One of my readers, Annika, e-mailed me her ideas for a Violet Beauregarde nail design and asked if I could do a nail tutorial based on the character from the original 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory character.
Since I haven’t done freehand nail art in some time, I thought I’d give it a go.
You’ll remember that Violet was the one who chewed the same piece of gum for a long time. And when at the factory, she can’t resist trying the new chewing gum that Willy Wonka has come up with that includes flavours such as appetizers, main courses, and even desserts!
Haha, she grows bigger and bigger, turning blue/violet as the seconds pass! Finally, the Oompa Loompas have to take her to the Juicing Room to squeeze it all out.
Here is my version of Violet Beauregarde Nails.
Instead of making the buckle sideways on the red belt, I wanted to give it a twist, so I painted them very similar to the buckles in the Santa Nails I did before on here.
If you want to take a completely literal and accurate approach, paint the red belt and buckles horizontally.
In this post, I’ll show you more photos of this quick design as well as step-by-step instructions with photos for how to recreate it.
Violet Beauregarde Nail Art Swatches
All swatches have:
- Essie First Base (Base Coat)
- Blue: China Glaze Frostbite
- Red: Nubar Sensual
- Gold: L.A. Colors Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer Gold Glitter
- Black: Milani Nail Art Black Sketch (This was provided by PR.)
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Flash Photos
Dim Natural Light Photos
*~* Violet Beauregarde Nail Art Tutorial *~*
What I Used:
- Essie First Base (Base Coat)
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
- China Glaze Frostbite
- Nubar Sensual
- L.A. Colors Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer Gold Glitter
- Milani Nail Art Black Sketch
Step 1: Apply a Base Coat
Step 2: Paint Your Nails Blue
One of my favourite blues is China Glaze Frostbite because it’s so vibrant and reminds me of car paint for some reason.
You can use any blue, though. Not everyone has a bazillion blues in their collection, so just use the shade you enjoy painting with the most. 🙂
Let this dry for maybe 5 minutes. It doesn’t have to be completely dry before you proceed to the next step, but it shouldn’t be fresh and wet, or you could risk dragging and mixing polish colours together.
2 coats of China Glaze Frostbite
Step 3: Add the Red Belt
You could take the completely literal and accurate approach by making your red belts horizontal. However, I chose to do vertical belts because I have a soft spot for vertical stripes on nails. 😉
Plus when you use vertical stripes on your nails, it helps create the illusion that your nails are longer. When you use horizontal lines, you call attention to the width of your nails.
Give your red belts a few minutes to dry a little before proceeding to the next step.
Step 4: Create the Golden Buckle
You can use a long, thin brush dipped in gold or gold glitter to create the buckle. I had a gold-glitter nail-art striper handy, so I used that.
Create a box that fits the width of the red belt. You could add a little line inside the box that spans only half way across. However, that’s optional.
Step 5: Add Buckle Details
Originally, I went over the little belt latch with yellow in an attempt to make it stand out. (Note the slight bit the yellow peeking out on my index finger.) However, I later decided that using black was a better choice.
This step is optional, but I think it enhances the way the buckle looks, even if Violet Beauregarde’s belt doesn’t seem to have this black latch.
After this step, it’s critical to wait at least 15 minutes to let your design dry as much as possible. If you have the luxury of waiting even longer, do so. You really want this to set more before you add a top coat. If you rush to the next step too soon, you may accidentally smear your design.
“Patience, Willow!” Extra points for you if you know where that movie quote is from. 😉
Step 6: Apply a Top Coat
When you’re applying top coat over nail art, try to use a light hand. And I’ve found it helps if you put a thick bead of top coat onto your brush. When you glide the bead of top coat onto your nails, just let the top coat touch your nail instead of actually touching the nail with the brush. This really helps prevent a lot of smearing.
Are you a Violet Beauregarde fan? Do you prefer the original or the new version of the movie with Johnny Depp? Who’s your favourite character in the movie? (Mine’s Willy Wonka…of course! He was a passionate dreamer who was also crazy. Eccentric people fascinate me.)
Love it. But, more of a fan of the sideways. Did you do both hands? Also, still got it on?
Hey Annika Hanson!
