[Tutorial] Floral Chevron Nails

As you are probably aware, I have been inactive on both my blog and Instagram for quite awhile now. Over the past months I have had to deal with a couple of issues and decided to take a break from doing nail art designs. I am now ready to get back into it all with new tutorials and designs to come! 

Floral nails seem to always be my fall-back design as I feel they never fail to make your nails look highly sophisticated and impressive. I felt a bit adventurous and attempted to incorporate the floral look into a chevron design.

For this design you will need a white polish, a green polish and three shades of pink. From left to right, I used the colours OPI 'Alpine Snow', Ulta3 'Pale Dahlia', OPI 'Pink Friday', Sally Hansen 'Bubblegum Pink' and Sally Hansen 'Mint Sorbet'.

You will also need a couple of other nail art items. I used a dotting tool and thin paint brush to assist me with the flowers, however using a toothpick will also allow you to achieve the same effect. I also used striping tape, and two different sized pink gems (optional).

1. Apply a white polish onto your nail until opaque. I used 2 coats. Let this dry completely or apply a layer of fast drying top coat.
2. Cut two pieces of striping tape and place on the nail in a V shape.
3. Paint the lightest pink shade onto the tip of the nail, making sure you are careful not to go over the striping tape.
4. While the polish is still wet, peel off the striping tape.
5. Use a dotting tool or toothpick to dab on a few pink blobs. Use the medium pink.
6. Use a thin paint brush or toothpick to draw on small curved lines. Use the darkest pink.
7. Use a thin paint brush or toothpick to draw small green petals next to the flowers.
8. Finish off the design with a layer of top coat and place some pink gems along the V line created earlier.

This is such a simple design to achieve, yet it has the effect of making your nails look very sophisticated and pretty. I'd love to see any recreations of this design by tagging me @nailsbynikkih on Instagram!

[Tutorial] The Trend: Chevrons

The Trend

The chevron trend has become a popular design for nail artists in the recent years. A chevron design incorporates an inverted V-shaped pattern and may refer to a series of zigzag-like designs or simple V shaped designs. The best thing about this trend is that it looks highly sophisticated but is fairly simple to accomplish. It can be done alone, paired with other patterns and works well with any colours!

The Look

This is the design that can be achieved with the tutorial below. This chevron print uses a self-drawn and self-cut tape technique. There are also other ways of creating chevrons but I will do tutorials for these in future posts.

The Technique

The polishes I have used in this manicure are China Glaze ‘Flip Flop Fantasy’, China Glaze ‘I’m Not Lion’ and Seche Vite fast dry top coat. You will also need scissors, a pen and some tape.

Before you begin painting your nails at all, some preparation needs to be done. Use a pen to draw a zigzag pattern on some tape. I use masking tape because I find it does not rip as easily when it is cut. Continue drawing these zigzags parallel to the first one. Carefully cut out these ‘zigzag strips’ and place onto the edge of your table.

1)      Paint your nails a desired colour, until it is opaque.

2)      Place the ‘pre-cut zigzag strips’ onto the nail, leaving gaps the same width as the strips. Press these down firmly.

3)      Paint your nails a second colour until it is opaque.

4)      While the polish is wet, remove the tape immediately. 

You can repeat the chevron design on all your nails or mix and match with various patterns! On my pinky and index fingers I placed one of the zig zag tapes about 1/3 of the way down my nail and painted the gold at the tips only.

For a more clean and professional look, you can buy pinking shears which enable you to cut the zigzags without drawing them.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Also, be on the lookout for future posts on other chevron methods! 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Features and Suggestions

Suggestion #1: Go the black and white chevron! Pair this with some statement red and you have a fun and classy look!

These nails are by @graciezac on Instagram. You can also find her on http://itsallaboutthepolish.blogspot.com.au/

Suggestion #2: Combine the chevron design with 'watercolour nails'or gradients.

These nails are by @xxlovelauren on Instagram. You can find her on http://talesaboutnails.wordpress.com/