With billions of beads, eccentric masks, and a rainbow of feather boas, Mardi Gras is not a holiday renowned for its subtly. The celebration, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday, falls exactly 47 days before Easter, marking the official end of the Carnival season and the kickstart to the holy period of Lent.
The holiday is a huge cultural moment in New Orleans, Louisiana specifically, where Mardi Gras — which is Tuesday, March 5, this year — is a bank holiday, and there are parades and parties spanning up and down Bourbon Street. But even if you’re nowhere near The Big Easy next week, you can get in on the festivities with a Mardi Gras-inspired manicure. The celebratory colors — purple, green, and gold — represent justice, faith, and power, respectively. And the combination will surely make you smile when mixed and matched on your fingernails.
Scroll through to find the ideal Mardi Gras nail art to carry you through the Lenten season in style.
If you’re looking to go extra in celebration of Mardi Gras — in true Big Easy style — try a bling-y manicure with stripes of gold and rainbow gemstones.
For a more muted take, keep your gold accents, but make it a 2-D foil situation.
Make each individual nail its own work of art by adding press-on jewels.
A holographic purple manicure is kind of perfect for Mardi Gras because it fits into the color theme, but will still feel fun and shimmery when Carnival’s over.
The skinny yellow arches of this nail art give the festive feeling of gold beads draped across your fingernails.
Freehand Mardi Gras medallion nail art may be best left to the pros — but, if you can find a press-on sticker that resembles a fleur-de-lis, the effect will be just as ornamental.
A jade-green, shattered glass manicure is cool any day of the year, but feels particularly appropriate during Mardi Gras.
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Source: Refinery29 – Megan Decker