Mermaid Tail Nail Art & How To

I've kept you guys waiting long enough!  Thanks for being patient. :)

I'm starting to feel a lot better, and I'm itching to start swatching and creating cool nail art for you guys.  Unfortunately, that'll have to wait a little longer, because yesterday I wanted to test out my silver shatter (I haven't been able to use it yet! >.<) on my sister's nail and the smell sent me reeling.  So still too early for that.  But here's something I did before I got sick. :)

Mermaid scales!  But first, let me do a quick review of Orly Shine.  Shine is your basic white-silver foil.  It's a little sheer, so I'm wearing 3-4 coats here.  And I actually got to do a wear test with this one for a whole week.  After about a week, I only had tip wear, and this was without top coat.  But I also haven't done much this week, so that's something to consider.

All the silver made me think of scales, so I decided to do a mermaid tail on the accent finger.  I actually did this like I did my mosaic nails, only with a scale print this time.  But after I was done, I realized there's really no point in going through all that trouble.  Here's a simpler way!

How to get this look:

1. I suggest you pick out several blues and teals.  Use one for your base color.  
2. If you want to make it fade from silver to blue like I did, sponge on silver near the cuticle.  
3. Then dab various blues and teals using your polish brushes to make a dappled pattern on your nail.
4. After I had my blues down, I sponged on Zoya Faye to add some purple and gold, as well as China Glaze Strawberry Fields for some pink.  I also dabbed on flakies and blue glitter to various parts of the nail (not the whole nail.)  
5. Be sure to let your colors dry, then using a thin brush and white polish, draw on the scales by making half circles.  Try to keep your lines thin.  Thicker lines will make your scales look thicker.
6. Let the design dry, then finish with 1-2 coats of top coat.  I used 2 coats of Seche Vite.

I think this would be a easier method, since I used all blues, the end result didn't really show I did each scale individually.  You can do the scales individually, but then I suggest using different colors. :)

What do you think?  This look also reminds me of Rainbow Fish.  Did anyone else read this when they were little?  She has these sparkly scales, and I used touch all of them. :P  Maybe I'll do this scale mani again using different colored scales like Rainbow Fish's next time. ^^

Let me know what you think in the comments!  And tell me if you've read this book! :P


Liz