Monday Blues: Mermaid Scales

Hello my lovelies! I'm not particularly happy that it's Monday again, but the sun is shining and I hope that the nails I'm gonna show you are going to cheer us all up. I've done mermaid inspired nails before using different techniques (glitter tips, stamping) and I'm particularly excited about the technique I've used today. Check it out! 

Glitter placement! I've been very inspired by the talented Laura over at Polish All the Nails. She is the master of glitter placement and does some manicures that will literally blow your mind. I've done glitter placement before, just not on all my nails like this, but I felt encouraged by her manicures and bought some more glitters, including this blue diamond shaped glitter that is just heavenly. To create this manicure, I started with a base of Rival de Loop Ocean Breeze. 

Rival de Loop Ocean Breeze in the sun

I've picked this one up when I was in Germany last summer because I wanted to add another brand to my collection. I was very curious about the Rival de Loop brand, and found this limited edition display with summer polishes. The name of the collection is Caribbean Night's (that's the name on the bottle, so blame them for the horrible grammar). The collection must be discontinued by now anyway, but I still wanted to show this lovely medium blue polish with tiny light blue shimmer. The shimmer is pretty subtle, that's why I'm showing you sun pictures. 

Rival de Loop Ocean Breeze in the sun

I had to do 3 coats of this because the base has a semi-jelly consistency. It's ok though because that way it lets the shimmer pieces show through a bit. After wearing it by itself for a day, I picked up my diamond glitter and started to place it. I won't go into details about the technique, there's a video on my YouTube channel showing how I do my glitter placement. 

Needless to say, I loved how this looked on my nails. The glitters are holographic, so they all look a bit different when light hits them. The only issue is that they started lifting at the tips after about one day of wear. So next time I'm gonna put multiple layers of top coat on and make sure my tips are properly wrapped so this doesn't happen anymore. I also have to work on my placement skills because my glitters aren't so neatly placed like in Laura's manicures. I took this picture with my phone that shows the amazing rainbow effect of the glitter. 

Sorry about the bubbles in the top coat! I recently acquired a tool that will save me the trouble of using too much top coat when placing the glitter. I will show you what I'm talking about in a future review. But until then, I have to thank you for putting up with such a long and picture heavy post. Also, there are more Monday Blues right here: 

Have a great week!