African Tulip Fall Floral Nail Art

Hi guys! Today I have another installment in the Colors of My Island series, where I pick something that I love about my island home of Puerto Rico and either do some nail art or feature a nail polish color that inspired me. Going with a fall floral theme, I choose to do African Tulip flowers. I have more pictures after the break!

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The African Tulip trees are very common here and are currently in full bloom. I can see them all over the place on my drive to Princess A's school, I even thought of taking a picture but uhh...well it's not safe to drive and take pics and because it's a highway that's going up/down a mountain, I'd rather not stop on the shoulder unless it's an emergency.

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The trees have bright, red-orange flowers an dark green leaves. As you drive by, you see bursts of red all over the place. I think the color is just perfect for some fall floral nail art.

For this look I started off with one coat of Essie Cocktails and Coconuts, which is a pretty nude with silver shimmer.

I then used a piece of make-up sponge to lightly dab on Sinful Colors Prosecco on top of the Essie. Prosecco is slightly darker greyish nude (greige) with golden shimmer flakes. Under certain lights the flakes have a slight iridescence. I wanted my base to have golden shimmer but needed it to be lighter than Prosecco.

Then came the hard work. I free-handed the flowers using a small brush and acrylic craft paints. Took me about 2 hours to complete everything, from the time I put on on my base coat to the time the last layer of top coat was done. My top coat bubbled, which you can't see in real life but it's noticeable in the pictures, sorry about that. I didn't even notice until I was editing them on my computer.

This is not one stroke nail art. I've tried the technique before and I just can't get the hang of it. I'm used to painting a certain way. Part of the reason it took me so long to do is because I kept trying different ways, like one-stroke and making a decal. In the end, I went with what I know how to do, in the style I've mastered. The result in real life is a bit textured, since that's my actual painting style.

So, what do you think? Would you like to see more free hand painting from me?

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