All you need for this nail art is:
Cotton Buds
Acetone - You can get acetone from most beauty supply stores and most pharmacies. I did try this with nail polish remover but it wasn't as effective. You can also use polish thinner, but that could get pricey as you need to use a fair amount.
A white nail polish for your base
Top coat
Start by painting all of your nails white, or another very light shade and letting it dry. Using a light base will make the colours much more vibrant when you add them over the top.
This is the important part! Lay out some nail polish on a sheet of plastic or foil and pour out some acetone. If you don't have a suitable container, just use the lid of the bottle.
Touch a cotton bud to the surface of the acetone and let it soak up in to the cotton.
Start thinning out the polish using the acetone soaked cotton bud by working it in a circular motion.
When you're happy with the consistency, blot the cotton bud randomly on to your nail. I like to start with the darkest colour and work my way towards the lightest.
And the third! If you want to get the colour right up to the edges of your nails, it will start pooling in your cuticles. Don't worry about it too much yet, it can easily be cleaned up when you're do
Because the layers of colour are so thin, you can keep adding colours until you're happy. Just make sure you give it time to dry in between colours otherwise the acetone can start removing the layers underneath.
Once you're finished, add a top coat and wait for everything to dry. Clean up around the edges using a
clean-up brush and you're done!
A few tips
- Your cotton bud should be saturated with acetone, but not dripping with it!
- If at any point your cotton bud starts deteriorating - stray fibres etc - just pick up a new one.
- If any little bits of cotton
do get on to your nail, you can remove them with a pair of tweezers.
I want to see your take on this technique so I'd love if you tag
#looknailasaurus if you post your mani on Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr!
Polling for Life Style & Fashion Competition Nov 2013
