Weekend Nails: KISS Concert Nails

One of the strange little things most people wouldn't guess about me is that I love 70s and 80s rock, and there's a special place in my heart for KISS. The theatrics! The glitter! The black and white color scheme with jewel toned accents! How could any nail art aficionado not love KISS? This year, KISS is celebrating 40 years by touring with Def Leppard, and last night I was beyond thrilled to attend the psycho circus. Of course, I needed a mani appropriate to the occasion.

This was so much harder than I thought it would be. I used striping tape, which is notoriously uncooperative but highly effective, to pay tribute to the Starchild. The end result was pretty good, and the technique has definite potential for a more conventional nail art look. The Demon and the Spaceman were freehand. It's not so easy to see here, but a light sponging of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Tulle Kit over the silver added Starchild's signature blue glow. Surprisingly, the Cat was the most difficult of the four tribute nails. After test driving several designs thinking it would be simple, I broke the design down to the simplest possible denominator, then dressed it up a little bit with a green gradient tip to honor the Cat's dramatic green eyes.


Finally, my thumb honored the KISS Army logo with a simple orange and yellow sponge gradient. This one was all freehand as well, and was the only one that was easier than I expected it to be. I did have a little more transfer onto the black background than I hoped, but less than I feared, so I guess I broke even. Overall, I'd really like to see cleaner lines. I think experimenting with some new nail art brushes may be my next big advance in getting the clean lines I want in more complex designs-suggestions welcome!




While it didn't come out quite like I wanted, this KISS design was a fun break from my usual girlie fare and garnered plenty of oohs and ahhs at the concert. Have you ever done band art for a concert? Who was it? Share with me on Twitter at @SecretNailBlog. I promise, no judgement on your acrylic tribute to the Beebz.

I also want to mention that $1 from every ticket on this tour went to veteran's charities, including the Wounded Warrior Project, and both bands also accepted Motley Crue's (saw them earlier this summer!) call out for the Ice Bucket Challenge we all keep hearing about during the concert, as well as the two bands pledging to donate a total of $20,000 to the ALS Association. Click the links if either of those causes speaks to you, and click here to see KISS and Def Leppard take the challenge!