Autumn Nail Tutorial
Because people inevitably ask HOW I did them... I documented the process.
First of all, before you consider painting your nails, you need to have a nice canvas to work with. I trim and file all my nails to similar lengths and shapes and push back all my cuticles. Some people will cut them, but since I was a kid I was told that's a fast way to infection, so I just push them back. Two minutes in a bowl of warm, soapy water will make them soft and easy to deal with (or you could just do it as part of your daily shower routine, which is what I do).
Now you're ready:
Step 1: Plan your polish. I wanted fall colors, so I went with red, orange, and yellow.
Step 2: Always, ALWAYS use a base coat. Preferably multiple coats. It will help your polish go on smoother later, and will also protect your nails so that when you remove the polish, your nails are clean and nice and not a sickly stained color.
Step 3: Apply your base color. I used bronze.
Step 4: Apply the yellow with a sponge. Don't worry about the tips, because that will be a different color.
Step 5: Apply orange next, again with a sponge.
Step 6: Next is red. Now you want to make sure your tips are covered well.
Step 7: Add red sparkles to the tips. It doesn't look like a huge difference, but it adds to the overall effect. Paint across the tip with clear polish and either dip into the sparkles or use a dry brush to dust it on. Make sure your color layers are all dry, first!
Step 8: Coat everything with gold sparkle polish. Again, not a huge difference, but it helps to blend everything together and give it some shine.
Step 9: Decorate!
It's hard to see, but here I drew a black flower and then went over it in gold paint (leaving just the edges bare) to soften it, and then added a red rhinestone to the center.
I decorated each nail differently.
Finished!
First of all, before you consider painting your nails, you need to have a nice canvas to work with. I trim and file all my nails to similar lengths and shapes and push back all my cuticles. Some people will cut them, but since I was a kid I was told that's a fast way to infection, so I just push them back. Two minutes in a bowl of warm, soapy water will make them soft and easy to deal with (or you could just do it as part of your daily shower routine, which is what I do).
Now you're ready:
Step 1: Plan your polish. I wanted fall colors, so I went with red, orange, and yellow.
Step 2: Always, ALWAYS use a base coat. Preferably multiple coats. It will help your polish go on smoother later, and will also protect your nails so that when you remove the polish, your nails are clean and nice and not a sickly stained color.
Step 3: Apply your base color. I used bronze.
Step 4: Apply the yellow with a sponge. Don't worry about the tips, because that will be a different color.
Step 5: Apply orange next, again with a sponge.
Step 6: Next is red. Now you want to make sure your tips are covered well.
Step 7: Add red sparkles to the tips. It doesn't look like a huge difference, but it adds to the overall effect. Paint across the tip with clear polish and either dip into the sparkles or use a dry brush to dust it on. Make sure your color layers are all dry, first!
Step 8: Coat everything with gold sparkle polish. Again, not a huge difference, but it helps to blend everything together and give it some shine.
Step 9: Decorate!
It's hard to see, but here I drew a black flower and then went over it in gold paint (leaving just the edges bare) to soften it, and then added a red rhinestone to the center.
I decorated each nail differently.
Finished!