A Pirate's Life For Me

Ahoy there!

I have a slight obsession with pirates. I swear I was probably a lady swashbuckler in a past life.

I've been wanting to do this particular manicure for a while now. I was putting it off in favor of trying other things but I decided it was time to finally get this done.

Temporary tattoos are a lot more versatile than most people give them credit for. I know I'm not the first person to think to apply them to my nails but seriously, this isn't done often enough. It's incredibly simple and nearly foolproof.

I started off by painting my nails white. I used Sally Hansen White Out. However, the color was a bit too stark for me so I added a layer of Sally Hansen Polar Bare over the base color to soften it a bit and mute it slightly.

After allowing the polish to dry completely I set about applying the tattoos. I used Savvy brand tattoos because they're easy to find (many convenience stores and even some supermarkets stock them), inexpensive and high quality. The designs are great, too. For this look I used a single tattoo that was meant to be applied as a wrist band. I cut each skull out, sizing them roughly to my nails but leaving a bit of excess.

Now, peel off the protective plastic, exposing the tattoo and carefully position it onto the nail. Lay a wet paper towel over the tattoo and hold it for about ten seconds. Carefully remove the paper towel. The paper backing from the tattoo should easily slide right off, leaving your tattoo adhered to the nail. Remove any excess tattoo as best you can but be careful not to stretch the design as this will cause your tattoos to appear cracked.

Repeat until all your nails are complete. Allow any excess moisture to dry and apply a clear coat. Clean up a bit and you're done! Easy, right?