How To - Floral Nail Designs

How To - Floral Nail Designs
  1. Start with white (or a light base colour) and cure for the recommended time. Light Elegance P+ Gel Polish Classic White is the perfect 2-coat coverage white.
  2. For this technique to work well, it’s a good idea to have a clean base. Apply a layer of matte top coat such as the Wildflowers Tack-Free Matte and cure for the recommended time (if you happen to use a top coat that is NOT tack free, be sure to thoroughly cleanse the inhibition layer with Creata Beauty Finish Wipe).
  3. Put a small amount of alcohol in a small container like the Americanails Dappen Dish. You will need a medium-length detail brush for this design – we recommend the Fuzion Detailer #2 or Ugly Duckling Detailer II.
  4. You can create your design using alcohol inks or gel. Aprés ArtInks come in a variety of colours and will air-dry, whereas gel colours will need to be cured (this is an advantage if you want to cure in between each step). We used Ugly Duckling Gel Polish to create the flower.
  5. If using gel, mix a small amount on a palette with alcohol to dilute it for a true watercolour effect. The Ugly Duckling Crystal Palette is ideal for this. Then, paint your petals! The shape of the petals should look like an upside-down almond. As you paint each petal, you will notice they will layer over each other semi-transparently, which is exactly what you want. Clean off your brush and blend lightly with alcohol if you feel it’s needed, leaving the edges of the petals crisp. There should be more colour towards the base of the petals with the tips more transparent.
  6. For the stem, add a small amount of black ink or diluted black gel to the base of the petals and blend it upwards. Then, paint a thin, curved line down from the flower. If you want to add leaves, they look best on opposite sides of the stem at different heights. The part of the leaf that connects to the stem should be very thin with the tip tapered to a point.
  7. If you used gel, fully cure your design and then apply your favourite top coat. This look is gorgeous matte but is just as beautiful with a glossy finish!