find more nail art inspired by the Instagram #summernails hashtag and be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof, See The World In PINK, and Tea & Nail Polish to see what the girls were inspired by this week!

Thanks for reading!