ABC Challenge: X is for Xenopeltidae (Sunbeam Snakes)

Howdy, everyone!  We've reached one of the most challenging letters of the alphabet in the ABC Challenge this week; 'X'.  This was a tough, tough letter.  Very polishes start with X, E-X, yes, but just X?  Not so much and certainly nothing I have in my stash qualifies.  I did some internet searching and was lucky enough to find this guy:

 Meet Xenopeltis unicolor, the Sunbeam Snake.  Xenopeltidae are a species of snake that lives in Indo-Asian countries and kill their prey by constriction (non-venomous).  Their most distinguishing feature is their shiny, iridescent scales which give that "oil slick" look.  I'm kind of a weirdo in that I like reptiles.  I used to have a ball python named Methos and I used to catch lizards out at my family's farm pond when I was little.  So, a manicure inspired by a snake seemed appropriate.

I started with 2 coats of Essie's Case Study followed by stripes of China Glaze in Kalahari Kiss on the sides of my nails.  I thought I had a stamping plate with a snakeskin pattern, but it turns out I don't.  Instead, I used my dotting tool to create the pattern.  I dotted first with China Glaze in Mahogany Magic for the base color of the scales.  I went back in on top of the MM scales with Sally Hansen's Nail Prisms in Turquoise Opal, Coral Amber, and Amber Ruby and Max Factor's Fantasy Fire.  It may seem silly to use all those fabulous polishes for dots, but I knew they'd give a great flash of color and I wasn't disappointed!

The more I look at this mani, the more it grows on me.  These aren't normally colors I'd put together, but that's the fun of being inspired by something, right?

Please take some time to check out the other participants in the challenge.  You can find them via the thumbnails below.  I can't wait to see what they came up with for this most challenging letter! 

Thanks for reading :)