Addendum: Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream Nail Art

Amateur Nail Art Alert!

So while I had Mermaid's Dream on my nails it occurred to me that I should try some nail art, just to see how it would go. I knew I wanted to try a starfish design on top of Mermaid's Dream, inspired by some beautiful designs of this type I'd seen online. I've collected some photos on a Starfish Nail Art Pinterest board, you can see that here, but the manicure that planted this particular seed in my brain was by a nail art enthusiast and blogger named Debbie. Her blog is called The Crumpet and you can see her starfish design post here.

I created the starfish with Sinful Colors Island Coral and a dotting tool, then added dots to the starfish with Zoya Darcy. I also added a few random dots on each nail with Island Coral. It was slow and ssshaky going, let me tell you, and the nails I tried to do with my non-dominant left hand are a hot mess. The nails I did with my dominant right hand are better, the starfish are smaller and the dots a little more precise. Still, it's a very very messy nail art mani. At least I got some more dotting practice in. 

My pictures turned out ok considering the subject, but I must warn you about one nail in particular. It's the pinky nail on my right hand. Somehow, from somewhere, a random CHI HAIR snuck in and got trapped under the starfish with the ends of the hair sticking out from either side. ARGH! At first I thought it was a John Fortys hair (it would be just like him to shed a hair into my nail art) but closer inspection revealed the reddish brown coloring of a certain dog we both know. 

So anyway, it's grotesque and quite visible and I thought about omitting all the photos of my right hand because of it but then you'd never get the chance to laugh at how funky the starfish turned out on that hand, and far be it from me to deprive you of the considerable benefits of laughter. 

Photos show my starfish rendering, such as it is, over Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

Oh man, I can't help but laugh. Why am I posting this? I don't know. Next time I'm going to try doing the star fish with a toothpick. And I'm going to try it on a day when my hands aren't so shaky. I'll say this about Mermaid's Dream, though -- it looks great with topcoat.

When your mom and I were little, our family used to go down to Tangerine FL for three weeks every summer, to Exeter Farms where Fuzzy's mother lived. We called her Mimi B. Mimi B had a beautiful little in ground pool and my cousin Shaunn, who's the same age as me, and I would play mermaids in that pool for hours and hours. Sometimes I got to go to Shaunn's house in Mt. Dora to sleep over and I had a little pink plastic suitcase that I would pack my clothes and stuff in to take with me. One time I was waiting to get picked up by Shaunn and her father, my Uncle Bob.  I was all dressed and ready to go and was walking around the edge of the pool with my little pink suitcase, daydreaming and looking into the water...  and the next thing I knew I was in the pool! I don't know how it happened but there I was in the water with the suitcase. Grownups came running from everywhere to hoist me out in my soaking wet clothes and shoes. I was so embarrassed I thought I would die. Everyone was asking me did I fall in and I guess they decided I did but to tell you the truth, I don't remember falling. I think I was imagining playing mermaids with Shaunn and just got so into it that I forgot I wasn't really a mermaid and jumped into the water.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

love, 
Aunt Liz