| |
Art Gallery showcases the nail art of some of the best artists in the industry. Every month, the column features four to six nail art designs created by one or more of our readers with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions. The nail art usually follows a theme for an upcoming holiday or season and depicts that theme in creative, easy to replicate designs. The column also provides promotional tips to help readers make the most of their nail art business.
Nailpro is actively seeking nail art submissions, so send in your best examples today. If your art is chosen, we'll pay you $25 per nail and you'll be featured in an upcoming issue. Package nails securely, using bubble wrap, a padded box or cotton, and send by snailmail to: Nailpro, 7628 Densmore Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91406, Attn.: Art Gallery. Don't forget to include your name, address and phone number! |
|
Clear as Can Be
Nail art designs receive a cool twist when done on clear enhancements.
By Karie L. Frost
|
Art needs a canvas, right? And your canvas is the nail. Usually, your canvas flickers red, pops coral or shines pearly pink and white. But do you ever work on a transparent canvas? Clearly, if you haven’t thought of using clear tips or sculpting crystal-clear nails to function as your canvas for imaginative nail art, now may be the time to start. A design painted on top of a see-through nail tends to appear as though it’s floating in the air. All of the designs you normally create on polished nails can be done on clear nails—opening the door for yet another creative nail art option you can offer your clients.
|
|
Crystalline Flowers
Sheryl Macauley,
Bakersfield, CA |
 Step 1
Apply a clear tip or sculpt a clear enhancement. Polish the nail bed beige as though you’re painting a French manicure. Leave the tip clear. Allow the polish to dry.
|
 Step 2
Using white, paint flowers on the tip and nail bed. Paint white leaves around the flowers. Allow the design to dry.
|
 Step 3
Dab a small drop of top coat at the center of each flower. Apply a white rhinestone to the flowers’ centers. Allow the top coat to dry. Apply a final coat of top coat to the entire nail to encase the rhinestones.
|
Average Time: 5 minutes per nail.
Suggested Price: $3 per nail. |
|
Translucent Beauty
Dawn Clark,
New Smyrna Beach, FL |
 Step 1
Apply a clear tip or sculpt a clear enhancement. Using sheer, pearly pink polish, swipe a wash of color down the center of the nail with one stroke. With a second stroke, repeat the motion ending at the sidewall. Allow the polish to dry.
|
 Step 2
Using white paint, create a flower at the tip of the nail and a flower near the cuticle area.
|
 Step 3
While the white paint is wet, brush orange paint in the middle of some of the white petals. Allow the design to dry.
|
 Step 4
Put a dot of red paint at the center of each flower. Highlight the red dot with white paint. Use a few swipes of gold glitter top coat in the middle of the nail. Allow the design to dry and apply top coat.
|
Average Time: 5 minutes per nail.
Suggested Price: $3 per nail. |
|
|
Autumn Leaves on a Clear Day
Stacey Oliver,
Schaumburg, IL |
 Step 1
Apply a clear tip or sculpt a clear enhancement. Double-load your nail art brush with fuchsia and yellow paint. Create one long, diagonal cylinder at the tip by swishing your brush in a circle. Create another cylinder that begins at the sidewall and ends halfway down the nail using the same technique. Allow the design to dry. |
 Step 2
Double-load your nail art brush with the same colors and create three leaves. Allow the design to dry. |
 Step 3
Using yellow, create dotted wisps along the edges of the leaves. Allow the design to dry and apply top coat.
|
Average Time: 5 minutes per nail.
Suggested Price: $3 per nail. |
|
Clearly Modern
Sheryl Macauley,
Bakersfield, CA
|
 Step 1
Apply a clear tip or sculpt a clear enhancement. Polish the nail bed beige as though you’re painting a French manicure. Leave the tip clear. Allow the polish to dry. |
 Step 2
Paint a bright pink stripe along the smile line. |
 Step 3
Paint the tip of the nail teal, leaving a 1/8-inch space between the pink smile line and the teal tip. Allow the design to dry.
|
 Step 4
Dab top coat onto the clear portion of the nail and at the nail’s tip. Apply three rhinestones, evenly spaced out, on the clear portion of the nail, and one rhinestone at the tip of the nail. Allow the top coat to dry. Apply top coat to the entire nail.
|
Average Time: 5 minutes per nail.
Suggested Price: $3 per nail. |
|
Brush Up
When painting a sample design on a clear tip, it’s difficult to get a clear idea of what the design will look like once it’s actually on the nail bed. To alleviate this problem, paint the nail bed area of a clear tip using a skin-tone-colored polish. Let it dry and then paint your design. This will give you and your clients a better idea of what the finished product will look like. |
| |
Karie Frost is Nailpro’s managing editor. |
| |
|
