Nail Art Wednesday: Summer Orange and Turquoise with Hibiscus accents

You know it was only time I revisited dots. After going through what I thought was a passing phase, I find myself gravitating towards designs that incorporate them yet again. They're just such an easy way to jazz up an existing mani or to add a little interest without exerting too much effort. You don't even need any fancy tools as a flat pin head or the flat end of a toothpick is all you'll need (and chances are, you'll have both handy), nor will you need expert level artistic skills to play around with dots. Another easy way to add more interest to an otherwise plain mani is to use fimo slices (similar to stickers but more..rigid). I had some lying around and thought to finally put them to use. So I took my handy dotting tools out for another spin to create something season appropriate with two of my favorite summer shades:

Orange and turquoise dots with a summertime twist!

What I Used:

Orange base: NYC In a New York Color Minute Spring Street
Shimmery teal: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Calypso Blue
Hibiscus Fimo cane slices (can be purchased from eBay or various online nail art accessory retailers)

How I Did It:

***"mm" means millimetre.

This is a great summer-y take on dots and half-moon manis. I've always thought that a half-moon mani looks so elegant but I can't seem to get a nice crisp line even with the help of those circular reinforcement stickers. (And believe me, I've tried. I have recently heard a layer of top coat in between colors helps with preventing bleeding and making clean up easier so that's one last trick I haven't tried.) Well, here's my compromise: half-moon dots! I love to bust out the oranges and corals in the summer but pairing it with turquoise just elevates it to something else entirely. The contrast between creme and shimmer also makes for a more fun look! As for my first experience working with the fimo slices, well, let's just say I think I'll stick to rhinestones and stickers. They simply refused to lay flat on the nail no matter how much top coat I slather on top of it. Maybe you'll have better luck with it than I did. (?)

How can you go wrong with dots? (Indeed, how?)

I wish the fimo slices lay more flat on the nail though...

Remember my fixation with mango? Yeah, well, this keeps the cravings at bay.

Doing two arcs makes any mistakes or unevenness less obvious.

Hammie says my curved nails are probably the reason why the fimo slices wouldn't stay flat on the nail.

You can probably mimic the look with a whole bunch of other color combinations (I'm thinking a shimmery green on neon pink would look phenomenal!) so really, the possibilities are only limited by your own imagination. I'd probably stay away from fimo slices though and stick to my tried and tested rhinestones or glitter. (I actually snagged some of the Cult Nails ones, along with Coco's Untamed collection that I kept telling myself I didn't need yet somehow ended up ordering anyway. Y u sooo hard to resist, Cult Nails?! But I digress.)

What are your go-to summer colors? Have you tried incorporating fimo slices into nail art designs? What is your favorite way of adding on to an existing manicure to make if feel (and look) new again?