Snakeskin Effect Mani

I've been wanting to try a snakeskin mani ever since I first heard of it months ago. I even found a piece of shed skin this spring that I've been saving. Unfortunately I haven't been able to afford a new, thick, top coat so until then I'll just have to go with the effect rather than the real thing. Luckily I was able to find some mesh fabric in my mother in law's scrap fabric drawer.


Having just bought some new polishes I decided to start with Sinful Colors Nirvana and then I sponged Nina Ultra Pro Mossy Britches over the top. I wanted a gradient effect but I think I went too far up the nail. Oh well! After that I painted Sinful Colors All About You over the top.

Then for each nail I applied Zoya Casey to the mesh and layed it over the nail, pressing down lightly with a makeup sponge. I then sponged Milani Bijou Bronze over the lines and realized that the lines didn't show through that very well so I repeated the mesh step then filled in some "scales" with the Milani and sponged a bit more of All About You over the top.


Yes, it turned out to be just as much of a hot mess as it sounds:

 Left hand

Right hand

I wasn't quite sure what I had done wrong. I had done the same thing on my practice nail tip and hadn't needed to do a second mesh application. I think it might have been because the base colors were still damp on the tip and I had no finger attached to the nail getting in the way.

See how well the practice tip turned out?

So after thinking the problem over for a day I thought I had finally figured out how to overcome my problems. I grabbed one of my classmates to practice on (not that she complained!) and went to work with a slightly different set of colors. I started with Nirvana again and then sponged Bijou Bronze and Mossy Britches over it lightly. Then I used Sinful Colors What's Your Name on the mesh, pressed the mesh lightly onto her nails with a sponge and sponged All About You over the top. It worked!

Just look at those beautiful, blinged out nails! I finally realized that the effect just doesn't work when you try to put the copper over the lines. Once I stopped trying to beat my head against a brick wall (metaphorically speaking) I was able to pull it all together for a perfect manicure <3