Glaucoma Awareness Manicure

Hi everyone! I have a special post for you today. I created this design for a contest held by @marijonails on Instagram. That's the account for Marisa who blogs at Polish Obsession. She has wonderful manicures so you should check her out! The nail art contest is for Glaucoma awareness month, which is this month.

Glaucoma awareness manicure

The facts around Glaucoma are alarming. According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation (http://www.glaucoma.org/): "Glaucoma is the term used for a group of diseases that irreversibly damage the optic nerve, leading to vision loss and ultimately, if untreated, blindness. Genetic factors are considered to play a key role in all major forms of glaucoma." Not only is Glaucoma the leading cause of blindness, but it can effect people of all age groups, and at this point there is no known cure. In fact many people do not know that they have Glaucoma until there has been a significant loss of vision. And while it effects all age groups and races, Glaucoma is more likely to effect African Americans than Caucasians. It can be treated, however, so please get your eyes tested on a regular basis.

Glaucoma awareness manicure

The only condition for the contest was that green had to be a part of the manicure. Green is the colour for Glaucoma awareness month.

I knew that I wanted to include eye motifs from Western culture. On my middle finger is the Eye of Horus from ancient Egyptian culture, a symbol that is associated with healing, restoration, and protection. On my ring finger is the Eye of Providence, which is found on US $1 bills. The Eye of Providence has a lot of meanings and associations and dates back hundreds of years, but basically it is a symbol for the all-seeing eye of God and spiritual illumination. While I was doing research for this design, I looked at a lot of ancient Egyptian design. I simplified some of the motifs and used them as the basis of my index and pinky finger nails.

Glaucoma awareness manicure

The green is piCture pOlish Kryptonite from the collaboration series. It is a gorgeous emerald jelly with a scattered holographic shimmer. It reminds me of the scattered holos from the Zoya Ornate collection (Storm, Aurora, and Blaze), but the particles in Kryptonite are a bit more irregular. Kryptonite applies like a dream and I used two coats in this manicure. The gold nails are done with Orly Luxe, my go-to gold foil. For the black lines I used Stripe Rite polish in black, and the gold lines were done with Stripe Rite polish in gold. Everything was done freehand.

Glaucoma awareness manicure

What do you think of this design? Were you aware that January was Glaucoma Awareness month? Do you know anyone effected by this disease?