I was contacted by Rockabilly Luau asking if I could come up with some Luau themed nails they could show the ladies attending the event as inspiration. I was so excited I decided to dedicate an entire week (or more) to it!

Most of the manicures you have seen for this theme include tutorials, I imagine a lot of people viewing these won't be familiar with some terms and techniques, so I am going to try and break it down as best as I can for everyone, and not just my regular readers.
To see all of the manicures in this theme - click here!


I have had an absolute blast working with Chris from Rockabilly Luau and gotten so much inspiration from this theme. If you are in the Atlanta area, you should definitely check out this event!

So let's get started on these 'Chopped Merc' nails!
In case you're wondering what on earth this title even means - well...I took today's inspiration from chopped lowrider Mercury's of the 50s and 60s...much like this:

photo credit - americandreamcars.com

Here is what you will be achieving:



For this look we start with Zoya Dovima. It is a matte black polish but it's not a true black. It's more like an extremely dark gunmetal grey, with shimmer. This is imperative to be able to get the slight distinction between our base and our flames, the base must not be a straight black.

Next our stamping plates - flames and the closest image I could find to a pinstriped design.

Now take a glossy black opaque polish and use it to stamp the flames on 3 nails and your thumb. Leave one nail unstamped for your pinstripe accent nail. After I stamped I coated them in a matte top coat, but if you want a little more distinction between your base and your flames you can skip that step and keep the flames glossy.

Next take a red polish (I used Sally Hansen Rapid Red) and stamp it on your accent nail and top with matte top coat. Clean up any excess polish on your fingers and you are all set! How easy was that!?
This would also look sweet with white polish.