Celebrity nail artist Pattie Yankee had a few tricks up her sleeve when designing these tattoos nails. First, she brought water decals (just like temporary tattoos for nails); second, she brought mineral makeup to create a fleshy colored backdrop to her design. See her method:
Step 1: Yankee began by prepping the model’s nails and then fitting them with tips.
Step 2: Next, she applied two coats of clear soak-off gel, curing after each.
Step 3: To achieve the perfect “fleshy” color to match the model’s skin tone, Yankee custom-blended mineral makeup powder with polish (a trick she’s used at Fashion Week).
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Step 4: She then applied two coats of her custom-blended polish to the nails.
Step 5: After the polish dried, Yankee played around with the different nail tattoos to figure out exactly where she wanted to place them.
Step 6: Just like temporary body tattoos, water is applied to the paper backing until the tattoo is released onto the nail. Yankee then used tweezers to perfect the design.
Step 7: Do a swipe of top coat, and these nails are completely “tatted up!”
Water decals like the one Pattie Yankee used can be purchased from select vendors of nail art products –for a list, click here.
Photography: Cory Sorensen
Makeup: Anthony Merante
Hair: Judd Minter
