I must admit, when I sat down to put together this week's #CBBxManiMonday Allyship themed nails, my mind was a bit elsewhere. This week marks the second anniversary of my brother's passing and the fact that it falls within Pride Month does definitely make it extra devastating, since he was a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. As such, I decided to recreate a mani I'd done once before with a few changes, including some black hearts to signal remembrance of those we've lost. 

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The first time I did this mani, I used a very dark charcoal base polish, but this time around I wanted to go with something a little bit lighter and brighter, so I chose this white speckled base that I think works quite well to pop the colors of the rainbow. Cirque Colors' Hatch is one of my favorite polishes in my collection and one that I'm actually going to have to pick up a second bottle of soon as mine is getting a little bit empty.

I started by applying two coats of Hatch to all of my nails and letting that dry down completely.

Now, this is not the easiest mani to pull off because the scribble design I use is actually a circle and that makes it a little tricky the further you get up the nail. It would be much easier with a similar image that was just an arc. But I digress. I applied the image starting with red towards a corner of each nail and then followed the rest of the way up the nail with the rest of the rainbow. Next, I went in with a black heart image and applied to the opposite corner of the nail from where I placed the rainbow.

Once I was happy with the design, I sealed everything in with a nail art top coat and then finished with a matte top coat to bring down the shine. And voila!

When it comes to standing alongside marginalized communities, I think it's fundamentally important to remember the members of that community who have been lost. By the time we get to the point of allyship from outside of those marginalized communities, there have inevitably been casualties, and when it comes to the LGBTQIA+ community there have been a variety of ways that those people have been lost. For me, standing alongside that community means valuing their lives and working towards a world where they're safe and loved and taken care of.

Be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In PINK for more Allyship themed nails.

Thanks for reading!