Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Mamma Mia!: Mario Character Nail Art

Every few months or so I get the urge to do some really complicated nail art. Something that will really challenge me and push my boundaries (and that will likely take a few hours). A couple of nights ago, I had one of those urges.


I was thinking about how badly I wanted to play Mario Party (I'm all about the minigames) and I thought it would be fun to do characters from the Mario universe! Plus, who doesn't love a good bit of geekiness every now and then?



For the good guys, I chose to include Mario (mega duh), Luigi (also duh), Peach (duh), and Toad. It was tough cutting Yoshi from the lineup but I have a soft spot for that little mushroom headed nerd.


Peach was strangely the hardest to paint. I ended up redoing her two or three times before I was happy enough to keep it, and even now she is one of my least favorite nails in the lineup. It's kind of a bummer because I really like her as a character. At least the pointy bangs help identify her!

I am most happy with how Mario and Luigi came out, which is surprising, because I was fully expecting them to be the hardest and look the strangest. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth though!



Then of course I had to include Bowser. Bowser, like Peach, was really tricky to portray correctly. I think he looks a tiny bit different than the rest of the characters, stylistically, but I don't mind so much.


I used all polish for this design. Here are some breakdowns for you:
Good guys' skin tones: OPI My Vampire is Buff
Bowser base color: Cult Nails Deal With It
Red (Bowser, Mario, Toad): American Apparel Downtown LA
Green (Luigi): OPI Jade is the New Black
Yellow (Peach): China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
Blue eye color: Zoya Robyn
White: Milani White On the Spot
Black: American Apparel Hassid

Of course I did mix in some other shades to get the variations just right but you get the idea!

So that's my Mario nail art! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
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51 comments

  1. WOW sooo cute :) and detailed :) a gamers dream :)

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  2. OH MY GOD!!!!
    Amazing!!!! So freakin' cool!

    Which colors did you mix to make the darker yellow (on Peach's hair) and to outline the nose?

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  3. This is amazing!!

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  4. OMG !! Very amzing nails !!

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  5. I think this is the coolest mani I have ever seen. This is SO cool!

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  6. woman, you're made of awesome! this is too cool!! :))

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  7. Incredible! It looks like you did some skin-tone shading too (around the good guys' noses), which looks exceptional!! No words ;)

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  8. I mixed brown (China Glaze Call of the Wild) with the yellow in varying amounts for the shading, and then I used it straight up for the outlining.

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  9. Just a little, to try to distinguish it from their mustaches!

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  10. This is so creative! LOVE IT!

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  11. Gillian from Plumeria19July 17, 2013 at 9:16 AM

    I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!! Mario is one of my favourite gaming characters/series (nintendo fangirl here ) and you did a fantastic job of painting them. They are great. I have a little soft spot for Toad too. I also love Mario party (weirdly my favourite is 9). Everything is perfect :D

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  12. kute nails!
    in my blog http://www.spasalon.us have any nails, visit and view more

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  13. This is absolutely incredible!!! I love all the characters but I think Bowser turned out really great. Awesome mani :)

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  14. incredibly amazeballs!

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  15. Amazing! You're awesome at everything Sarah.

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  16. Do you ever use acrylic paint to do your nail art?

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  17. Nope, never! Just a personal choice. :)

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  18. WOW!! They are amazing!! You're very talented!

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  19. Looks fantastic. My 2 boys will want me to recreate this (and they haven't a hope - I'm not talented enough!) The fact you did it all in nail varnish is awesome.

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  20. That's awesome!!!! O.O
    I love them all, but my favorite is Bowser!
    Great job! :D

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  21. These are amazing!!! amazing job!

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  22. my son is in love with this. amazing work!

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  23. WOW! You did an excellent job! I am crazy about Mario! My ringtone - Super Mario Bros. 3 theme and my Texts make the 1-Up sound! <3

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  24. Incredible, you have amazing talent.

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  25. Thalia - Thriftybelleza.comJuly 17, 2013 at 8:09 PM

    I am stunned, this is incredible! I just found your blog on bloglovin and I'm a new fan. You're so talented :) What technique did you use to make this design? Did you use any specific nail brushes, dotting tools etc?

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  26. Thank you! I painted them all freehand with a small nail art brush. I started with a pretty small brush and then trimmed it down to make it even finer! There are some photos and more details in the caption here: http://instagram.com/p/bKBwKWsSUt/

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  27. Thalia - Thriftybelleza.comJuly 17, 2013 at 8:21 PM

    Awesome, thank you so much Sarah! I'm definitely inspired to give nail art a try on my beauty blog, Thrifty Belleza :)

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  28. You are unbelievably talented. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  29. ahhh i love this! so nerdy and amazing!

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  30. i like all, but my favorites are bowser & toad.


    kisses

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  31. Being a complete Mario addict, this is just so CUTE! VERY creative!

    Maria xx
    thesuckerforfashion.blogspot.dk

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  32. It's awesome, I really like those characters and you painted them perfectly! My prefered one is Mario!

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  33. These are amazing! I absolutely love Toad! :D

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  34. They look really cool, well done! Maybe try Sonic and his friends? I was a Sonic girl when I was a teenager!

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  35. This is so cool !!

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  36. Mario Party was the freaking bomb. Your thumb REALLY makes me think of Bowser Face Lift hahahaha (...NOT because it isn't perfect, just because Bowser's face).

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  37. This is truly awesome! They look absolutely amazing

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