Mani Monday: Trick or Treat Orange Blood Splatter Mani

Hi all you amazing people :)

I’ve had a rather fab Monday, there was no way any Monday blues could bring me down today! Firstly, I saw that my ‘Girls of Summer Mani’ was the featured Mani on the lovely Heather’s blog for the Mani Monday spread, I never get used to that and I just want to send her a big thank-you! Seeing that is always such a nice surprise and still makes me grin like a fool from to ear and totally makes my day! Secondly, I entered a mani competition on Twitter being run by magazine leaders Cosmopolitan Magazine (South Africa) and make-up giant Revlon (South Africa). The mani I entered was the very same ‘Girls of Summer Mani’, little did I think I would win amongst all the other amazing entries…but I did! I was chosen as this weeks winner and won a Revlon hamper to the value of R1000.00 :) Just wanted to send a big shout out and thanks to Cosmopolitan (SA) and Revlon (SA)! As you can see my Monday was full of fun & excitement !!! If you’re on Twitter as well and want to connect, you can follow me here:) How did you guys spend your Mondays? My thoughts are with those weathering out Hurricane Sandy at the moment, stay safe!

Today's mani of choice…had to be Halloween themed!

I decided to go with an 'orange blood' splattered manicure using a black background with 'orange blood' to fit in with a Halloween theme! I used Sally Hansen Instant Strength as a base coat, x2 coats of Essence Black is Back and x1 coat of Essence Wake up! for the blood splatter design and x1 coat of Essence Studio Nails Better than Gel Nails Top Sealer as a topcoat. I loved this look for Halloween because it looks really punchy with all the disorder of the 'orange blood', the colours contrast beautifully and it is somewhat understated for a work day yet still in keeping with the spirit of this famed holiday! You too can get Halloween inspired nails like this, just follow the steps below!

You will need:

• Base coat nail polish
• Two alternating base colour nail polishes (I used black and orange, classic Halloween colours)
• A straw
• Scrap piece of paper
• Toothpick
• Top coat nail polish
   

 Method:

1) Apply base coat nail polish to all nails, wait for it to dry completely  

2) Apply x2 coats of black nail polish to all nails, wait for it to dry completely 

3) Get ready to start applying the blood splatter effect to your nails. On a scrap piece of paper pour a small pool of orange nail polish…then take the straw and place it into the pool of nail polish. I found just tapping it into the polish wasn’t delivering enough nail polish onto the straw to get the desired effect. What I would recommend is scooping up some of the polish into the straw…you will think it’s a lot of nail polish and will that it will splatter out too much…but it won’t, don’t worry! 

4) Once you have scooped up a fair bit of nail polish into your straw you want to work on one nail at a time. Spread your fingers out on the scrap piece of paper and hold the straw about 5-8cm above your nail and blow through the straw. Blow hard enough that the nail polish sprays and splatters out of other end of the straw and onto your nail (just a word of warning the nail polish goes everywhere!). You may need to try this a few times to get it right, just remember to blow through the straw as if you are trying to blow air bubbles into a soda…then the splatter technique will come out correctly! You may need to use a toothpick just to add a few more distinct 'orange blood' splatters or to spread out big blobs of polish into flat 'orange blood' splatters.

5) You will need to pour out more orange nail polish into a small pool as you continue working on your nails. Continue following steps 3-4 and complete the splatter technique on all nails

6) Clean up your fingers with some cotton wool / ear buds or a small nail brush and nail polish remover, so that the splatter technique is only showing where it needs to be, on your nails!

7) Wait for nails to dry completely and apply top coat

 

8) Totes by pumped that you have Halloween themed nails and I know you want to sing a long to ‘Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat…’ hahaha…or is that just me ? :)

What are you guys doing for Halloween? I got in touch with my inner pirate and went to a Deathly Hallows Halloween party with friends! Yes, you are correct you know I was totally attempting to speak in pirate the whole night (Google actually provides some good advice haha) and was throwing around a few ‘Ahoy matey’ and ‘Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum’ lines :P

I did do a mani to match my outfit, I kept it pretty understated though as my outfit was pretty full on already on its own!

Wishing all a happy and creepy Halloween and to everyone in the USA, stay safe during Hurricane Sandy, my thoughts are with you all!

What you doing for Halloween or are you staying indoors due to Hurricane Sandy ?

As always, linking up to Mani Monday below, with the fabulous Heather and Heather! I will also be joining the ladies over at The Nail Files. 

Join the fun side of life and link up to Mani Monday and The Nail Files below :)