Abstract (Nail) Art

I have NO idea what’s going on here! Is that an animal print? Or maybe amoebas? Or the pattern on a tufted ottoman I saw last week? More importantly, do I care? Not really, actually, because I think I’m sort of in love, even if I don’t quite know what I’m in love with. Allover patterns are a favourite, and it’s refreshing to see the crisp colour combination of red, white and blue in a non-patriotic application. Plus I got to use a polish that I really did purchase accidentally (I thought I had clicked on its page neighbour) and now love unconditionally, Contrary Polish’s shimmery red jelly, Beach Blanket. Out in the sun it does the typical juicy, squishy jelly thing, but in lower lighting its purple shimmer adds a gorgeous, but subtle, hit of spotted visual interest that elevates Beach Blanket from an unfortunate mis-click to an absolute must-have.

Da Blob

This is a nail art animal called a blobbicure. As you might expect, I hate the stupid name, love the cute effect. My thumb looks like it’s sporting jellybeans!

Like its cousin the dotticure (also ugh), the blobbicure is ultra easy, perhaps more so, because you don’t need any special equipment such as a dotting tool, only the brush that comes with your bottle of polish. Simply lay down a couple of coats of a base polish and then, choosing a different colour (or colours), wipe off most of the polish on the brush and then dab it onto your nails in random bits and bobs (or blobs), making sure each blob has its own space and isn’t touching its neighbour. This is a real anything-goes kind of technique – your blobs can be large or small, perfectly round or imperfectly irregular, and any combination of colours. I’m afraid I can’t be any more precise than that, because this just isn’t that precise a technique! The only tip I’d offer is to really wipe the polish off your brush before getting blobby with it. You’re aiming for blobs here, not bumps.

I did this manicure at the behest of an Instagram challenge that called for a blobbicure in a holographic finish. Here I chose to layer four Cirque holos – green Panacea, blue Sky Woman, pink Powwow and gold Chyrsopoeia – over two coats of KB Shimmer’s ultra pale nude, In Bare Form. The blobs themselves give these nails a kind of pebbled footpath-type look, although the mix of rainbow shades, particularly on my thumb, is pure jellybean (although when’s the last time I looked at a manicure and didn’t see some type of food?)