Yes, I did both hands and wore it as a full manicure, but no, I’m not still wearing it. I wore it for a full day, then I was itching to wear a new polish. 😉 Ahh, the life of a nailphile…hehe!
Got pictures of the other hand too?
Well??/
No, I take photos of my left hand. I hold the camera with my right hand.
Also, I try to reply to comments as soon as possible, but it’s not necessarily the same day. Please be respectful and understanding of that. While I realize you’re enthusiastic for a response, realize that asking more than once won’t necessarily receive a quicker reply. Please be patient.
That’s the person who’s been stalking some of the chicks on my FB polish group, LOL (30+ messages a day to some). He/she always harrasses for blue swatches and pedicure videos, ROFL. Strongly suspect it might be a fetishist. :-S
Oh geez – 30+ messages a day? :S
LOL Such a fun design!!
Lizzy recently posted: Zoya: Dahlia
Hey Lizzy!
Glad you approve! 😉 It’s a fun look, and the colours might not be ones I’d pair together in quite that way. This was a fun little challenge for me.
These are great, and seem super simple to do! I love both movies, but I think I like the newer one more. It’s just much weirder! I remember the first time I watched it, I had to keep pausing it because I just kept laughing so hard. 😀
Erin M. recently posted: Essence Chic Reloaded + Color Club Pearl-Spective *pic heavy*
Hey Erin M.!
Yes, they were verrrry simple to do. You just need to have to set aside a little time to account for all the dry time. But the design itself doesn’t have anything too complicated, so I urge everyone to try it out. 🙂
Love it! Violet was fun, but I loved to hate Veruca Salt. 🙂
Hey Mellinail!
Hahaha, yes, Veruca Salt was my favourite one to ‘hate’, too!
“Patience Willow! Courage Williow!” 😀 love that film WILLOW.
Great job on a free hand design the lines are so clean! 🙂
You can’t beat the original Charlie and the chocolate factory I still watch it from time to time even now 🙂
Mary would you recommend the Essie and Seche Vite? I need some base and top costs myself.
Once again congratulations on such a awesome freehand application.
Ps is it the 14th yet!? Eeeeeek
Hey Gareth!
YAY for getting the reference! 😀 I loved that movie since I saw it in elementary school. Haven’t watched it in a while, though. Totally need to see it again! It’s one of those feel-good movies.
Thanks for your kind words! 🙂 I love sharing my nail art, and I also love seeing what others come up with. It’s a lot of fun!
Yes, Essie First Base is an amazing base coat from what I’ve noticed so far. I’ve been using it for a few weeks. Another great base coat (which I’ve used for a longer time) is Nubar Foundation (but Nubar in general is harder to get hold of). CND Stickey Anchoring Base Coat is also great! I have reviews for the latter two. After I test out Essie for a couple more months, I’ll probably do a review on it.
As for Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat, yes, I recommend it strongly. I wouldn’t paint my nails as often as I do if I didn’t have it! It changed my polishing life! I don’t like waiting for polish to dry, and with Seche, it really dries your nails rock hard very fast! However, it has Toluene. If you want to avoid that, go for Nubar Diamont. It also dries your manicure very quickly, except it’s Big-3 free.
Hope that helps! 🙂
P.S. Hehe, I’m just as excited as you are about my Illamasqua giveaway. I can’t wait when I get to announce the FIVE winners! 😀
interesting 😀 like the red shade very pretty
Hey Icequeen81!
Thanks! 🙂 I had fun painting and wearing this look!
Holy Cow, I just got the same request, from the same person, the other day. I got a bunch of messages back to back and it was kinda weird. Now seeing how they acted on these comments I’m a little hesistant to do it. I love getting request but this is just weird. I still may do it just because I love the movie but include other characters. Your’s were great by the way. 🙂
Ashlee (Painted Nubbs recently posted: F4 Neon Jellies
Hey Ashlee!
Yeah, I’ve heard that the person has asked a lot of bloggers to do a similar design. Must be a huge fan of that character. 🙂
Thank you so much – I had fun wearing this manicure, and if that reader didn’t request it, I never would’ve thought to try it. So I’m glad she asked!
So many details yet you make it look so easy!