"This is Halloween" Zombies

It's the zombie challenge of "This is Halloween" and be prepared because this is a gruesome one.

When I saw zombies on the list I knew I wanted to have actual zombie-esque nails and not just zombie art. I was perusing zombie nail images the other day and came across this link. It was gory and awesome and just everything a zombie's nails should be. I had to do it myself.

Zombie nails w/ brains!

Zombie nails

Halloween zombie nails w/ brain

Okay, first off let me put this out there; Those are FAKE nails. I zombified them myself but I would never do that to the ends of my real nails so I new stick-ons would be the way to go. I got a set for $1 at the dollar tree. I also found this fun brain there. Once I finished my nails, I realized they actually made the brain look too clean so I added some nail polish to bloody it up some.

Colors used:
   • blood - CHINA GLAZE Velvet Bow
   • base color - CHINA GLAZE IV thinned WAAAAAY down w/ ORLY Nail Thinner
   • half moons - Black acrylic paint

I pulled and ripped at the nails with clippers to make the jagged edges. To get the caked in dirt look I figured the most natural way would be to paint the underside of the fake nail (because clawing your way out of a grave is going to definitely get under you nails). I used the WAAAAAY thinned down brown (IV) as a quick brush over the fake nail. I applied the blood very thick and goopy right off the brush to make a fresher look. Let me just put this out there as a general notice about Velvet Bow, it is not cuticle friendly.

Here is the aftermath once I removed the nails.

after removing the zombified fake nails

So gross. I had to use pure acetone to get the red out of my cuticle bed then I scrubbed with Julep Hand Exfoliater, moisturized with St. Ives lotion and slathered my entire nail in Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream.

all clean - my naked nails

All clean!

This was fun to do. I am saving my fake nails. I highly doubt they will ever get used, but I mean...I can't throw these away!

Hehe. So, apologies for the nasty nails but I hope you at least think they captured the theme today.

Thanks for popping in!