April showers bring May flowers — perfect to give to the mom in your life! May is the month of mothers: the providers, supporters, hard-workers and so much more! We can't think of a better way to show love to the mother-figures in your life than a gorgeous manicure! To make sure she gets the nails she deserves this Mother's Day, Sandy Cox (@nailslians), owner of Lian's Nails in Paradise, CA and winner of first and second place of the Tip and Overlay and Nature-inspired Gel Design competitions, respectively, at the Nailpro Master Challenge 2023, shares three tutorials only a mother could love!
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April showers bring May flowers — perfect to give to the mom in your life! May is the month of mothers: the providers, supporters, hard-workers and so much more! We can't think of a better way to show love to the mother-figures in your life than a gorgeous manicure! To make sure she gets the nails she deserves this Mother's Day, Sandy Cox (@nailslians), owner of Lian's Nails in Paradise, CA and winner of first and second place of the Tip and Overlay and Nature-inspired Gel Design competitions, respectively, at the Nailpro Master Challenge 2023, shares three tutorials only a mother could love!
Roses for Mom
The rose signifies affection and love, the depth of this effect further illustrates the profoundness of love between a mother and child.
The rose signifies affection and love, the depth of this effect further illustrates the profoundness of love between a mother and child.
- Apply two coats of black gel as a base coat, and cure using a UV lamp.
- Apply a matte finish top coat, and cure for 35 seconds.
- Using a flame brush for 3D art, take up white and black painting gel on each side of the brush. In one stroke, paint a small flower petal in the shape of a half-moon. Do not cure.
- Take up the same amount of black and white painting gel, and paint another small half-moon petal opposite the first one. Do not cure yet.
- Take up a bit more black and white painting gel, and paint a larger half-moon petal perpendicular to the first two on the right side, slightly overlapping the first two. Do not cure yet.
- Somewhat offset to directly across from the last petal, draw another slightly larger overlapping half-moon petal using a bit more black and white painting gel. Do not cure yet.
- Take up more black and white painting gel, and draw another larger overlapping petal over the lower left quadrant. Do not cure yet.
- Take up more black and white painting gel, and draw another larger overlapping petal over the right half of the nail, twisting slightly to giving a 3D definition to the petal. Do not cure yet.
- Continue filling the space of the nail with increasingly larger half-moon shaped petals, contorting the brush at differing angles each time until most of the nail canvas is occupied. Cure for 35 seconds.
- Using white painting gel, delineate each petal on the inside contour to give a 3-dimensional effect. Cure for 35 seconds.
- Apply silver glitter polish to the base and tip of the nail where the black base remains to accent the rose. Cure for 35 seconds, then dust off the excess glitter.
- Using a translucid deep red gel polish, apply one coat to the entire nail, and cure for 35 seconds.
- Using a wax pencil and nail glue, apply one large rhinestone to the left base of the nail and two smaller rhinestones on opposite ends. Apply top coat, and cure for 35 seconds.
Unconditional Love
The tulip symbolizes unconditional and perfect love, the kind you can only get from your mama.
The tulip symbolizes unconditional and perfect love, the kind you can only get from your mama.
- Apply two coats of light pink gel as a base coat, and cure for 35 seconds using a UV lamp.
- Using light gray gel polish, paint the tip of the nail, and blur upward using an ombre brush. Cure for 35 seconds.
- Apply a top coat, and cure for 35 seconds. Then, apply an aurora pigment to the entire surface of the nail using a makeup sponge. Dust off the excess pigment.
- Using black painting gel, draw a flower stem by tracing a deformed line and two shoots moving upward from the center of the main line. Do not cure.
- Using red and white painting gel and a thin delineating brush, first draw a red petal emerging from the left of the stem in the form of an inverted teardrop, then highlight in white the lower contours of the petal. Do not cure yet.
- Using the same method, draw a second longer petal emerging from the center of the stem. Do not cure yet.
- Using the same method, draw a third petal mirroring the first, emerging from the right of the stem. Do not cure yet.
- Using your black painting gel, draw the silhouette of a tulip hip. Then, draw another smaller budding flower emerging from the lower shoot of the stem using your red and white painting gel. Do not cure yet.
- Using your black painting gel, draw the silhouette of a thinner tulip hip on the second flower. Do not cure yet.
- Using your black painting gel, draw a leaf silhouette emerging from each of the three shoots of the stem in random locations. Cure for 35 seconds.
- Apply one large rhinestone and three tiny silver beads to the tip of the nail over the base of the stem on each opposing end using a wax pencil and nail glue. Then, apply a matte finish top coat, and cure for 35 seconds.
- Apply a glass top coat to the rhinestones to seal them in, and cure for 35 seconds.
My Queen
The queen of everyone’s world can only be mama!
The queen of everyone’s world can only be mama!
- Apply two coats of black gel as a base coat, and cure using a UV lamp. Then, apply a glass top coat, and cure for 35 seconds.
- Apply a gold chrome pigment to the entire nail using a makeup sponge. Dust off the excess pigment.
- Using white painting gel, draw a large capitol ‘M’ in the font of your preference. Do not cure.
- Draw a lower case ‘O’ using the same font and color. Do not cure yet.
- Draw a lower case ‘M’ using the same font and color. Do not cure.
- Sprinkle white glitter over the wet gel letters. Cure for 35 seconds, and then dust off the excess glitter.
- Using a thin delineating brush, paint the base and points of a crown above the ‘O’ with a light pink gel. Do not cure.
- Connect the top point of your crown to the base in a triangular fashion. Do not cure yet.
- Connect the other two points of your crown to the base in a triangular fashion. Do not cure.
- Sprinkle white glitter over the crown. Cure for 35 seconds, and dust off the excess glitter.
- Using a thin delineating brush, draw a curved line using white painting gel to underline Mom, starting at the tip and thinning out toward the base of the nail. Cure for 35 seconds.
- Using a wax pencil and nail glue, apply seven small rhinestones to the nail: five on the crown, at each crest and valley of the three-point figure and one above each ‘M’.
