Weekend Nails: Water Decal Skittles

This weekend I played with a classic red, white, and black color scheme inspired by my simple, cute, and ridiculously cheap Marilyn Monroe t-shirt. While I haven't been brave enough to try the Marilyn themed tutorial-in-which-she-makes-it-look-easy from Robin Moses, I crave Marilyn nail art, and this is a step in the right direction. For this design, I used Sally Hansen XTreme Wear in White On and Black Out, Julep Catherine, Pure Ice Dazzle Me, and water decals from the Born Pretty Store (sheet BLE1770 at the link).

The polka dotted heart design on my middle finger is a direct ripoff from Kim_Ciil at Smioss.com. The rest of the designs I kind of played by ear.

This is also my second attempt at painting the back of my nails, a la this Louboutin inspired nail look from The Manicure Addict, for a little extra glam. The first time was a quiet flop. This time I made a huge mess with epic levels of smearing- my hands looked like a crime scene- but it worked out much better. It occurs to me that "wing it" is not really a strategy for success with this particular look, especially on short nails, but trial and error is the best way to figure this stuff out. If I can get comfortable doing this, think of all the fun we can have with color combos! I started with a dotting tool for the first layer and used a short pointed brush to touch up. The hardest part is the feeling that there's something under my nails; I have to fight the urge to "clean" the polish out.

I think next time a more deliberate approach is in order, possibly with some kind of tape contraption to make the cleanup easier. While far from perfect, I had fun playing with some new techniques. What do you think?