Hello and welcome! Summer time brings some of the best foods all year. So this week I thought I’d share my all-time, beloved, absolute favorite: watermelon!
I have a Bundle Monster summer stamping plate with a cute stamp of scattered watermelon triangles, so I already knew what I was going to use. But after I applied the base color I realized that I wanted a little something more, like an accent nail. So I quickly searched for watermelon nails, and one of the first things I found was this video from @cutepolish. Of course, I’m cheating a little with my stamping, while they skillfully did it all by hand. But it’s the same idea. And I just love the zoomed in accent nail. Although, it did make me feel like it was a bit of a waste to paint that ring & thumb finger when it was just going to be completely covered.
What I Used:
- Base Coat: Orly – Bonder
- 1st Color: PepperPot Polish – The Royal
- 2nd Color: Esmaltes da Kelly – Muuualda
- 3rd Color: KB Shimmer – Let’s Not Coral
- 4th Color: Painted Polish – Stamped in Greenery 2.0
- Top Coat (for decals): Cuticula – Sour Patch Candy Timeless Top Coat
- Top Coat: Glisten & Glow – Top Coat
- Bundle Monster mini lotus mat
- Bundle Monster BM-S408 stamping plate
- silicone stamper & scraper
- lint roller sheet
- acetone nail polish remover
- Twinkled T clean up brush, size #2
I started with base coat and two coats of PepperPot Polish – The Royal. This pink reminds me a lot of my Sally Hansen – Stellar Style, just a little darker and with a better formula. Then I got the decals ready. I made a clear square of top coat using the Cuticula top coat because it’s a lot thinner than my Glisten & Glow one. And I didn’t want the decal to be extremely thick before I finished with the final layer of top coat.
The stamping went smoothly, and only took one try! I decided to stamp the watermelon design with a darker green outline. Even though that makes the seeds green, they’re so tiny that it’s not something you notice. Then I used a dotting tool to fill the design with color. A brighter green for the rind, and a red-ish pink for the center. It took a lot longer to fill each of the little watermelons than I thought it would. But it’s always better when you don’t have to worry about your nails and touching things because they’re wet.
Next I got the decals for the big watermelons ready. But it took me two tries because I couldn’t get the sizing right. I’m really glad I didn’t just go for it on my actual nail. It was also a little hard to think backwards. The dark green seeds and outline had to be first. Then the bright green rind, and the pink top. My boyfriend tried to convince me to use black for the seeds, but I wanted it to match the stamp.
I used the thinner Cuticula top coat as the “glue” for the decals, and then changed back to my trusty Glisten & Glow one for the final seal. Unfortunately every time I’ve used the Cuticula in the past, it’s smudged. So I didn’t want to risk it.
I love, love, love this manicure! It just makes me happy. Probably because it’s my favorite fruit, but of course I’m biased. I mean, how can you not like a colorful summer mani? But, the worst part about this whole process was definitely the clean up. If anyone has any tips or tricks that’ll make it easier, please let me know.
Hope everyone enjoys this summery week!
Update:
This mani was a blessing and a curse. It made me happy, but it also made me crave watermelon all week long. Let’s be honest though, I’ll be craving it all summer with or without these nails. Other than that, I did a decent job of keeping them from chipping. There was a little problem of me picking at the base, near the cuticles. Why would I pick in such a strange spot? Because I have a problem. And I can’t seem to keep myself from picking at something constantly. But at least this just made them look like they had grown out a lot.
Weekly Nail 