Gelish Mani Sunday | A Game of Nails

My roommate is a big fan of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, and for the newest season of Game of Thrones she request nails inspired by her favorite house, House Martell. Now that I've seen a few episodes of the new season, I can see why she likes them!

#Badass.

I knew nothing about the Martells and she told me "sand and sunspear", so I went with that.
I finally tried something I've been wanting to try: gel polish sugar nails. I drool every time I see Zoya Pixie Dust pop up on my Instagram feed, and I've really wanted to try to replicate that effect with Gelish. First I tried decorative sand from the craft store, but the grains were way too big, then I tried salt - better, but still large. I stuck with the salt, but I might try actual sugar next time ;)

To do it I mixed a tiny bit of salt with a few drops of polish, then scooped it up with a wide nail art brush and patted it onto the nail. After curing it I got a slightly darker polish color and stippled it across the nail to give it some dimension. Another cure, then I stippled a tiny bit of brown glitter across the nail and finished with a light coat of Top It Off. The technique definitely needs some refining, but at least it kinda worked!

For the above manicure I did the following:

Thumb Nail:

1. • 1 coat Allure, 1 coat Danny's Little Helpers, and 1 more coat Allure, cure all coats
2. • Wipe tacky layer. Hand-painted the red sun with Hot Rod Red, cure
3. • Wipe tacky layer. Hand-painted the spear with yellow and black Folk Art acrylic paint. Let paint dry completely.
4. • Finished with 2 coats of TIO, cure all coats

Index Nail:

1. • 3 coats Lust at First Sight, cure all coats
2. • Dabbed Gelish Structure onto the polish and pressed the studs in, cure
3. • Finished with 2 coats of TIO, cure all coats

Middle Nail:

1. • 1 coat Lust at First Sight, cure
2. • 1 coat All That Glitters Is Gold, cure
3. • 1 coat Lust at First Sight, cure
4. • 1 coat of TIO, cure
5. • Wipe tacky layer. Stamp image using Konad White and MoYou Pro 06 plate. Let dry completely.
6. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure

Ring Nail:

1. • Mix Lust At First Sight with salt and pat onto nail, cure
2. • Stipple A Little Cream Please with nail art brush, cure
3. • Press a small amount of brown glitter into tacky layer
4. • Finished with 1 thin coat of TIO, cure

Pinky Nail:

1. • 2 coats Lust At First sight, cure all coats
2. • Press gold foil into the tacky layer until desired look is achieved
3. • Finished with 1 coat of TIO, cure