I cut my nails short ’cause the long was getting annoying. Specially since I’ve been cooking and baking alot. Recipes later. =P So here’s a tutorial on this look. The colors of this look kind of reminds me of a gypsy. Anywho…enjoy! =)

Cleaned my nails with alcohol. One coat of Base Coat. Two coats of a bluish seagreen polish. I used Essie in Greenport.

I painted two thin coats of an iridescent-ish purple diagonally in the center. Then a shimmery sheer teal overlapping half the purple, then bringing the it down to the rest of that side. If you click on the picture to enlarge, you’ll see what I mean. On my other hand, I did the same but mirrored it. I used Sally Hansen HD Nail Color in Cyber & China Glaze in Beauty and the Beach (LOVE this color, goes great on top of other colors).

Then I painted a dark, shimmery navy-blue curve on the side of my nails. Don’t worry about it being perfect. Just focus on getting a nice curve when you polish. I started at the middle of my nails, at my cuticles, and swerved it down the side. I used Essie in Midnight Cami.

With a brush (french brush/an old eyeshadow brush with a sharp edge), clean the sides with polish remover. Pure Acetone works faster and better. With striping paint in a similar color, I touched up the curve, making the lines cleaner and sharper.

With black striping paint, I made four diagonal lines on the corner, opposite of the blue curve. Make sure you make your lines spaced out a bit. How many lines to paint depends on how long your nails are.

Paint the equal amount of lines diagonally towards the opposite direction, overlapping the ones you just made. Like cross-hatching.

This isn’t really necessary, but I like adding depth. I like sneaking in colors, even if you can’t see it much in the end. So I painted three more lines following the black with a dark lavender purple striping paint.

With a shimmery gold/silver/white, I placed dots on where the black intersected. So where you see a square shape, you would dot the corners. I also much blue glitter over the blue curve to give it more life. Top with topcoat. I don’t have any rhinestones or pearls, but I think this look would look even better with tiny pearls instead of the dotted paint.

Hope you like it! ^_^

Four days ago I went to Cozmo, The School to sign up for beauty school. I plan on getting my cosmetology license. Yeah, I already know how to do nails (7 years of work), but I want to learn more. A cosmetology license is like having three beauty license in one: hair, nails, and skin. That’s my goal! =) I got approved for financial aid, so I’ll be starting school in December.
While I was signing papers that day, I was rocking these nails…

I love this look…and it’s very, very easy to do! I got so many compliments on these ones.
^_^

How to do:

01. File nails to desired shape. I prefer square for this look. Buff nails smooth.

02. Clean nails off with alcohol soaked cotton ball/pad. Make sure there aren’t any fuzzies from the cotton on your nails.

03. Polish on a layer of base coat. From my experience, a base coat helps protect nails from nail color stains and helps your nail color last longer. Also, if you forgot any fuzzies…you’ll catch ‘em here.

04. Polish a matte color on your nails. Two coats. For the second coat, I always paint the tips of my nails.

05. Polish a slighty wide stripe down the side of your nails, but leave a little of your bottom color showing on the side. Since I used a dark color for my base, I chose a lighter, shimmery color of the same family color (blue) for this step.

06. Within the wide stripe you just made, draw a line a shimmery gold or silver line with a nail striper down the side (nail art striping paints…you can find them at beauty supply stores, drugstores, I think Walmarts, and Meijers). Make it how ever long you want.

07. Next to the line you just made, make a longer line with a black nail striper.

08. Apply a top coat. Don’t forget to get the tips. A few days later, you can apply another layer of topcoat to boast the dullness/make your polish last longer.

Tip: The key for having your nail color last longer is to have your nails really clean before polishing. No lotions. No oils. The dryer your nails, the better. To be absolutely sure, you can apply OPI Bond-Aid or a brush of pure acetone to your nails before you apply your base coat. Make sure it’s a pure acetone. You don’t want anything that will moisturize your cuticles/nails in any way. You can moisturize after your nails & hands after your nails are dry.
Another tip for lasting nails is the application of your topcoat. I’ve seen so many people breeze through this step…even nail techs/manicurists. Make sure you paint your entire nails and nail tips.

Products I used:

Base coat: Seche Vite Crystal Clear Base Coat. (I love this brand.)
Base color: China Glaze in Bermuda Breakaway
Wide stripe color: China Glaze in Beauty and the Beach
Striping paints: In Black and Shimmery Gold
Top coat: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (the best!)

Note: This looks better when your nails are on the longer side.
And whenever I do nail art, I mirror the design on my other hand. So if my design is on the left side of my right hand, I’ll apply the design on the right side of my left hand.

^_^