ND9: Mermaid Tails and Fish Scales

Nail Design Number Nine is Mermaid Tails and Fish Scales...or Mermaid Scales and Fish Tails...or even Tales. Either way this is a design reminiscent of both those scaly creatures.




The Little Mermaid Statue in Copenhagen.

image from womenandclimatechange.blogspot.com

And the players for this Nailish Masquerade:




China Glaze's Towel Boy Toy. A neon polish with a hint of shimmer. The perfect polish to layer over because it dries matte (and thus, you'll know exactly when it is dry).

Sinful Colors Rise and Shine. A green polish that is quite similar in nature to Towel Boy Toy, as it has a hint of shimmer to it and dries to a matte-like finish. This polish is a really great find, in my opinion, because at $2US you could wear this polish alone with two coats and have complete coverage with a finish similar to more expensive brands.

Zoya Charla. This is the polish that really makes this manicure design! Like a mermaid in a bottle, this polish is a beautiful combination of blue/green flakes that shine different shades of each color depending on the lighting. While I'd say you need to run and get this while you still can for its extraordinarily beautiful properties, if you cannot get your hands on this Zoya polish, OPI has one that is quite similar...as does Orly...and Essence.



Step 1 is simply laying down the first color of polish.



This is two coats of Towel Boy Toy by China Glaze. But don't be fooled - that shiny finish you see in the photo was not a result of fast photo taking before the polish dried, I added a coat of Seche Vite Top Coat before I started the next step.



And here is where the blue painter's tape comes in!



For each nail you will need to cut two relatively straight pieces of painter's tape. The width of each stripe does not matter, what matters is the angle of each cut. You need to be cautious when cutting each strip of tape that you don't inadvertently cut the strip of tape so that it is no longer parallel to the other edge.

With your two separate strips of tape, match them together at one end, where the two tape pieces will form a 90 degree angle. The corners of the tape will help you match up one edge to the other, because the lengthwise end of one strip of tape will back up to the other strip of tape where the first strip of tape will be cornered in by the second strip of tape (as seen in the photo above).



Now once you get the hang of step two, we can move on to Step 3. You will be using a total of 4 pieces of tape for this part.




What we are doing here is creating an arrow-point look with Charla, so you are going to begin this step by laying down first one strip of tape right where the green polish meets the blue polish (I started with the right side), and then on the other side of the chevron tip created by the green polish you are going to lay down another piece of tape that will section off that side (my left side shown in the picture above), so that on each side when we paint over the green it will just be barely touching the blue polish, and thus leave us with a more blended-type look between the three separate shades of polish.

Next, we will be repeating the same pattern as Step 2, where we will be creating a 90 degree angle with two strips of tape, and this will go at the bottom edge of the nail to create the other side of the arrow that we will fill in with our third color of polish.



And there we have the final look! Just add a top coat and you are good to go!

On another note, I consider the Zoya polish a glitter polish because it has glitter polish like qualities (such as the fact that it was a pain to remove), so be aware with one of these polishes with this type of finish, you may have to put some effort into completely removing this look - so feel free to wear it for a few days longer than normal!

Well, I hope you were inspired by this twist on a chevron-tip design. Have you tried something like this before? Do you adore the mermaid colored polish as much as I do? Let me know your thoughts....

ND7: Starburst

No...nothing to do with the candy. Nail Design 7 is the Starburst Design.



You know, like a starburst in the sky?

image from hubblesite.org

Although, this design looks more like the starbursts we come to know from graphic design that look kind of like flat pinwheels.

image from webdesign.org

This is a great design to try out one of those amazing glitters from the OPI Burlesque collection that are set to release in stores in November (or are currently available online). Though any glitter polish or other layering type of polish will work for this manicure!



For this design, I chose China Glaze Towel Boy Toy as a base color. I really like the subtle shimmer this polish has, and because it is a neon it dries matte, so you can tell when it's dry - which works perfect for layering nail art on top of it.

The glitter polish I used for the overlaying Starburst Rays is Absolutely Alice by OPI. A bit hard to find now (or way too expensive online to want to consider), so OPI's Simmer & Shimmer would probably work similarly. If you want a similar look, go for a dense glitter that is made up of smaller sized glitter particles. If you want to try a different look, Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe might be interesting to use (and cute for the name - you know, 'Universe' in a 'Starburst' mani?). Feel free to play around with layering options!

And finally, you'll need a clear polish (and some rhinestones). The clear polish will be used to set the star jewels on each nail.


Step 1 is simply painting the base color you have chosen. If you are in a rush or your base polish is more slower drying, you might want to put a quick-drying top coat over this layer to speed up the process.


Here is two coats of Towel Boy Toy. This polish dried relatively quickly, and as previously mentioned, it was easy to see when the polish was dry enough to move onto the next step because when dry the finish on this polish was matte.





Step 2 is only a bit complicated. What you want to do is cut a square (or 10 - one for each nail) from your roll of blue painter's tape.

On each square, using a straight edge of some type, connect the corners, and then draw a cross through the square. This should total 4 separate lines you've had to draw. Then on every other triangle you've created within your square (there are 8 small triangles total), place a dot or some kind of marker to show that every other triangle has been marked.

Then cut on the line creating the eight smaller triangles.

What you will be doing is using the marked triangles to recreate the same shape on your nail without the blank triangles - which is where the second color of nail polish (or glitter) will go on the nail. You are only using four triangles out of each of the eight that will be cut.

*Note: It helps to cut the triangles out and then lay them down on a notecard or magazine (some surface that gives you enough space and that you don't mind sticking tape onto), in the square shape they were originally in before you cut them up, so you know exactly where to place each triangle on your nail.




Whew! Step 2 is complete, and now all you have to do is add the decals in the center of your nails. I used star jewels I picked up at my local beauty supply store, but if you have star shaped glitter or just a round diamond-type gem that works too. The point is to cover up the center where the Sunburst Rays originate from because it covers any gaps between your second color of polish (the glitter polish).



So, simply place a dot of your clear polish at the center point where all the Starburst Rays meet and lay the star down in the still-wet clear polish. For Step 3, you do not have to wait until Step 2 is completely dry. Adding the jewel will make no difference.



Step 4 is simply adding a top coat. This step is more important if you have used gemstones of any type that are 3-dimensional because they can snag on things and tend to not stay on very long unless you put a top coat layer over the whole design to seal it all in.


Tah-Dah! You've now completed the Starburst manicure look. What do you think? Would you wear this design? I actually wore this to a birthday party during the summer. It was something fun and bright for a summer bash, but I think you could rock this manicure any time of the year!

Feel free to let me know if you try this design or have tried something similar. I hope ND6 and 7 have given you ideas for using glitter polishes and decals. With this holiday season coming up there are so many great glitter polishes out, I could see making alternating red and green starbursts over a simple silver background with a Christmas Tree decal or something similar at the center point. What about you?