caribbean calypso

Being that the big 21 is just around the corner, I'm treating myself to a little pre-birthday celebration in Chicago this coming weekend. When I was in London, I fell in love with Ed Sheeran and his amazing music (it doesn't hurt that Rupert Grint makes an appearance in the music video for Lego House either). He's currently on his first US tour and I was lucky enough to score a ticket to see him perform this weekend!!

As I have been a little homesick for London lately, what better way to bring the city to me than to get a little taste of it in Chicago with a trip to Pret a Manger, some shopping at Topshop and closing with a night of Ed Sheeran's British melodies. Being the expert shopper that I am, I decided to check out Topshop's website for a little pre-shopping and stumbled across a fantastic SS12 trend inspired by the bold prints and colors of the caribbean. Not only did I pick out a number of fantastic pieces to purchase, but I thought of a rather fresh idea for my nails. Hopefully you like this calypso theme!

Inspired by the prints of a number of outfits shown in the above collage, I came up with a simple Caribbean look. For this design I used all butter LONDON polishes, starting with Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat. For the base I chose a neutral color, Royal Ballet. Next, using British Racing Green (a rich hunter green) I painted the palms on the design. To add a second color of palms, I used butter's Bossy Boots (a soft pistachio green). After I painted the palms, I wanted to add a few tropical flowers pulled from the inspiration patterns. I first painted the base of the flowers using Minger, then using a new color to my collection, Old Blighty (a beautiful brick red), I added the accents to those flowers and painted the other red flowers in the design. To finish off the flowers I added the yellow to the hibiscus and the centers to the other flowers using Cheeky Chops. With a coat of glossy SV topcoat, the look was compete! Though I really do like the relaxed caribbean feel of the design, I am still debating whether or not I should add some teal flowers to pull in more of the colors from the patterns into the design. Should I update the look to include some teal and bright blue to the design? Let me know your thoughts in the comment box. Have a great week!