Geometric Faceted Neutrals - OPI Brazil Nail Art

While I originally guessed I'd be drawn to the brights in OPI's Brazil collection, when I got them all together, I really responded to the way the four neutral/earth tones looked. I couldn't get the group of them out of my mind. I had a hankering for some geometric nail art, and for this look I drew some of my inspiration from a DIY geometric necklace tutorial.

OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around - This is the lightest neutral, and the shade that I used for the base of the manicure. It's more pink that my camera was able to capture here; the shade kind of reminds me of Silly Putty. Definitely a very flattering nude, it'd be a perfect shade for someone whose skin tone leans pink rather than yellow. Covered perfectly in two coats.

OPI Taupe-less Beach - The second lightest shade shown here, this polish is a lovely greige. It was nicely opaque for this nail art and is a perfect step between Bossa Nova and the next darkest color.

OPI I Sao Paulo Over There - The darkest taupe shown. I always enjoy medium earthy shades like this and I found the formula easy to work with.

OPI OPI Scores a Goal! - This rich red-brown shade is the standout "accent" here. While the three previous polishes are fairly neutral, this one does bring a bit more to the party, color wise. Like the others, the formula didn't give me any trouble.

I painted all of my nails with a base of OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, and the rest of the geometric shapes were painted freehand on top of it with a super skinny nail art brush.

The key for me was to paint one large geometric shape near the center of the nail and then build outwards from that. Another important thing I had to remember was to leave some spaces "unpainted," at least with the freehand, so the base could show through and do its part.

Check out a behind the scenes shot from this manicure on my Instagram; you can see my bitty nail art brush and polishes, plus the wax paper that I put down on my table as a palette.

While this nail art took forever (an episode of The Ellen Show AND @midnight), I'm very pleased with the final outcome. It gave me some good practice on my linework and on making the brush stop exactly where I need it to so the facets would match up.

Brazil by OPI will be available beginning tomorrow, February 5, 2014. Nail lacquers will retail for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) each at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com.