NAIL ART TUTORIAL: SEEING SPOTS

Posted by polishyoupretty on 22/11/2011 · 5 Comments 

There are so many different ways to do leopard print nails, but we only like one way best – BRIGHT! Leopard print is a classic nail art design, it surfaces time after time and we never get bored with seeing it. It’s all about the colours combined with the thick black eye-catching pattern.  We love Essie nail polish – their flat, bold colours circa Spring 2010 & Resort 2010 are staples in our collections. This nail art is one that gets easier with practice, so if the first time you try it and it doesn’t look how you’d like, practice on pieces of paper till you get an outline style you can copy on your nails.

Step 1: After applying a base coat, paint nails with  Essie Lapis of Luxury. We find this colour a little on the thin side, so we used around 3-4 coats for full opacity. We used our accent colour Essie Tart Deco on the ring finger to break up the look.

Step 2: Once base colours have dried, using a dotting tool (or cut and filed toothpick) create dots/smudges on nails. The designs do not have to be perfect, different shapes make the design more interesting. Make sure to cover the full nail leaving some room in between shapes.

Step 3: Using a nail art brush, or Sally Hansen nail art pen create the outline for the leopard print. Don’t outline the full shape, leave sides open. Change up how much of the outline you cover – half, almost full, dragging it into the nail, etc. The best way is to create a “C” or “L” shape for the outline picking up the brush/pen along the way. Fill in the empty space with polka-dots or small black smudges.

We love the way bright contrasting colours look for this nail art. This busy print looks great with a plain outfit and is guaranteed to be a conversation starter. With a little practice, this design always looks quite impressive, when you really have a lot of room for error (no straight lines, symmetry, etc) Leopard print is a timeless design and can be used in so many variations – leopard print tips, leopard print crawling up the side of the nail, experimentation with colour.  Although we do love some Konad prints and nail strips, we prefer the look of free hand leopard print for a more unique interesting finish.

Filed under Tutorial · Tagged with bright, bright leopard print, Essie, lapis of luxury, leopard print, nail art, nail polish, nail tutorial, tart deco