Do I do some version of a graveyard silhouette mani every single year? Yes, yes I do. They're a staple and I knew going into this year's planning that I was going to do at least one (and probably two, even from the start) in this style. For today's mani, I definitely took inspiration from these Fiery Dry Brush Desert Mirage Nails I did over the summer, using similar sunset neon shades as well as the dry brush gradient technique that I used for that mani, and I think it really sets this one apart from similar designs I've done in the past. 

Anyway, let's keep reading shall we?

Generally, I apply the lightest shade in my gradient to all of my nails as a base and I try to choose the lightest shade to be at the base of my nails, but because I knew I was doing to have the deepest shade at the base of my nails I decided to suck it up and apply a white base to all of my nails. The white base also does help pop these neon shades, so it really was a win win.

To do this gradient, essentially what I do is paint lines of each of the polishes I want to use in order side-by-side on my nail art mat and then use a fan brush to blend them together and get a little bit of texture through the design. I think that's the best thing about this technique, especially when it comes to creating a sunset sky, because those little streaks of color that break up the smooth blend a little bit definitely add to the design in a good way.

For this mani, I used my stamper to transfer the images (which I regret a little bit because I got some unfortunate creasing.) Essentially what I do is use a pair of tweezers to peel it up from the mat and then place it on the head of the stamper for the transfer onto a thin layer of sticky base coat that has had a chance to get a little bit tacky. Then I use a silicone tool to gently smooth down the decal over the nail before using a cuticle tool to trim the excess around the edges.

For the stamping, I kept it really simple with a stark black stamping polish along with graveyard, haunted house, zombies, bats and craggy tree images. This type of design is great for having a lot of freedom when it comes to that and I think that, in the end, that really does make it an incredibly versatile design.

Once I was happy with my stamping, I sealed it all in with a layer of water based top coat and then followed with a matte top coat to take down the shine. And voila!

At some point I won't wanna do these types of mani's anymore... maybe? I dunno, it's not now! I love this design, I love how much you can do with it, and I very much want to it again. This is also definitely a design that you can pretty easily hand paint, really, if you're not one for stamping. The silhouette designs are really forgiving and you can just stick to gravestones and bats if you want to keep it simple!

Be sure to head over to @pblnails to check out all of my nail designs as well as video tutorials for every mani I post. Also, check back here on the blog every day in October for more Halloween themed nails!

Thanks for reading!