Creepy Gradient using Orly Grave Mistake (Dark Shadows Collection)

The movie Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp comes out today! I was originally really excited, but it doesn't have very good reviews - so I'll probably catch it at my local drive-in instead of at the theater (two movies for $7 and I get to bring dinner? Yes!). I bought all 4 of the Orly Dark Shadows polishes, despite two of them being re-releases from last year's spring collection (I really like Porcelain and Royal Velvet...). To celebrate the movie opening, I wanted to recreate Emma Watson's grungy (semi-corpse-y) mani from Elle UK's November cover with a polish from the collection! I used this video as a guide and tried to do the same thing using Orly Grave Mistake and OPI Step Right Up.

So, here's my version! FYI - the first two are in the sunshine and look mega pretty and shiney, the bottom one is in the shade

Here's the original and the how-to video




Some notes about this

• I used a paper towel to swipe off the red polish instead of my finger; I think this made it much streakier than the original
• I didn't wait for the red to dry (the tutorial immediately puts on a sheer shade), and thinned out red = pink, so this ends up like a pink mess instead of more defined edges
• Definitely something you want to do one finger at a time!
• I went back and added a second coat of the sheer shade on my pinkie and ring fingers, but I think I prefer it with just one coat on the first two fingers
• After having this on for a bit while writing this post, this mani grew on me a lot - when you first see it, it's like whaaattt is that? But it is super bold and a new look for me, so it's pretty fun
• Boyfriend's first response when seeing the tutorial was "WHAT! THAT'S AWESOME!" so that's always entertaining

So, thoughts on this? Super fugly and you can't believe I even tried this? Or are you intrigued and want to try it out, too? It doesn't take very long at all, so I recommend attempting it :) I think this might work better with a different color - one that *hopefully* doesn't bleed as much, but I'm not sure what color yet

PS. Like my impressive new watermark? I've been playing around a bit. It seems especially massive on the middle picture, tho, so I think it needs a little work still.

The movie Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp comes out today! I was originally really excited, but it doesn't have very good reviews - so I'll probably catch it at my local drive-in instead of at the theater (two movies for $7 and I get to bring dinner? Yes!). I bought all 4 of the Orly Dark Shadows polishes, despite two of them being re-releases from last year's spring collection (I really like Porcelain and Royal Velvet...). To celebrate the movie opening, I wanted to recreate Emma Watson's grungy (semi-corpse-y) mani from Elle UK's November cover with a polish from the collection! I used this video as a guide and tried to do the same thing using Orly Grave Mistake and OPI Step Right Up.

So, here's my version! FYI - the first two are in the sunshine and look mega pretty and shiney, the bottom one is in the shade

Here's the original and the how-to video




Some notes about this

• I used a paper towel to swipe off the red polish instead of my finger; I think this made it much streakier than the original
• I didn't wait for the red to dry (the tutorial immediately puts on a sheer shade), and thinned out red = pink, so this ends up like a pink mess instead of more defined edges
• Definitely something you want to do one finger at a time!
• I went back and added a second coat of the sheer shade on my pinkie and ring fingers, but I think I prefer it with just one coat on the first two fingers
• After having this on for a bit while writing this post, this mani grew on me a lot - when you first see it, it's like whaaattt is that? But it is super bold and a new look for me, so it's pretty fun
• Boyfriend's first response when seeing the tutorial was "WHAT! THAT'S AWESOME!" so that's always entertaining

So, thoughts on this? Super fugly and you can't believe I even tried this? Or are you intrigued and want to try it out, too? It doesn't take very long at all, so I recommend attempting it :) I think this might work better with a different color - one that *hopefully* doesn't bleed as much, but I'm not sure what color yet

PS. Like my impressive new watermark? I've been playing around a bit. It seems especially massive on the middle picture, tho, so I think it needs a little work still.