Hannibal Nail Art

This week I've got another serial killer show inspired manicure for you; Hannibal. If you haven't caught the first season of this NBC series, you are missing out my friend! Its imagery is so wonderful and the acting is sublime. I could sing praises about this show forever, but I decided I would try to show my love/obsession with some nail art instead.

This is my design.

The tv series makes use of very dark, rich colours to set the tone of the show and, when dealing with Dr. Lecter's character, they keep things clean and elegant. Those were my goals for this manicure (Hannicure?) and I have to say that I really love the result!

For my thumbnail I featured the very important stag antlers. From field kabuki to kitchen Wendigos, these antlers are a core symbol of the show. Using a black striper brush they were absurdly easy to paint, and even when I wasn't happy with the curve of the line, it was so easy to turn it into a little offshoot from the main antler and I was able to keep going until I got the shape I wanted.

This is two coats of Avon Cherry Jubilee, a dark cranberry coloured jelly. When it was dry, the antlers were painted using Shany Cosmetics 10, a basic black striper.


My middle finger on either hand bears representations of Will Graham's infamous clock faces. I love them, seriously. Encephalitis makes you do the craziest things.

Here, the base is Zoya Farah, a cool nude. The clock hands were done with the black striper and the numbers were written in with a black gel ink pen. 

Top coat is not always kind to me. On one clock-nail I got bubbles and on the other, it blurred all the detail from my numbers :/ I still like it; it gives it a kind of Will Graham hallucinatory feel, right?


My little finger is inspired by the ever-dapper Dr. Lecter himself. His personal style is marvellous. His 3-piece suits and gorgeous wool coats are to die for (< punny!), but what I really love are his beautiful silk ties. During dinner with the Crawfords in Season 1, Episode 5 'Coquilles', Hannibal wears this eye-catching pattern.

To recreate this design, I used two coats of Cherry Jubilee as the base colour. Then, with a long, thin brush I painted stripes across the nail using Ciaté Sand Dune to create a criss-cross pattern. In the empty spaces I made a small dot with Sally Hansen Fairy Teal and once that was dry, I added a smaller dot of Sand Dune in the middle.

For my ring and index I kept it simple; using Cherry Jubilee and Sand Dune, I painted on the base colour and then, using a long, thin brush, I painted a single stripe across the top of the nail in the contrasting colour. I think that the small detail really makes this Hannicure sophisticated but simple.

I'm really happy with the way this Hannicure turned out and I'm definitely looking forward to Season 2! I can't wait to see how the show progresses and what happens between Hannibal and Will. Poor Will :( Maybe in Season 2 somebody will finally help Will Graham?

Maybe not?

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Mara