nail art

I am a huge fan of nail art. I think it's the coolest thing ever. Whenever I get pedicures, I usually get a flower or design on my big toe. It's like an art form all its own.

Unfortunately, I'm not ambidextrous. And I'm really terrible at painting one color on my nails, let alone a design. So nail art is not my forte. But because I'm determined to have awesome nails, I went ahead and bought a dotting tool to start getting into it. And the only dotting tool they had at Sally's also had a detailing brush on the other end, and for $5, why not?

Sally Beauty Supply: $4.99 (regular $5.49)

Dotting end

Detailing brush end

Because tomorrow is the 4th of July, I decided to go patriotic with my nails again this year. But with the help of my handy new nail art tools, the result is much better than last year.

Last year

This year

Still not my greatest work, but I'll keep practicing. Last year, I made the stripes and dots using a nail art pen. Unfortunately  the pen was very insubordinate - it refused to paint opaquely enough half of the time, while the other half of the time, it spewed copious amounts of nail polish everywhere. Won't be doing that again.

Here are some tips to successfully do nail art:

• Make sure the base color is FULLY DRY before you attempt nail art. Base coat, two coats of color, and top coat should be used, and it should have absolutely no tackiness. I waited a fully day before attempting nail art. 


• Take your time. Don't rush, or it'll show. Make sure you have plenty of time to kill. 
• Don't apply a top coat for a while, even if the polish feels dry. This will cause it to run. I would wait about 30 minutes before applying the top coat.


• If something doesn't look quite right, don't stress. You can start over, but odds are, no one will notice but you!

What are some tips y'all have about nail art? Are you willing to try some fun patterns? Leave a comment!