Thursday 24 April 2014

NAILS NAILS NAILS: How to create a two toned manicure

Until a few days ago I had never even considered dipping into the world of nail art, mainly because I have incredibly shaky hands - simply painting my nails can be a struggle! So I knew I had no hope of ever perfecting the art of free-hand nail art.

However, I then read an online Cosmo article based around simple ways to perfect nail designs, such as the two toned manicure - eek!

 


Please note that these still require a little perfecting!

To produce a two toned manicure you will need:

A light coloured nail polish
A darker coloured polish
A base/top coat polish
A role of selotape - yeah that's right, selotape!

Instructions:

1. Begin by soaking nails in warm water to soften the cuticles.

2. Cleanse nails with nail varnish remover, even if already free of nail varnish.

3. Paint nails with your chosen base coat - I always use Barry M's all-in-one basecoat, topcoat and nail hardener, available to buy here.

4. Once the base coat has dried, fully paint all nails in the lighter coloured polish. For this I chose to use Barry M Gelly in Dragon Fruit, available to buy here. (It is up to you how many coats of nail polish you use, I personally always use two!)

5. Once the first colour polish is dry, wait around two hours just to make sure it is fully set and then you can continue.

6. Choose the design you want, either diagonal as I did, or straight down the middle, or if you are feeling adventurous you could attempt a triangular design in the centre of each nail - it's totally up to you!

7. Cut small pieces of selotape of the role and begin positioning them on your nails, the idea is to cover the area you don't want to paint. For example, for a diagonal design, place the edge of the selotape diagonally down the nail, covering one half and leaving the other half uncovered.

8. Then take the darker coloured polish, (I chose to use Rimmel's Lasting Finish Double Decker Red, available to buy here) and paint over the entire nail, including the selotape.

9. Once you are sure the nails are dry, gently remove the selotape from your nails and you should have a two tone nail design, as shown in the picture above.

10. Top nails with a topcoat and voila, your two toned manicure is complete!











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