Nails of Pinterest

When I get a free second I love to peruse the Hair and Beauty category on Pinterest for a little bit of inspiration and the other day I came across this image:

There's nothing I don't like about this nail design, who doesn't love a bit of tribal pattern? I also like that this is perfect for this season what with the bright colours but also the fact that you could swap up the colours to anything you want.

Seeing as I liked these nails I thought  would give them a go and show you how I did them :)

This is what I did! Obviously I have changed the design slightly, it is a bit simplified but the main reason I have done this is because I have really quite small nails so wouldn't have been able to cram as much detail on mine as there is on the original! Maybe if I had done the black stripe a little wider? Oh well there's always next time :) Also the base colour is more of a 'sunshine' yellow as opposed to a neon yellow with a tinge of green. This was because it was the only bright yellow I have in my nail varnish collection (something I shall amend soon enough I am sure).

1.

So with any nail design you want to start by prepping your nails. File your nails into shape using a nail file, just make sure it isn't too coarse as this could damage your nails. Also you want to file your nails in one direction at a time and not 'saw' at them as this can also damage them.

 Next you want to do some cuticle work; how much you do will depend on the condition of your cuticles. Massaging an oil or cream into the skin around your nails will help to soften them making them easier to push back. If your cuticles are slightly overgrown then you can also use a cuticle remover product (these can be a gel, liquid or a cream) which will dissolve any dead skin making it easier to remove from the nail.

If your nails are maybe looking a bit dull, or perhaps they tend to peel, then buffing them with a multi-sided buffer will be beneficial.

Apply a base coat to your prepped nails to make a smooth surface for the nail varnish to stick to and prevent any staining.

2.

For my base colour I used an NYC nail varnish in Lexington Yellow. This is a lovely primary yellow and cost under £2. As it was a cheaper brand of nail varnish I did have to apply three coats to get an opaque finish (two coats looked a bit streaky). Make sure the nail varnish is completely dry before moving on to the next step.

3.

With a two-way black nail art pen (I used the thin brush end), or you can just use a striping brush and any black nail varnish, I painted thick-ish stripes vertically down my nails. The thickness of the stripes will depend on how wide your nails are, and remember you need to leave a bit of space either side to do some dotting. I alternated whether the stripes were central or to one side to mix it up. On the original picture there are horizontal stripes at the tips but at the moment my nails are slightly rounded at the tips so I didn't think this would look as good but would look fine if you have square nails.

4.

The stripes don't really have to be dry to do this step so that's a bit of a time saver :)

Using nail art pens, or a dotting tool and coloured nail varnish, I created a row of dots either side of the black stripe. The colours I used were a pastel pink, pastel turquoise and a bright coral which I alternated down the row of dots. Now if your dots are larger than mine then you could always add a smaller dot of black or white inside it, but just make sure the first dot is 100% dry first.

5.

Make sure the black stripe is completely dry before doing this step.

Using a white nail art pen I painted zig-zags down the black stripe. As my white isn't very opaque I drew these fairly slowly letting the colour flow out the pen to create a thicker, more opaque line. This is just the way I prefer to do it but you could just as easily give the zig-zags two coats instead.

6.

Now using the white nail art pen again add dots between the zigs and zags (if you catch my drift!). Once again if you have room for larger dots than I have done then you can always add a smaller dot of colour in the middle of the white dots.

Once everything is totally dry (so as not to smudge your work) apply a generous amount of topcoat to prolong the design and add a beautiful shine :)

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial :)