Masquerade Ball Nails

As I mentioned in my post Phantom of the Opera, I was deeply moved and was even brought to tears after watching the show.  Therefore, I decided another Phantom of the Opera inspired nail art was in order.  One of the scenes that was most visually appealing to me was the masquerade ball.  The costumes and the set were so elaborate.  I also thought it would be a great challenge, so here is what I came up with.  I hope it looks masquerade-ish enough!

Masquerade Ball Nails

I had two previous ideas before coming up with this design.  Idea 1: put a small mask on the tip of each nail, and idea 2: only put masks on the ring and thumb.  I didn't go with either because I figured they were both too predictable.  I also wanted something that looked grand so I opted to paint one mask that spreads across four fingers, and an elaborate mask with a feather on the thumb.

So here goes my tutorial!

Materials:

1. Base Coat 
2. Top Coat
3. Light Pink polish (Dazzle Dry Girlishly Giddy)
4. Dark Green (DD Mythic Teal) - you may use black or navy blue if you do not have dark green.
5. 2 colors of glitter polish (The Face Shop PK101 and GR501)
6. Striper polish in black and white (I used ArtDeco) - or black and white polish, and a thin paint brush
7. Dotting tool - you may use a bobby pin
8. Toothpick

Procedure:

After prepping and applying base coat, paint all nails light pink.

Paint dark green as seen above.  I only used the brush from the bottle.  It will give a more even texture than using a thin paint brush :) And don't worry if you get polish on the skin outside your nail like I did.  It's always easy to clean up :)

Use black striper or a thin paint brush to draw the laces of the mask.

Add eyes to the masks using a white striper, or a thin paint brush.  

Add glitter polish around the masks and the other fingers using the dotting tool.  You can put as many or as little dots as you wish. 

Use a toothpick to make the feather on the thumb.

Once everything is dry, apply top coat and it's all done!!

Helpful Tips:

• For those with nail decals at hand, try putting rhinestones as accents to the masks.  It might turn out lovely!
• I also think adding actual glitter to the design will help make it look more grand.
• For those who want a more understated look, on the other hand, try putting a mask only on your ring and thumb finger, or even on just one finger, then painting the rest with glitter polish.  
• Please be sure to allow your design to dry completely before applying top coat so as not to smudge it!

Thanks for reading!! :)