Editor’s note: With heavy hearts, we bid farewell to Amanda Lenher, who lost her battle with cancer in August. She was a shining light in the nail industry and the designer of these nail art looks. Her fearless attitude, great talent and warm hugs will be sorely missed.
Amanda Lenher
Put clients at the head of the class with back-to-school nail art. Here, nail art Amanda Lenher shows how to execute three looks. “This look is based on all of the things I wanted when I was in school: new shoes, colored pencils, A+s and #2 pencils—the sharper, the better!”
back to school nails
1. Apply gel base coat, followed by two coats of white gel, curing after each.
2. Use a striping brush to paint thin horizontal lines across the nail with blue gel polish, then flash cure.
3. Paint a thin vertical line along the left side of the nail with red gel polish, and cure. Next, use a detail brush to paint an “A+” with black gel polish and cure. To finish, apply gel top coat and cure.
back to school nails
1. Apply gel base coat, followed by two coats of blue gel polish, curing after each. Next, use a detail brush to paint an arc at the free edge with white gel polish; fill in the area and cure.
2. Use a dotting tool to paint dots along the left and right side of the nail with white gel polish. Cure.
3. Use a striping brush to paint thin crisscross lines between the two sets of dots with white gel polish. Cure.
4. Use a smaller dotting tool to paint black dots over the white dots and cure. Paint an arc in the center of the white at the free edge with black gel polish and cure. To finish, apply gel top coat and cure.
1. Apply gel base coat, followed by two coats of white gel polish, curing after each. Next, apply one coat of sheer yellow gel polish to ²/³ of the nail and cure.
2. Use a striping brush to paint evenly spaced vertical lines within the yellow gel polish with orange gel polish. Cure.
3. Paint a black zigzag line across the space where the yellow and white gel polish meet. Cure. Next, paint a black triangle at the free edge, fill it in and cure. To finish, apply gel top coat and cure.
What’s your favorite back to school nail art design? Let us know in the comments below!
This article was first published in the September 2017 issue of NAILPRO.
[Images: photography by Jason Bennett]
