'The Killing' Nail Tutorial

(If you have a bit of a thing about blood, I apologise for today's main photograph, though it might help to know that in actual fact, it was red food colouring on my back lawn... No blood was involved at all...)

So... hands up if you've ever heard of The Killing? Now leave your hands up if you've ever watched it? If you failed to raise your hand at all, or indeed withdrew it for the second question, then I urge you to try it. Arguably one of Denmark's best exports, The Killing (aka Forbrydelsen) is a crime thriller spanning three series that follows the fabulous Sarah Lund as she solves seemingly impossible murders and kidnappings. It's fascinating, and Lund is a character of such depth that you're drawn in without even realising. In fact, I kind of wish I could be her...

In fashion circles, Lund (and indeed The Killing) is most famous for her brilliantly Scandinavian jumpers, which are so popular now that Sofie Gråbøl (AKA Lund) presented one to the Duchess of Cornwall. If you are yet to bask in the glory of her jumpers, here is an example...

Even though I now own a Lund-esque coat and bag, I am still obviously not an uber-talented Danish crime fighter. I also am not willing to pay over £100 for a jumper. So, I decided to incorporate a little bit of the show into my nails...

I have to say, they're not the neatest nails I've ever shown on here, but I wanted to show you all anyway and it's such an easy design...

You will need:

1x base coat
1x top coat
1x white polish
1x black polish or nail art pen/paint

Step 1:

As usual, prepare your nails by filing, clipping, trimming or whatever you choose to do to maintain them, and then apply your base coat. This will protect your nails from the colour you're about to apply and stop them staining.

Step 2:

Apply your first coat of the white polish. You will need to do this more than once, so make sure each coat is dry before adding another. Add as many coats as you need for the colour to become opaque.

Step 3:

Starting at the tip of the nail, draw two small sideways hearts, one on each edge (you can see this in the photo above). You can do this by creating two dots of black and then joining them together in a kind of 'v' shape. Follow this by drawing a circle between these hearts.

Step 4:

Now, in the middle section of your nail, you need to draw four small hearts in the pattern that can be seen in the photo below...

Step 5:

Repeat the process of step 3 by adding the same pattern at the base of your nail and allow your nails to dry completely. Because you're using black, I'd even recommend for a full 24 hours if possible.

Step 6:

Apply your top coat. Be careful here, as seemingly dry black polish can often smudge when you apply a top coat.

Et voila! You now have fabulous Forbrydelsen themed nails. Obviously you don't have to be a fan of the show to try out this design, but it certainly helps ;)

What do you think? Can you see yourself trying out this design? Let me know in the comments below! :)

Thanks for reading,

Rachel x

Twitter: rachelizabethxo

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