Animal Crossing Grass Pattern Nail Art

Green day of the 31 Day Challenge is here! I decided to try a pattern that pays tribute to one of my favorite video games: Animal Crossing!

This pattern is inspired by the grass pattern that is displayed in summer. I chose colors a little darker than the daytime palette, so let's just say that this is an evening look!

I used the following polishes for this nail art:
LVX Viridis (base)
Essie Mojito Madness (lime green)
LVX Paraiso (blue mixer)
LVX Truffle (brown mixer)

I freehanded the squares with the short end of my Edinburgh Realism 3/4 brush. After they were all on there, I went back with Viridis to clean up the edges of the squares. It's a small step that really made a big difference in the finished look!

Here are my green manicures from the past four years of the challenge.

• China Glaze Ghoulish Glow
• Bulbasaur Nail Art
• Green Jade Nail Art
• Blocked green plant tendrils

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Mamma Mia!: Mario Character Nail Art

Every few months or so I get the urge to do some really complicated nail art. Something that will really challenge me and push my boundaries (and that will likely take a few hours). A couple of nights ago, I had one of those urges.

I was thinking about how badly I wanted to play Mario Party (I'm all about the minigames) and I thought it would be fun to do characters from the Mario universe! Plus, who doesn't love a good bit of geekiness every now and then?

For the good guys, I chose to include Mario (mega duh), Luigi (also duh), Peach (duh), and Toad. It was tough cutting Yoshi from the lineup but I have a soft spot for that little mushroom headed nerd.

Peach was strangely the hardest to paint. I ended up redoing her two or three times before I was happy enough to keep it, and even now she is one of my least favorite nails in the lineup. It's kind of a bummer because I really like her as a character. At least the pointy bangs help identify her!

I am most happy with how Mario and Luigi came out, which is surprising, because I was fully expecting them to be the hardest and look the strangest. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth though!

Then of course I had to include Bowser. Bowser, like Peach, was really tricky to portray correctly. I think he looks a tiny bit different than the rest of the characters, stylistically, but I don't mind so much.

I used all polish for this design. Here are some breakdowns for you:
Good guys' skin tones: OPI My Vampire is Buff
Bowser base color: Cult Nails Deal With It
Red (Bowser, Mario, Toad): American Apparel Downtown LA
Green (Luigi): OPI Jade is the New Black
Yellow (Peach): China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
Blue eye color: Zoya Robyn
White: Milani White On the Spot
Black: American Apparel Hassid

Of course I did mix in some other shades to get the variations just right but you get the idea!

So that's my Mario nail art! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

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