We’re here to guide you through the coronavirus lockdown. Sign up to the Life newsletter for daily tips, advice, how-tos and escapism.
Lockdown may have given us more time than usual to do our nails, but that doesn’t mean we’ve become pro technicians over night. If, like me, you find block colour difficult enough, nail art can feel like a recipe for smudges.
But Maddy Ayers (@MaadNails), a nail artist who works at ISLA Berlin, says getting creative with a home manicure doesn’t have to be complicated. So, she’s given us the step-by-step instructions for three simple designs, chosen with the artistically challenged in mind.
You shouldn’t need to buy any new tools, providing you have a bobby pin and some nail varnish at home. And if the end result still fails, at least it’s give you an evening of entertainment. Now is the time to experiment!
Daisies All Day
This design is perfect for summer and if you lack the patience for multiple flowers (same), it works just as well with one flower per nail.
Apply a thin layer of base coat
Using a bobby pin and small amount of white polish (or whatever you have!), make five dots in a circle to make your flower. Try not to let the dots touch! Repeat all over the nail, or just have one flower per nail, as you like
With your bobby pin, add a yellow dot in the centre of each flower
Finish with a layer of glossy top coat (Seche Vite is the best), making sure to cap the ends.
Perfect Polka Dots
Inspired by the style of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, the spots in this design can be any colour you wish, although striking yellow and black is popular. The lines aren’t meant to be perfectly straight, which is ideal for nail art novices.
Apply a thin layer of base coat
Add two coats of bright yellow
With your bobby pin and black polish, draw a wavy line of large dots down the middle of the nail
Following the same curve, add lines of smaller dots until the each nail is full
Clean up the edges using a make up brush dipped in polish remover
Finish off with a layer of shiny top coat.
Holy Cow! What Great Nails
This design really is fool-proof because the blobs look better when they’re all different sizes. White and black nail varnish gives the full, fun farm effect, but you can use the technique with any two contrasting colours.
Apply a thin layer of base coat
Paint on two coats of white (alternatively bright and pastel colours also work well for this)
Add patches of black of varied sizes to each nail. These should be uneven shapes and every nail different from the last. You could also do this with a nail art brush, or make your own by taking an old polish brush and trimming of most of the hairs
Add a top coat, both glossy and matte look great with cow print.