Nail Tutorial: Watermelon and Gold

Hello! I wasn't really expecting my first blog entry to be a nail tutorial, seeing that I haven't really gotten into nail polish until around six months ago. But I've been meaning to start this blog for a while now and somehow, writing about my nails of the week just seems right.

My friend is having a birthday party in Los Angeles at a club this weekend and I was inspired by one of my high waisted skirts which also happens to be hot pink. To match this skirt, I always break out my light gold heels since the colors complement each other beautifully. And so, my nails have taken on the form of my outfit this weekend. 

To create this look, I used three nail polishes. 

Essie's "Watermelon", Castledew's "9845", and OPI's "OPI Top Coat"

Just like the name suggests, "Watermelon" is a bright, juicy hot pink, similar to that of a watermelon. Although Essie's website states that it's a "creamy and refreshing, juicy red", it definitely veers a lot closer to pink on the color spectrum. 

Castledew is a Korean brand and I got "9845" a while ago in Korea. I apologize in advance that you may not be able to find this nail polish easily in the US, but Essie's "Beyond Cozy"is pretty close to it in terms of color. "9845" can be described as a cool, light silvery gold and is very glittery and grainy. I'm not quite sure if "Beyond Cozy" would go on smoother but color-wise, it's a pretty good match. 

I painted all of my nails with "Watermelon" in two layers, except for the forefinger, which I've painted with "9845" in three layers. I also applied the top coat afterwards. It's pretty self explanatory at this point. However, I decided to take it up a notch by adding a small gold cross onto my index finger. 

To make the cross, I used masking tape and a pair of scissors. You can use any kind of tape you want. In hindsight, I should've used scotch tape, since it's stickier and has better staying power, but I didn't have any lying around. 

I took "9845" and painted a small section of the tape in three layers. You can do two to three layers depending on how thick you want it to be. After it dries, cut the section into small, thin pieces or into whatever shapes you want. 

Stick the sectioned pieces to your nails according to how you want. After you have the pieces positioned the way you want, use the scissors to cut them as close to the edge of your nail as possible, making sure that the pieces don't stick out. And to further secure the pieces, paint a layer of top coat over it. 

You can make stripes, criss-crosses or use one of the strips per finger to separate the nail and the tip to make a cool French tip as well. I think another super cute idea would've been to cut a small gold heart and stick it onto one of my nails. Hmm, perhaps I'll do that next time.

And here's one more shot of the finished look.

I love painting my forefinger in a different color to contrast against the rest of my nails. My go-to color so far has been "9845", just because it matches wonderfully with pinks and pastels. I just think it adds a cool and fashionable dimension to your typical, uniformly painted nails. Most of my guy friends have told me that they don't really get the whole painting-your-forefinger-a-different-color. But who really cares? I guess this is one of the beauty trends that guys won't really get such as orange lipstick or brightly colored eyeliner. What do you think? Let me know in the comment box below! 

With love, Tiffany