I have to admit, I'm currently in my annual nail art inspo slump. It always happens after the holiday season when I'm sapped both from all of the life living that happens at this time of year but also from having put so much of my creative energy into cranking out holiday mani's. I will admit to a few distinctly failed designs before I landed on this one, which was sort of like a lightbulb and has definitely ignited some fresh inspiration in me!

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Last week I received some new-to-me polishes from Kokie Cosmetics in the mail and immediately I wanted to get the shade Tempest* onto my nails. It's one of those perfect dusty periwinkle shades, sitting firmly on the line between blue and purple with a very grey undertone, and it has a gorgeous formula. That really drove both the color story and the overall vibe for this mani. Something about this color just called to me for crisp, clean lines and a strong graphic look. 

To start, I applied two coats of Kokie's Tempest* to all of my nails and let those dry down.  

What actually inspired this design at the end of the day was the fact that the Whats Up Nails B048 Simple Shapes Stamping Plate was sitting out on my desk. It was seriously a bit like a lightbulb and it all came together really smoothly in my head. I actually ended up sketching this out before I did it - just a rough sketch of what design I wanted on each nail - and that made pulling it all together quite quick and easy and avoided any instincts I may have had to do too much. For cohesion, I decided to carry the small dots across each nail just to bring everything together visually.

Once I was happy with my design, I sealed everything in with a nail art top coat. Finally, I finished with a matte top coat to bring down the shine and really lean into the clean crispness. And voila!

Very sincerely, I am OBSESSED with how this mani turned out and it has definitely sparked me to want to do more of this style of design - so keep an eye out for a fair bit of abstract nail art coming soon! 

Also - be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In PINK for this week's #CBBxManiMonday! We're going with a free for all theme this month, so who knows what they'll do!

Thanks for reading!