Nail Art: FingerFood's Theme Buffet #13 - Monochrome - Deep Blue Sea

So, March ended and we reached the end of our first set of Theme Buffet themes. The group put together a new list of themes to last us through the end of June, and the first of those themes begins today!

There was actually a bit of a mixup and we wound up with TWO themes - Monochrome and Mother's Day (apparently it's Mother's Day earlier in the UK. Never knew that!). Since Mother's Day here in the US isn't until May, I decided to go with the monochrome theme.




I have a million blues in my nail polish collection, so it seemed like the logical starting point for a monochromatic design. I was tempted to go for an achromatic / black, white and grey design, but I just love my blues too much not to work with them.

This actually started out as a swatch for a newly-obtained nail polish, Deborah Lippmann's Mermaid's Eyes, an aqua blue polish with a slight texture and filled with glitter. It reminded me a bit of reflections on water, so I just went with the inspiration! What works better for a blue-only manicure than an aquatic theme? The colors were just calling out for it.

Using a dark blue shimmer and Mermaid's Eyes, I sponged a gradient effect on my pinky, middle and pointer fingers. I also added an extra coat of a holographic blue glitter  over the gradient on my pinky.

On my middle finger, I used a nail art brush and a baby blue polish to freehand a few fish to fit the aquatic theme. I added a couple bubbles with a small dotting tool for good measure.

Finally, I used a full-cover turquoise nail polish on my ring finger, and used a dotting tool and the same light blue nail polish used for the fish to create bubbles on my thumb.

Polishes / Items used in this manicure were:

• Aqua blue glitter textured base color (all nails): Deborah Lippmann - Mermaid's Eyes
• Dark blue gradient (pinky, middle, pointer): Julep - Lacey
• Blue holographic glitter (pinky): Deborah Lippmann - Va Va Voom
• Turquoise glitter (ring): butter London - Scallywag
• Light blue fish (middle): Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Blue-Away
• Bubbles (thumb): Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Blue-Away

Wow, I sure used a ton of polishes this week! Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how the design turned out, even if I was just winging it as I went. I know I'm cutting it down to the wire, and I wish I could have photographed them and put them up sooner, but you know how real life gets in the way sometimes. On the plus side, I should be starting a job soon!

Check out the manicures by the other nail artists attempting the challenges below. Which one is you favorite? Which colors would you use?  And most of all, what sort of nail art should I attempt next!?

An InLinkz Link-up