love for all.
With the historic Prop 8 and DOMA Supreme Court hearings on the horizon, I wanted to make a personal statement showing that I proudly support* equal rights for the LGBT community.
I opted for an overall muted manicure. My peach nails in the delicate Julep “Maya” take a backseat to let the traditional blue and gold Human Rights Campaign equality logo really stand out as an accent nail. For the classic HRC logo, I used NYC New York Color “Skin Tight Denim” for the blue, and Wet n Wild “The WonderYellows” to make the equal symbol.
I put my mani together before the red and pink Facebook profile pic flood, but with a little imagination it’s easy to adapt this to the rosy palate that shows you support marriage equality using your favorite pink and red polishes.
There’s a very simple trick to getting a crisp equal sign, which is good ole fashioned Scotch Tape. I left the tape on the spool and painted a yellow nail polish square on a piece between the spool and the blade to cut the tape. It acts as a perfect little platform to let the polish dry and harden. I waited overnight since I’d used quite a few coats to get the bold color, but an hour or two might suffice depending on what kind of polish formula you choose.
Using a small pair of personal grooming scissors, like nail scissors– a pair out of your kitchen or sewing kit won’t allow for the same detail– gauge the size of your index finger and cut the two small rectangles out of your tape. In theory, you should have a nice sized square to harvest from, so don’t worry about getting it perfect the first time. I decimated my initial square trying to get my equality symbol right!
On the accent nail, already painted blue , or red if you’re showing marriage support, apply your equality symbol and seal it with a high quality clear coat. I used Seche Vite. —Casandra Armour
*To note that this wasn’t simply a frivolous nail art endeavor without genuine effort behind it, this weekend my longtime friend and Keep Your Nail Game Fresh founder, Khalei and I also volunteered at L.A.’s annual Human Rights Campaign Gala.
