So this is the results of a combination of feather polish and sealife water decals. I hate wearing feather polish as it’s just so dang catchy on everything unless you smother it in topcoat, but even then there’s still a risk. Is it worth it?
The polish I used is ‘Need for Tweed’ by Ciate, which I got from their mini-mani month calendar. The water decals were bought from BPS in pattern: YE-345.
So surely octopus nails are like hens teeth? Anyway, as you can see these nails are a reflection of my little octopus oceans that I made! Without the shell, the nails look a little mad and random but who cares.
So we recently took a trip to South Queensferry. It’s a quaint little place with tea rooms, restaurants, ice-cream parlors and gift shops. The larger restaurants that face the Firth of Fourth usually have huge windows meaning you’ll get some amazing views (I can personally recommend ‘The BoatHouse’ for a good view and good grub) but if you know you’re going it would be a good idea to book in advance, as window tables are often reserved. South Queensferry also has sandy shores meaning it makes a pleasant walk when the tide is out and the weather is nice. I, of course, had a bit of a shell hunt and picked up some little enough for some nail art as well as some seaglass which I’m using on another (soon to be revealed) secret project.
I thought the Revlon polish ‘Beachy’ that I recently received would be an apt base for my shells and sand. As impracticable as this mani would be, I thought it turned out pretty cute!
As sad as it sounds, I thought just the sand and ‘Beachy’ base made for an interesting look. If you look closely enough you can really see what the sand is made from – little bit of rocks, shells and goodness knows what else. Usually sandy beaches are that fine, smooth, yellow/white sand – how boring compared to this!
So for this design I’ve used some ‘Nail Apps’ by OPI in the style called ‘Fishnet’. I’ve used them before, and they are really amazing for a nail wrap – they apply well as they’re flexible and sticky enough, and they don’t chip as easily as normal nail wraps (these are made from real nail lacquer), but they do smell rather strong.
I decided to elevate them from normal nail wraps to nail wraps of the sea gods by adding subtle and controlled sea-themed embellishments. I find it very hard not add to much and know when to stop. At first I only wanted to do an accent nail, but then the other nails looked to naked…
As these are applied and not painted, my right hand was able to make my left hand look pretty for once. Fortunately my non-dominant hand could even manage the placement of some charms, so I went out looking even more like a normal person. (I only ever have one hand painted, and I doubt anyone ever notices but it does worry me in case they think I’m trying to start a strange trend or something.) Look how cute that wee seahorse is!
So here’s the design that I created with the three polishes from my ‘A Mermaid’s Life‘ set, displaying how well they work together. Isn’t it just beautiful! I found them so pretty that they became a serious driving hazard. I used ‘A Mermaid’s Tale’ as the base, then coated them in ‘A Mermaid’s Tears’, finally painting them with ‘A Mermaid’s Dream’ in an ombre style. The pearls and sea-life studs are from BornPrettyStore.
It’s got such a beautiful depth to it, and is super shiny in reality. I’ve actually been wearing them since Wednesday because I can’t bear to take them off. They are also surprisingly chip free, considering I’ve cleaned out my four guineapigs, water changed my 6 fish tanks and been in the pool teaching.
Below shows my layering of the polishes before the additions. It’s a weird one because in the photos the base (A Mermaid’s Tale) looks a lot more blue than it is, it definitely has green and gold tones.
So I’ve never seen striping tape applied the way Cubbiful has on her Instagram – I immediately thought ‘I want to try that!’ and therefore did. I chose to change the colour pallet to hopefully look like less of a copy cat… Even though they were beautiful as they were, I added some pearls and Sea-Creature Water Decals* from BornPrettyStore anyway. I think it turned out really cute! Next time I do something like that with striping tape, I’m going to go for an ombre I reckon!
P.S what a difference the application of cuticle cream makes huh! I’ve never had a sort of ‘before and after’ photo to compare but wow.
So do you ever get one of those designs where you think ‘if only hadn’t put that other shell on, or positioned it in a slightly different way’… This is exactly one of those design, the long trumpet shell on my middle finger is just wrong and it’s bugging me.
I created a sponged base, then reverse stamped the shells, added individual specks of gold glitter using my thin brush and viola! And I really do love the design over all, I think it’s really pretty and I keep looking at it, but that trumpet shell….
So another entry for the OMD3 challenge. I honestly thought my leaves would be the last one, however I hadn’t checked the closing date – duh – so I actually have a few more days to cram some more nail art in. Yaay!
For this design, I used some sea creature water decals* from BornPrettyStore. The sheet has loads of decals on them, and I’ve actually used some before for my jellyfish design. If you use my code ‘AZYW10’ you’ll get 10% off full priced items in your order.
So I must say this isn’t one of my best ombre designs – a bit messy, a bit rough and a bit rushed to be honest. I tried to keep it kind of playful looking though instead of being realistic so hopefully I’ve got away with it.
Also I realise I’ve not yet included a link to the challenge for anyone who wants to check it out – I’ve been using this reference page on CraftyNail’s Blog.
WonderfulWolf 