Phantom of the Opera

Phantom of the Opera is currently showing in Manila, and I watched it with a few friends (it was actually a double date!).  My friend and I were so excited to watch it that she asked me to paint her nails with a Phantom of the Opera theme, and I willingly agreed, not knowing how on earth I was going to do it!

Surprisingly, I was able to come up with a passable nail design following her theme of choice, and here is the final look, with my inspiration:

Phantom of the Opera Nail Art

I actually did her nails on the same afternoon that I created my Bugs and Flowers design on myself, so I got quite dizzy! The fun we got out of it and the outcome were very well worth it though. ;)

My friend and I with our freshly done nails <3

I hope you are as excited as I am about this design.  Here goes the tutorial!

Materials:

1. Base Coat
2. Top Coat
3. Nail Polish in: Black, Navy Blue (optional), White, Red, Pink, Green 
4. Fine brush
5. Dotting tool

Procedure:

After applying base coat, paint all nails black or navy blue.   We used navy blue because I didn't realize my black has already started going sticky.

Paint the shape of the mask on the thumb using a thin brush.  Draw the outline first, then fill it in.

Draw a thin diagonal line on the ring finger, then fill the bottom with white polish.

Add the eye and a rose to the thumb.  To make the rose, use a dotting tool and red polish to make the flower.  Then, use a thin paint brush dipped in green polish to make the stem and leaves.  

Draw black vertical lines in the ring finger to make the keyboard of a piano.

I then added roses to the rest of her fingers by doing the same steps as the rose on the thumb.  To add texture to the roses, dip a thin brush into pink polish and make curved lines on the flowers.

As always, finish off your design with a coat or two of a good top coat to seal in that design!

Helpful Tips:

• The mask was the most challenging part of creating this design.  If you are not too good at drawing, you may try using acrylic paint (the type from bookstores).  When you use this on your lacquered nails, you may easily erase mistakes with a wet piece of tissue.  
• You may also practice drawing the mask on a piece of paper first ;)
• I found that the navy blue I used for this design worked better than black.  It gave more "drama" to the design. Moral of the story: Be open to options!

*The production of Phantom of the Opera here in Manila was simply beautiful.  In fact, I found myself fighting back tears at the end of the show.  I highly encourage those who have not seen it to try and catch it before the season ends. <3