Ah, Across the Universe. You have been a fan favorite for so many years, but at $20 a bottle and 4 coats to opacity, you are not for the faint of heart. Fortunately, I am a stalwart nail addict, and I managed to pick up this beauty during a 50% off sale at Sephora!

Across the Universe is widely regarded as having kicked off the jelly-glitter trend. It’s designed to be layered over itself (or a darker polish), increasing the depth and dimension with each coat.

It also lends itself well to aquatic-themed nail art, so when the Weekly Nail Art Challenge on Instagram set “pond manicure” as its theme for this week, I decided to use Across the Universe for the first time. In the nail art world, a “pond” or “jelly sandwich” manicure is made by painting nail art or glitter between layers of a sheer (jelly) polish – essentially a manual version of what polishes like Across the Universe are designed to do.

Because I like to take things too literally, I used the “pond” technique to paint… an actual pond… because I can! I painted koi fish over my base color with acrylic craft paint, then layered 3 coats of OPI’s Sheer Tint polish “I can Teal You Like Me” over them. This gave the fish the appearance of being underwater without obscuring them. The design of the fish came from PackAPunch Polish.

Overall, I think Across the Universe lives up to its fame. It gets chunky after four coats, but if you’re willing to work for it, the net effect is stunning. I love how well it suits this nail art! What do you think? Have you ever tried a pond manicure? What were your results?