by Augusta Statz
Animal print was predicted by top fashion magazines to be big this spring and fall—I just had no idea it would come to this. Are they taking animal print too far?
I read an article in Vogue about a snake pedicure. I thought the author of the article had received a pedicure that looked like snakeskin, but no. It was actual snakeskin that was on her toes. It was skin that had been shed, so the snake was not harmed in any way to retrieve the skin, which is a good thing. However, I find this extremely odd, yet fascinating at the same time.
A base coat of polish was put on first. Then, the transparent snakeskin was laid on top, with a highlight of gold in some of the crevices. A clear top coat was then placed on top of the snakeskin. Exactly how much would one of these snakeskin pedicures run you? $300, which seems to be a steep price, if you ask me.
The polish used by the salon was a Bio Sculpture product, supposedly able to last for eight weeks because it is gel based and apparently much stronger than other polishes. You can visit the Bio Gel website to find a salon near you or learn more about the product.
But, I found a way to do it cheaply! Which of course, means doing it yourself. You are on your own getting the snakeskin, but I got mine from friends that work at the Burton 4H Center on Tybee. I decided to do a manicure instead of a pedicure, and I used polish that I already had—a nude pink color as the base coat, and a pearlescent white as the top coat. I did one fingernail at a time, putting the nude pink color down, and laying the snakeskin on top. I found that it was easy to cut the snakeskin to roughly the same size as the nail, and then file the excess away. After the polish was dry and the snakeskin securely fastened, I put on the top layer of polish. The job was relatively easy, but time consuming because the snakeskin is so fragile. You have to be really careful not to rip it because if you do, like I did a few times, you have to start over.
This beauty trend was too weird, yet doable for me to pass up. I do like the snakeskin print, but using actual snakeskin to get the print on your fingers and toes seems like a little much with all of the nail art that is easily accessible. Only about two hours after applying the snakeskin, it started peeling up on a few nails. So, my vote: It is too time consuming to do yourself, especially if it lasts for only a few hours and too expensive to pay someone else for it.
I had to try this for myself, though. All in the name of beauty, I guess.
