Evil Eye Manicure

I love a fancy manicure (though to be honest I rarely have the patience to do one). With the Evil Eye trend taking off in the past few months, I thought where else to immortalize it than on my fingernails?

The Evil Eye is a symbol that originated in the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean and the Indian sub-continent. In Judaism specifically, it's defined as an individual's ability to bring malice upon someone else simply with a gaze. The Turks extend the concept of the Evil Eye to eye color, saying that an unusual eye color is a sign of wickedness, with blue eyes being considered the most deceptive. Turks carry special pendants to protect themselves from the Evil Eye called Nazar Boncugu, which are made out of an amalgamation of molten glass, iron, copper, water, and salt. These are the famous blue circular pendants that populate tourist areas and have penetrated Western culture. Evil Eye pendants are also frequently part of the Hamsa, a Jewish and Arabic symbol shaped like a hand that is meant to protect from the Evil Eye as well.

Hamsa (Left) and Evil Eye Pendant (Right), courtesy of levantinecenter.org

Between the Hamsa and the Evil Eye pendant, many fashion houses from Kenzo to Urban Outfitters have used these symbols as an inspiration for recent fashion seasons.

Kenzo Fall 2013, courtesy of The Fashion Bomb Daily

Now I'm going to take my own inspiration from this ancient symbol an put it on my nails. Before starting a fancy manicure, I usually follow these steps to get a high quality manicure at home (and because it just feels luxurious). 

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in white, Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art Pen in black, Wet n' Wild polish in Putting on Airs, Julep polish in Kelsey

For this manicure, you'll need a base and top coat, nude colored nail polish, white nail polish, a black nail pen, either light or dark blue nail polish (whichever works best with the shade of nude you're using), scissors, a bobby pin, and five bandaids.

Start with clean, dry hands. Paint a light base coat onto nails.

Paint a single coat of white nail polish on. Don't worry about getting a super opaque or even color as we'll be painting over most of the white later. Make sure your nails are completely dry before moving on to the next step. In the meantime, read a magazine or catch up on Netflix.

Cut the bandaids in half. You should have 10 half-bandaids, or one for each finger.

Stick the bandaids on your nails, approximately covering 1/3 of your nail.

Paint the nude nail polish over the bandaids.

Peel the bandaids off. You should get lovely white half-moons on the  bottom.

Pour some of your chosen blue nail polish onto a piece of paper. Using the tip of a bobby pin, paint a rectangular stripe running from the nude to the bottom of your nail.

After letting the nude and the blue color dry for a bit, draw on some eyeliner, three eyelashes, and the pupil using a black nail pen. Let this dry, clean up the edges with a q-tip and some nail polish remover, put some top coat on and voila! You're done!