Spring Sensations!

Cherry Blossoms are a beautiful way to brighten up your day and in the winter a lot of us could use a pick up! I decided to do this nail design because the past few days have been very dreary. I needed something to lift my spirits and make me feel the warmth of spring, if just for a moment.

I started with O.P.I.’s Nail strengthener as my base and placed Sally Hansen’s Ivy League from the Xtreem wear line as the background. After two coats I went in with an eye liner brush to start the branches in O.P.I’s Razzle Dazzler from their Nicole line. You can also use a dark brown but I prefer the high contrast between the silhouette of the branches and the light pink of the blossoms. With a toothpick I then tapered off the ends of the branches and added a few thin ones. I couldn’t find a light pink that I really liked so I mixed Revlon’s 680, Revlon Red, and O.P.I’s Alpine Snow to create the perfect color. (2:1 ratio of white to red) I dotted for little spots in an X formation to create the blossoms, using a Bobby pin for the big blossoms and a toothpick for the small ones. Then I went back in with the Alpine snow and dotted the middles of the flowers to finish off the blossoms. The top coat I used was Sally Hansen’s Super Shine Shinny Top Coat.

 

For my right hand I stuck with a simplified design. Using the same colors I created cherry blossoms on the green background. When I finished with that look it seemed to be more ‘Scooby Doo’ than Japanese Cherry Blossom so I added in the black dots to tie the two designs together. If I were to do it again I would put the black dots down first so the blossoms floated over them, giving the nails more dimension.