I apologize for the quality of the photos. It's hard to take pictures of your nails in mid-manicure! (Also, wow, the light in our living room is very yellow-tinged. Huh. EDIT: Thank you to [livejournal.com profile] kambriel for doing some fast color-correction work on the photos for me!)

Firstly, the photo that [livejournal.com profile] marc17 took of my nails on Saturday night!



How did I do that? Click the cut tag to find out!





This image (which I believe is from some sort of Japanese nail art site) popped up on my Tumblr stream last week. I went "Oooh! But without the rhinestones, thanks", and then checked my nail polish collection.

Products I used: Bariell Natural Nail Camouflage, Orly "Marlene", and Nubar Diamont top coat.

Step One! Apply a "natural" -colored polish to clean nails. This step weirds me out a little, because the lightest color of polish I usually ever wear is a holographic silver glitter. Nude or natural nails = not natural in JilliLand.



Step Two! Paint the tips of the nails with a dark wine/blood red, as if you were doing a french manicure. However, don't worry about having a perfectly even and smooth polish application while you are doing this. In fact, you want the inner edges of the red polish to be uneven.

Step Three! Using the end of the polish brush, add smears and spots of the red color to your nails, coming out from the unevenly-painted red tips. Again, you really shouldn't care about your hands shaking or this being tidy. Messy! You're going for messy! Embrace the chaos, muah-ha-ha-ha!



Step Four! Wait a few minutes (but say, less than five), and apply a glossy top coat. I really like Nubar's Diamont top coat, as it is thick, glossy, and quick-drying. (Quick-drying is the most important thing in a nail polish top coat for me.) If you have timed this right, the red polish will be not-quite-entirely dry, which means applying the top coat will slightly smear the red. This is good!



Step Five! (Which is optional.) After the top coat dries, take a bath or wash the dishes, something so your hands are immersed in warm water for a while. Any extra polish you may have slopped onto your fingers or cuticles will simply peel off.

This blog (clicky-link!) has a video tutorial for a similar manicure effect, which she says is a Inglourious Basterds tribute. The streaking and blobbing application for the blood is close to how I applied mine, except that I used actual nail polish instead of acrylic paint. (The texture of acrylic paint on my nails would drive me mad until I scraped it all off. Ew.)


I think this style of manicure would also look amazing done with dark green, blue, or a blue/purple duochrome color substituted for the blood red. Zombie ichor manicure! Oooh, I may have to try that next time.

So! Questions? Comments? If you try this, please post photos of your results in the comments!

From: [identity profile] satellite6.livejournal.com


LURVE it. The rings too, BTW. :)
I'd love to know what polishes you like for this season. Have you seen the new MAC Villainous colors? I'm not sure about all the shimmer, lol.

From: [identity profile] cupcake-goth.livejournal.com


To be honest, I haven't really looked at any new polishes for this season! I picked up the Orly "Galaxy Girl" duochrome, but that's about it.

I saw the MAC Villainous colors, but I know of polishes that are similar to all of them, so I don't feel any need to go grab them. :)

From: [identity profile] cupcake-goth.livejournal.com


MAC Cosmetics teamed up with Disney to do a limited edition line of makeup influenced by classic Disney villains. If you take a look at www.maccosmetics.com you can see color swatches. Hope that helps! :)

From: [identity profile] kambriel.livejournal.com


I had Photoshop open already, so just ran the picture through for lightening/colour correcting in case you think this helps show the look better:

Image

(Just clicked and saw the other photos behind the cut... If you'd like, I can do those too!) You did a terrific job ~ all I did was manage to get nail polish all over my hand today while painting something that was very much *not* fingernails ;)

From: [identity profile] cupcake-goth.livejournal.com


Oooh, if you can fix those photos for me, that would be wonderful! My King Of Photoshop is not at home at the moment. :)

From: [identity profile] kambriel.livejournal.com


You're very welcome... we couldn't go giving the false impression your hands had actually seen the light of the sun! Besides it gave me a few minutes break from all the millinery work I've been busying myself with today :)

From: [identity profile] sethrak.livejournal.com


Very nice!

