Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Flower and Dots Manicure

Two of my best friends, Thamires and Carolyn, visited last weekend. It was a whirlwind weekend of catching up, craft fair fun, and a birthday BBQ, but we had a bit of down time in the evenings. I commented on Thamires' cool flower pedicure, which she had just gotten done at a salon. Lucky for me and Carolyn, Thamires had been observant and offered to do her own version of a flower manicure for us. Carolyn opted for a flower on each finger, while I chose an accent nail and simpler dots on the rest.

Flower and Dots Manicure
Supplies
- Base & top coat (I use Seche Vite).
Color 1: Main accent nail color (thumb): I chose Essie "Beach Bum Blue" (light blue)
Color 2: Main polish color for other four nails: I chose Essie "Mod Square" (pink)
Color 3: Polish color for design on accent nail: I chose Essie "Aruba Blue" (dark blue)
- Toothpick (the kind with one round side and one pointy side will work best)
- A non-porous surface for use while working with the wet polish. My friend just used her fingernail (on her non-dominant hand) but obviously that won't work if you are doing the manicure on your own nails.
- Tissue or makeup remover pad.

Instructions
1. Apply a base coat to each nail. Let it dry.
2. Apply your two main nail colors (Colors 1 & 2). Add multiple coats if necessary. Let them dry.
3. Brush a little bit of Color 1 onto your non-porous surface.
4. Dip the rounded end of the toothpick into Color 1. Then press it onto your accent nail. This should form a circle, which will become one of the petals. Repeat this step to make a flower shape with five petals/circles.
5. Using the pointy end of the toothpick, press gently into the center of one of the circles/petals. Move in a straight line toward the center of the flower to form a tiny line. Repeat for each petal.
6. Dip the pointy end of the toothpick into Color 1 again and use it to lightly make a smaller dot near the flower. Repeat (but not too close) to form a pattern of dots along the nail.
7. Use the tissue/makeup-remover pad to wipe Color 1 off the toothpick.
8. Use the pointy end and Color 2 to form the dots on the other nails. Wipe off the toothpick.
9. Make sure your accent nail is dry. Use round end of the toothpick with Color 3 to form the center of the flower. Use the pointy end to add another dot next to/above each small dot on the accent nail.
10. Make sure everything is dry. Apply your top coat.

Tips
- Work carefully but quickly on the design. You may need to replenish your dipping surface a few times if the polish starts drying. Be careful as the polish can get stringy and hard to work with when it starts drying.
- When you wipe off the toothpick colors with the tissue/remover pad, it doesn't have to be spotless, just clean or dry enough that it won't mix with the other colors.

Thanks for the awesome nails and tutorial, Thamires!

15 comments:

  1. That is too cute Kelsea! Love it and love the colors:)

    Susie xox
    Even Sweeter Dreams

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Susanne! I picked my favorite color combo. =)

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  2. This is so pretty! I've been wanting to do a floral manicure so this is perfect, thanks :)

    xo Aubree

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope it turns out for you! I like that this one just uses really simple household items.

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  3. Cute, I like the idea of the dots around the cuticle. I haven't seen that before :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too! Totally my friend's idea. =)

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  4. Very cute! I've done polka dots, but never flowers. I might try that sometime :)

    ♥ Naomi {Starry Eyes + Coffee Cups}

    ReplyDelete
  5. SO CUTE ! :) I follow you <3
    Kisses

    http://sfaashions.blogspot.fr/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'll go check out your blog. =)

      Delete

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