Tutorial Tuesday: Rose nail art!

I always like to paint my co-worker Jackie's nails because it helps to pass the time when it's slow at work.  We were originally going to do a different design which involved googly eyes (don't ask, you'll see soon enough) but we were unable to get to the craft store.  We improvised with the colors that were available, and decided on a simple rose mani!  

When choosing the colors for this mani, you can really use whatever you want.  Neons, neutrals, whatever!  There is no right or wrong, but certain color combinations look better than others.  Complementary colors are always good, you can even look on a color wheel.. (yes I'm a total nerd).  

How To Choose Colors For This Design:

The background should allow for the roses to stand out against it.  Try to avoid choosing a color that will clash & avoid anything that is too similar to the rose color.  There are 2 main colors for the roses.  Try to stick to the same color, just in 2 different shades.  I went with orange, because it's what I had with me.  The darker shade will be the base of the rose, and lighter shade for the accent.  There is also a highlight color for the roses, it can be any light color.  Typically, white is used for the highlight but I did not have white so I used beige.  You also have the option of using green for the leaves of the roses, but I didn't have green either so those were done in beige as well.

Suggested Materials:

ANY brand is fine, listed below are the ones used for this particular mani

• Base coat - Seche Clear

• Clear coat - Seche Vite

• Background color - Essie "Fiji"

• Base rose color - Essie "Ole Caliente"

• Accent rose color - Essie "Tart Deco"

• Rose highlight & leaf color - Essie "Sand Tropez" 

• Black nail art striper - Kiss Brush-On Nail Art Paint "Black"

• A clean, small paintbrush or cotton swabs, for cleaning the cuticles afterwards (optional)

• Nail polish remover (optional)

Before you begin painting your design:

These steps are optional, but definitely recommended!

• Put down some paper towels on your work area, in case of any spills. 

• Be sure to remove any old nail polish.

• Gently file nails into desired shape and remove any deep ridges with a buffer

• Push back cuticles with a cuticle pusher or orange wood stick and trim if desired.

• To make things easier to find (and because I'm super neurotic) I always set up my polishes in the order that they will be used.

• Apply a base coat to protect from potential staining from color polish; wait for it to dry completely.

Step 1:

Apply 2 coats of the base color and allow to dry.

Don't worry too much about being super neat, you can remove excess polish from your cuticles later.

**It is important to allow all polish to dry before applying a different one over it, otherwise the colors will bleed.**

Step 2:

Using the base rose color, begin to make medium-sized circular shapes on the nail.  

These do not have to be perfect!  

They tend to look better when they are slightly imperfect and varied.  

Try not to keep too much polish on the brush.  

You don't want the color to accidentally drip on the nail in a spot that doesn't look good.  

Wait for the color to dry.

Step 3:

Using the accent rose color, make smaller circular shapes in the middle of the base rose color.

Same rules as before, don't worry about it being perfect & allow to fully dry.

Step 4:

Apply the highlight color in very small circle in the center of the accent rose color.  

I also used this color as the leaf color, but as I mentioned earlier, green is fine if you have it! 

Let the highlight/leaf color dry.

Step 5:

Using the black nail art striper, begin to outline the roses.

Small curved lines tend to work best.

Step 6:

Once the outline is done, begin drawing small curved lines in the center of the flower to create a "petal" effect.  

These do not have to be perfect, I just put random lines.

At this point, you can also outline the leaves using small imperfect V-shapes.

Step 7:

This final step is completely optional, but it will really help to achieve a neat & clean looking mani.

You can use either a small paintbrush or cotton swab, dip it in nail polish remover, and use it to remove any excess polish on your cuticles and skin.

Be careful not to use too much remover, otherwise you will risk ruining your design.

If you opt for the brush, be sure to use brushstrokes in the same direction; don't "swish" the brush around because it tends to spread excess polish around rather than remove it.

After finishing off the mani with a coat of Seche Vite topcoat..

Here's the final product :) 

This was my first tutorial so I hope it was helpful!

If you were inspired by this mani, please let me know and I'll feature a photo of it :)

For all Tutorials click here