I also like the Keep Calm And Have A Cupcake sign. ^_^

From: [identity profile] cupcake-goth.livejournal.com


It's actually a journal. I have a couple of them, because I love the motto. :)
leenerella: Profile picture (Default)

From: [personal profile] leenerella

Just FYI


Tungsten light (from regular incandescent bulbs) turns yellow in photos unless you compensate for it using the camera's white balance functions. Similar problems with fluorescent light, though the tint is greener. So it's not your living room, specifically... :)

From: [identity profile] cupcake-goth.livejournal.com

Re: Just FYI


Good to know! Because I was starting to wonder if I have just been REALLY OBLIVIOUS for years.

From: [identity profile] blutsauger.livejournal.com


Fantastic, I really need to try this! I'm all for extravagant nail designs, so yay! My recent find was a crackling topcoat in matte black. Love it!

From: [identity profile] cupcake-goth.livejournal.com


Oooh, I've seen photos of that sort of crackle-finish topcoat. Nifty!

I love extravagant nail designs, but I am horrible at doing them. (And the Stroppy One doesn't care for the smell of nail polish, so he's not willing to do nail art for me.)

From: [identity profile] blutsauger.livejournal.com


Oh, I usually paint almost all my fingers with nail polish! Doesn't keep me from it, though.
The most wonderful part of those crackling topcoats is you don't have to do anything but coat your nails with them! The topcoat then crackles all by itself, giving your nails a very unique look.

From: [identity profile] girlgoth.livejournal.com


If you can put more than one coat of polish on your nails, you can do the crackle. It's awesome stuff. :)

From: [identity profile] harlequin-elf.livejournal.com


I wounder how it would look of you did some transparent green or black first, then the blood red and top coat for a full rotting zombie/I just killed someone look? *pounders*

From: [identity profile] cupcake-goth.livejournal.com


Ooh, that would be very nifty. I wonder how difficult it is to find a sheer blue or green polish?

From: [identity profile] icprncs.livejournal.com


I found the Nyx polishes to be quite sheer. (More than I wanted them to be.)
minim_calibre: (Default)

From: [personal profile] minim_calibre


What level of green or blue are you going for? I've got my stash of old Maybelline Waters that I used to use for that just-drowned look.

From: [identity profile] snowcoma.livejournal.com


I achieved something similar a few years ago by using a tooth-pick to dribble red polish over black (I don't have the manual dexterity to manage it with the brush). Now I really, really want to try it over my regular nails.

*plots* Gaming is tomorrow, and Ryan lives in fear of my nails...

I'll post photos if I do it!

From: [identity profile] cupcake-goth.livejournal.com


You should do it! And really, this manicure requires no manual dexterity.

From: [identity profile] dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com


Oooh! Thank you for the tutorial! I love the effect.

From: [identity profile] phoenixfire12.livejournal.com


Awsome.I may try this in green. I think I may still have some left. Hmmmmm...

From: [identity profile] ms-tate.livejournal.com


Ooooooooo! *Clappy Hands!!!*

Thank you for the how to! I think this is a must for my next manicure.

From: [identity profile] a-witch-song.livejournal.com


That amazing! :D Thank you for the tutorial.

From: [identity profile] akumaxkami.livejournal.com


This is quite a stunning look. Once I get ahold of some red nail varnish I'm gonna give this a try!
ext_17983: Photo of an orange tabby curled up and half asleep (I should have been born a cat)

From: [identity profile] juushika.livejournal.com


Some more bloodsplatter nails (http://maddesthatter.tumblr.com/post/1364405588/my-nails-in-honor-of-dexter-premiering-a-bit-late) that you might want to see.

I prefer the more natural look you're rocking, myself, but thought I'd share.

From: [identity profile] lolicaor805.livejournal.com


I tried it out!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i179/oronadancer/Makeup/DSCN2058.jpg

I chose blue because I thought it'd be more... work friendly?? I suppose people don't want their shakes made with bloody fingernails :D

From: [identity profile] water-of-fire.livejournal.com


Several months later... I was looking at my naked nails this morning and thinking, "I wonder where the tutorial for the zombie manicure is located." I just wanted to thank you for keeping such complete tags on your LJ - because of your tagging system, I found what I was looking for on the first try. :)
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