Tales from the Borderlands Nails: Rhys

I'm afraid you're all going to have to humor me here, because this is probably another one of those manicures that most people are just going to find totally strange. My apologies if that's the case!

One of my big obsessions right now is the video game Tales from the Borderlands. It's a short little narrative adventure game by Telltale Games (they do lots of great stuff if you like stories more than shooting—check them out!) that I played a couple of weeks ago and completely fell in love with. It's gorgeous, funny, and full of complex characters that you can't help but adore.

Right after I played the four (out of five) chapters that have been released so far, it was time for me to head to PAX Prime, a huge video game convention in Seattle. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to honor my current favorite game on my nails, so I decided to recreate the outfit of one of the main characters, Rhys, with nail polish.

Rhys has... an interesting fashion sense, as you can see. His look immediately reminded me of a skittle-style manicure (different on every nail, but related overall) in clothing form, so I was really intrigued to see if I translate it into an actual skittle mani. I got some nice feedback at PAX from people who've played (and make!) the game, so I think I was pretty successful!

This look wasn't difficult to put together, but it did take some time—and a LOT of tools & polishes. Here's what I used:

Ginger + Liz - Grounded || Julep - Janae || OPI - Can't Find My Czechbook  

Butter London - Jasper || Sephora by OPI - Havana Dreams || Julep - Anisa  

OPI - Over the Taupe || A England - Camelot || Zoya - Purity

MoYou London - Rockstar Plate 01 || MoYou London - Pro Plate 01

I think most of the individual nails are pretty self-explanatory: the index & middle fingers were done with striping tape, and the ring & little fingers were done with stamps. I did have to just paint on the darker black hexagon pattern from Rhys's vest on my ring finger with a small brush, however, because the stamp I'd planned to use wasn't working.

I hesitate to even point it out, but I have to admit: that slightly jagged edge on the red stripe will probably bother me forever. That'll teach me to think I can touch up a line by hand after the tape has come off...

All in all, I really loved these nails and I was so thrilled to be able to wear them during PAX when I couldn't be at home (re)playing my new favorite game. Making myself little wearable reminders like this of the stuff I'm fannish about is one of my favorite things about doing nail art, so even if posts like this don't always have super wide appeal, they're definitely the ones that make me the happiest. And who knows: maybe I'll even introduce a few people to a fun new world. :)

Thanks for looking!