Nail Art: Temporary Tattoo Nail Art (+ why Auburn’s Toomers Oaks aren’t “just trees”)

Today is A-Day in Auburn; the football team’s annual spring football scrimmage.  This is always a big day in Auburn but this year it’s just a little bit bigger. Today, after the game, the final rolling of Toomers Corner will take place.

As always, a themed manicure was in order! When I was in Auburn the end of last year I picked up some temporary nail tattoos. The only thing that makes them nail tattoos is the fact that they are tiny! Otherwise they function just like a normal temporary tattoo.

Using them is simple. Once the nail polish is completely dry (and I mean completely…) you just cut the tattoo as small as possible, remove the top sheet, place it on the nail then take a wet washcloth and hold over the temporary tattoo for about 20 seconds. Then just peel away the backing and apply a top coat. Super simple!

At first I did tiger strips on the rest of my nails and ended up kind of hating it. There was just way too much going on with that manicure. Instead, I applied a navy polish (Orly Star of Bombay) to the other nails. I really loved the result.

Below the jump there are swatches of both version of this manicure plus a fairly long spiel on Auburn, the Toomers Oaks and why they mean so much to me.

War Eagle!

When I graduated from Auburn I, like most people, left Auburn. I lived in the Midwest and now in my native North Carolina. But Auburn never left me. I was the 4th generation in my family to attend Auburn. My dad went there. My grandfather went there. I have countless cousins who are fellow alumni. But I didn’t grow up in Alabama. I didn’t understand what being part of the Auburn family was all about.

One of the Toomers Oaks, November 2012

After spending 4 years in Auburn I understand. I’ve yelled War Eagle to people in France, in California and even in my local bar. Once you exchange War Eagle with a fellow alum those people are no longer strangers. They are people you have shared experiences with. And one of those experiences is celebrating not only sports victories, or good things that happen in Auburn, but good things that happen in this world by rolling the oak trees at Toomers Corner. After today that tradition will have died because an Alabama fan (who, I think is worth  noting, had absolutely no connection with the University of Alabama) poisoned the Toomers Oaks.

I realize this is a nail polish blog and not my personal journal or diary, but for those of you who wonder why I post so many Auburn related manicures, now you know! Auburn is a big part of my family and therefore my life. When people say the Toomers Oaks are “just trees” I want to explain to them that no, they aren’t just trees. Those trees connect me to my father to thousands of others who have celebrated some of life’s biggest moments at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and College Street in Auburn, Alabama.