Sunday, November 11, 2012

Veteran's Day Nails Tutorial

Happy Veterans Day! Today, I have Veteran's Day inspired nails with lots of pictures and a tutorial to go along with it! These could also be 4th of July nails.

I had a lot of fun doing this mani, I wasn't even sure what I was going to do except for on one nail when I started, and this is just kind of what happened! I'm very happy with how they turned out. And everyone else seems to love them too, as I've gotten lots of compliments on them so far today! Also a big thank you to Lindsey of Neverland Nail Blog for her tutorial of the Fan Brush Gradient used in this mani.  I came across her tutorial yesterday, so this was my first time ever attempting it!

Here are a couple pictures, the tutorial is below the jump as well as the list of polishes used and many more pictures and comparison pictures of indirect and direct sunlight since I used glitter and holo polish! 

Oh!  And pardon my lack of using a polish bottle in my pictures, I didn't take these pictures at home and forgot to take one of the polishes I used with me!  Also, my thumb is hard to see, but there is a picture of it below the jump!

Indirect sunlight


Direct sunlight

Direct Sunlight


Again, Happy Veteran's Day! I hope that everyone takes the time to really realize what today stands for and everything our veterans have gone through for our freedom! Don't forget to thank any/every veteran that you know today! Click the jump to continue reading and for the tutorial!

Now, for the tutorial, these nails were really very, very simple! Anyone can do them I'm sure with the right tools and any white, blue, and red polishes! Even though I used stamps, it isn't necessary. Those that know me know I'm really good at taking simple things and making them complicated but I'll try my best not to do that to you guys!

Indirect sunlight with flash


I apologize for the lack of picture in the tutorial but I originally wasn't planning on doing a tutorial.

You will need:
White polish
-Red (creme or jelly) and glitter polish
-Blue (cream or jelly) and glitter polish
-Holo glitter polish (or sliver glitter polish will work fine too)
-Fan brush
-Either a star stamping plate, dotting tool, or your choice of nail art brush
-Whatever you use for clean up (acetone, cotton balls, q-tips, brush..)

1.) Paint your pinky, middle, and index finger white with as many coats as you need for it to be opaque.

2.) Paint your ring finger red and your thumb blue. Allow base colors to dry completely before continuing.

3.) Ring finger and thumb: Using your blue glitter polish, paint one, semi-thin coat on your ring finger over the red and using your red glitter polish, paint one semi-thin coat on your thumb over the blue. Allow to dry completely.

Using your red glitter polish, paint one semi-thin coat on your ring finger over the blue glitter, you don't want to use too much polish or you won't be able to see the blue glitter sandwiched in between the reds.

Next, using your blue glitter polish, paint one semi-thin layer over the red glitter. Again, not too thick.

4.) Middle finger: Using your fan brush, follow Lindsey from Neverland Nail Blog's Fan Brush Gradient Tutorial, and fan on your red and blue. Click here for her tutorial.

5.) Index and pinky finger: This is where your mani can differ from mine depending on your tools. I used a my blue and stamped on my stars with my MASH plates using MASH-49.

If you don't have any stamping plates or don't have one with stars you can use a dotting tool and make blue dots, or use a nail art brush to make blue and/or red line. Whatever you want to do! Be creative!

After you get your stars, dots, stripes, or whatever down- use your holo or silver glitter and go over both nails with one coat. Don't lay it on too thick though, you don't want to take away from the stars underneath it!

6.) Throw on a top coat and wah-la! Done! Super easy and it looks great!!

I hope that was easy enough to understand! This is my second tutorial, but my first one doing different things for different fingers! I hope you ladies enjoyed it!

Also, if you don't have a dotting tool, you can always make your own using Alli from The Daily Varnish's DIY Dotting Tool. It's super easy and you most likely have all the items you need to make one right at home! Click here for her tutorial.

Direct Sunlight
Thumb
Left: Indirect sunlight
Right: Direct sunlight

Indirect sunlight

Direct sunlight
Top: Indirect sunlight
Bottom: Direct sunlight

Polishes used:
OPI Gone Gonzo!
OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It
OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls
L'oreal Now You Sea Me
L'oreal Caught Red Handed
China Glaze Fairy Dust
And of course, Seche Vite top and base coat.

What do you think of my Veteran's Day nails? Would/did you do them? Or did you do a mani for Veteran's Day? Was my tutorial easy to follow? Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated!  Until next time, happy polishing!

No comments:

Post a Comment