Friday, December 23, 2011

McQueen Inspired Shattered Turquoise Nails

Alexander McQueen's designs always pushed the envelope and I was so sad to hear that he took his own life in 2010.  I do hope Sarah Burton and her team will continue to design in the spirit of Alexander McQueen and pull off gravity defying, fashion forward creations to inspire me in my nail art. 

The nail art below was inspired by a pair of shoes from McQueen's Spring 2010 collection which were tan, bootie-like heels, encrusted with gold tipped turquoise in an almost broken glass pattern. 



I think on longer nails you could almost pull off a reverse french tip effect and add pieces to the bottom of the nail like the bottom of this shoe but I have short nails so I stuck with the pattern at the top of the shoe.




These nails were a process.  After putting a protective, clear base coat with Pro FX Complete 3, I quickly applied dots of For Audrey, Tokyo Pearl, and Iceberg Lotus.  I used a toothpick to do some waterless marbling and pulled the colors into one another.  After the nails were mostly dry, I lightly sponged on Metallic Yellow on random parts of each nail.  Next, using a nail art brush I drew in gold lines to look like a shattered or stained glass pattern.  Last, I dabbed Warm & Fozzie into some corners of the gold lines to add darker shadows to parts of the shatter effect. 

I am loving the way these nails turned out and, ladies, remember: When fashion is too expensive, too painful, or just plain out there....try it out on your nails!

*Tips*  I think this look could have easily been created with sponging the same colors but as you can tell I'm kinda in a "marbling" phase.  For longer nails, I would start with nude tips so you can recreate the entire shoe's pattern.   Also, a smaller brush would work for more intricate shatter pattern but I like how bold the gold lines are on these nails.  You coul also try accenting the shadows with a heavier copper polish but remember less is more!  Last, be sure you have time to do these nails and you won't be disappointed!


2 comments:

  1. Those shoes look very painful... but the nail design is cute!!

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  2. I've awarded you the Versatile Blogger Award!

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