Unofficial Studio Ghibli Day... Totoro Nail Art Tutorial!

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After some HELLISH exams I am back with a vengeance for a summer of nails, beauty reviews, and general musings! I'm going to start of this new spate of posts with something I'm loving at the moment - nail art. And this time, its a tutorial!

My best friends and I spent yesterday having a girly day of Studio Ghibli movies, nail art, facials, and oriental food. Inspired by this I decided to do nail art based on Studio Ghibli's signature movie - My Neighbour Totoro. (If you haven't heard of or seen it I suggest you google it ASAP.)

 

Unfortunately as I didn't have my camera with me at the time I can't do a picture tutorial but I will still take you through it step by step with the completed pictures, and if you have any questions please leave them in the comment box below!

Anyway let's start by showing you what I used:

1. Rimmel 60 Seconds in "Sky High" (base).
2. Max Factor Max Effect mini nail polish in "Cactus Green" (shading).
3. Rimmel 60 Seconds in "Man Overboard" (Totoro).
4. Barry M Nail Art Pens in "Black" and "White" (Totoro and Soot Gremlins).

And now for how to create this look! Firstly the ombré:

1. Start as always by applying your base coat! I recommend Rimmel's 5 in 1 Nail treat (it's a base and top coat, it strengthens your nails AND it's an absolute bargain).
2. Once dried, begin by applying your colour base. In this case I used Rimmel's "Sky High" (as pictured) but you could also use a white base if you have one.
3. Once this has dried, paint one side of an eyeshadow sponge (I prefer to use these but you can also use a makeup sponge) with your shading colour. In this case I used Max Factor's "Cactus Green".
4. Apply the shading to whichever nails you want to ombré. I chose to do all but the Totoro feature nail. Start by dabbing it from the tip of the nail to about halfway down.
5. Paint the other side of the eyeshadow sponge with the base colour and build up from the cuticle until it meets the shading. 
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until the colours are built up and blended to your satisfaction, cover with a top coat and leave to dry.

Now for those pesky little Soot Gremlins...

1. Once your top coat is fully dry (be careful of tacky nails) take your black nail art pen (or alternative - a nail dotter, cocktail stick, old pen/pencil, or thin nail brush in some black nail polish would do) and make a large(ish) circle placed somewhere between the middle and the tip of the nail allowing space for the spikes.
2. Fill in the circle and make the spikes by drawing small lines of varying sizes around the edge of the it.
3. Draw two smaller circles with small spikes around the edges elsewhere around the nail (I chose the area opposite my main gremlin).
4. With the white pen, draw two small circles inside the bigger circle for eyes, fill in and add a black dot in the centre.
5. Add two tiny white dots to the smaller black circles. These will likely be too small to add pupils in the middle so just leave it if you can't.
6. Add your top coat, let it dry, and move on to the main event!

Totoro time!

1. On your chosen feature nail (probably the one you left in just your base colour) dip a nail dotting tool (or alternative) in grey polish to outline the shape of Totoro's head and body. I chose Rimmel's "Man Overboard". 
2. Make two ears by drawing lines on either side of the nail a few mm away from the cuticle.
3. Connect these lines with a grey arc to form the top of the head. 
4. Draw the outline of the face and body by connecting the ears to the tip of the nail in a curve.
5. Fill in the area with the grey using the brush and leave to dry.
6. Create eyes as shown for the Soot Gremlin. Use the black pen to make a small trianglular-shaped nose, and three lines on either side of the head for whiskers.
7. Use the white nail pen to create the tummy by drawing an arc inside the body area. Fill either with the pen, or with white polish and brush, and allow to dry.
8. For the final detail, use either a dotting tool or alternative dipped in grey polish (or a black nail pen as I used cos I didn't have a small enough dotter with me), draw two rows of small upside-down V shapes towards the top of the tummy.
9. Add top coat and enjoy your Totoro nails!

And there you have it!

If you like what you see, check out my other nail art tips and tricks, and don't forget to follow me here and/on Blog Lovin! Any questions or comments, or if you've tried this look and want to share, check out the comment box below :D