Halloween 2013 - Sugar Skulls

Today I bring you my last Halloween design and it is one of my favourites, the sugar skull nail.  I did them last year and knew they were going to be a staple Halloween nail for years to come.  Follow me under the cut to read about how I created these nails and a few more Halloween nail ideas.

 Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Barry M Black, Flossgloss Neon Nacho, Barry M Pink Flamingo, Barry M, Inglot and Models Own Nail Art Pens in various colours
Sugar skulls are a part of the Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead celebrations, you can read more about it here.


For these nails, I prepped them with a base coat (Sally Hansen Maximum Strength) and once dry, I applied three coats of Snow Me White from Sinful Colors (which we all know is my fave white polish). Once dry, I apply a layer of Instadry.  Once that was touch dry, I began my detailing.

Firstly, I did the eye detailing using a dotter tool and created a kind of flower shape in alternating colours. One of my original colours was Luis Lemon but it was a touch too light so I went over it with Pink Flamingo.

Next, I applied my gems, using top coat as my adhesive.  Using a black nail art pen, I did the nose detail, which is just an upside-down heart.

To create the mouth, use a striper brush and draw a black horizontal line.  Now, dot black dots on each side of the line, leaving a small bit of the line free on each side of the mouth.  Using a smaller dotter tool, dot small white dots in the black dots to give the illusion of teeth.

Now, the rest of the decoration is up to you.  You can use smaller dots, crosses, swirls, whatever takes your fancy to create this design.  Once dry, apply a thick coat of top coat and be careful not to drag the nail polish, especially on the detailing.


Now that Halloween is upon us, have you decided what you do with your nails?  If you don't feel up to doing any sort of nail art, why not try a glow in the dark polish that will surely catch some eyes when you're out or just go gothic and paint your nails black.  What are your plans and need any help decided what you need to do?   Just let me know in the comments below or any other site, until next time :-)

Comments

  1. Dia de los Muertos is an important religious tradition, and it's pretty disrespectful to treat it as just an aesthetic to play with in October. You should read up about cultural appropriation as it pertains to Latin@ culture.

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    1. I am aware of the religious tradition surrounding Dia de los Muertos and can see how my original comments may be viewed as superficial as I do not mention the religious significance surrounding sugar skulls but rather focus of the aesthetic style of them. As a Catholic myself, All Saints Day and All Souls Day are important days within the Church and so I very much respect the religious integrity of the sugar skull.
      Dia de los Muertos has become celebrated here more and more and last year we had our first large scale procession through the city and it was fantastic.

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    2. It's been said, by people of latino culture who I know personally, when I asked them whether they thought it was cultural appropriation, that Dia de los Muertos is a holiday of celebration. It is fun. It isn't to be policed by Social Justice Warrior's who have no idea what they're talking about.

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  2. This might sound weird, but were you the nail artist in White stuff on Thursday evening? I think I recognise those nails :P They were amazing!

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    1. I was! I'm glad you liked them. Keep an eye on my facebook or twitter feeds because I'll probably post on there the next time I might be doing nails there :-)

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  3. Wow, this is so awesome! I love it:)

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