31DC-D16 - Tranquility

Hey y'all!

Ah, Friday is here at last, and this one in particular also would have been my dad's 74th birthday, so I am thinking of him today.  The theme for the 31-Day Challenge today is Tranquility, which is a nice, open prompt that gives lots of wiggle room for technique and interpretation.  Because I liked yesterday's green smoky watercolor effect so much, I wanted to practice with it a bit more, so I give you these blue smoked nails to represent the theme.  They have an aquatic feel that I think translates to tranquility for a lot of people.

Once again, my Barry M Gellies were the heroes of nail art - I swear to dot they can do anything!

L-R: Barry M Huckleberry, MoYou Light Blue, Sinful Shine Blue Suede Shoes, Barry M Blackberry

First off, let me apologize for the Violet Beauregarde-itude of my cuticles.  Unfortunately, there are two things I know for certain about blue nail polishes: 1) they smell like skunk, and 2) they stain like smurfberries.  DON'T ASK ME WHY.  I DON'T MAKE THE RULES, CLAIREE!  I did my best to clean them up, but clearly it was not enough.  I followed the same technique as I did with the green nails yesterday, by applying dots of polish with the bottle brush and using an acetone-soaked bit of cosmetic sponge to lift out most of the color.

Just like yesterday, this mani started with the darkest color and moved lighter, with the exception of my ring finger which got another few drops of Blackberry because I lost the circular definition of the lighter colors and it turned into a bit of a mess.

I particularly like the way these nails took a vaguely jellyfish-like appearance.  It wasn't intentional, but it's kind of cool.  I also couldn't help seeing what they looked like matted, so I added a coat of Sally Hansen big matte top coat.

I think I actually prefer these glossy, even though I typically prefer the matte look.  I think it just flattens these out a bit and they lose some of the depth.  *shrug*

Be sure to check out the inlinkz for more Tranquil nail art looks.

An InLinkz Link-up

As always, be safe and have fun, and I'll see you tomorrow!