Dexter Nail Art

Hey there! Welcome to my blog, Topcoat Therapy!

For my very first post I've got a killer manicure for you! In the lead-up to Halloween I thought it would be fun to visit everyone's favourite serial killer, Dexter. Now, I know that there's no shortage of Dex-icures out there. A quick Google Image search will fill you up with ideas for your own awesome nail designs, but since the series recently ended, I thought I would pay homage in the best way I know how.

I did a skittle manicure showcasing some of the key features of the show.

Since it's set in Miami, my thumbnail showcases beautiful palm trees silhouetted against a sunset gradient. I decided to go with a darker sunset background since the show itself is pretty heavy and a little morbid.

My index finger is 'Police Line Do Not Cross' tape, a tribute to Dexter's job with the Miami Metropolitan Police as a Blood Spatter Analyst. I made the yellow stripes of tape too small, so it was a huge pain to get the words on properly, and of course, once I finally did, it all got smudged when I applied my top coat D': 

The middle finger is a beach/sea gradient with Dexter's boat cruising through. Dexter's boat, 'Slice of Life' is an important part of the show. While everyone thinks that Dexter likes fishing and spending time out on the water, he also uses Slice of Life to dump the bodies of his victims out in the ocean so that no-one can ever find them. I couldn't resist painting a bit of seemingly innocent life in Miami, knowing its sinister tie-in. Again, I had a little bit of topcoat smudge with the details on his boat. 

The ring finger is the very classic, very necessary blood spatter. As I mentioned, Dex is a Blood Spatter Analyst for the Miami police. He also takes blood from each of his victims as a trophy. He also has a difficult childhood involving copious amounts of blood. So does his son. It's...complicated. Anyway, most Dexter themed manicures usually make this their main design. As integral as blood is to the show, I understand why, and definitely couldn't leave it out of this skittle!

And finally, my little finger is supposed to be plastic wrap, but I think I underestimated what a difficult concept that was to replicate using nail art :/ Dexter binds his victims down onto a table using lots and lots of plastic wrap so that they can't move at all. I was half tempted to cover my nail in tape, but that would not have been functional, and I strive for wear-ability in my manis. I'm satisfied with this look though. I mean, it kind of looks plastic wrappy, right??

Here are the techniques that I used to achieve this look:

Thumb: 4-colour sponge gradient & a striper brush
Index: basic polish, a striper brush & a tiny tool for writing the letters
Middle: 3-colour sponge gradient, striper brushes &a tiny tool for writing the letters
Ring: splatter technique using a straw
Pinky: acetone smudging


I used quite a number of colours, so I won't go through listing them all here, but if there's anything you're curious about leave me a comment and I'll let you know!

I hope this manicure is up to standard amongst you Dexter fans out there! What did you think of it? More importantly, what did you think of the series finale?! Without giving anything away, I'll say that I think it was a fitting end. It was FULL of plot holes, to be sure, but I think Dexter paid the just price.


p.s.- I just want to let you guys know that this is my first time blogging! I'm so excited to share my nail art in a space with people who have similar interests and I welcome your questions and suggestions on how to make this blog better!



Have a great week!

Mara