So many people love decorating their nails but are unsure where to start. Hopefully this guide will give you some ideas. There are so many different products you can use, so let's have a look at some of them:

Always use a nail art top coat to finish and protect your masterpieces and not a fast dry top coat, because a lot of fast dry top coats strip the colours of the materials you are using.

Glitter needs to be micro fine and colour fast. If you are doing acrylic nails you can add the glitter into clear acrylic and with gel nails sprinkle glitter in between coats (but remember to wipe off the nail thoroughly with Cleanser Plus before applying the next coat of gel). Glitter is also used onto of a polished nail and the easiest way to apply it is to use nail art adhesive. Buy some good quality nail art brushes, using a striping brush, dip it into the nail art adhesive and draw some designs, let the adhesive dry thoroughly, but don't touch it, then sprinkle glitter onto it, using a soft brush , brush off the excess glitter, then you can do more designs in a different colour and so on. When you have finished, the most important part is to remove any excess glitter and by doing this it will stop small grains of glitter being caught in the top coat you use to finish off and protect your art work.

Different Types of Glitters: Mylar. Flitterz, Dotz, Diamondz and all these create different effects. The mylar has a holographic effect and throws different colours and can change colour depending on the background colour behind it. All these glitters are easily added into acylic or gel and also placed on the nail with tacky nail polish and a good couple of top coat coats over the top.

This is very popular. We recommend using good quality nail airbrush paints. Stencils are available with hundreds of different designs. Make sure your compressor is strong enough to do the job - 1.8hp is good. The thing with airbrushing is PRACTICE... you need to get to know your airbrush and how much paint to use, do you need to water the paint down, can you mix colours and how to hold the airbrush, but the end result is usually well worth the effort.

There are many types available. The best ones are Swarovski Crystals and these are available in many sizes, the most popular being 1.8 - 2mm for nail art. The Swarovski's will always keep their sparkle in comparison to acrylic rhinestones which lose some of the sparkles when top coat is applied. Rhinestones are available in a myriad of shapes and sizes and very easy to apply. The quickest way is to apply them to tacky nail plosh, use a toothpick moistened at one end to pick the stone up and then place it on the nail. With rhinestones you can use the different shapes available to create many different designs.

Foils are fantastic and easy to use. You can use them on top of a polished nail with nail art adhesive or use them in gel applications without nail art adhesive and then finish with a gel top coat. Use the nail art adhesive in the same manner as glitter, press the foil down with the design side up and then pull away. Finish with a nail art top coat.

             

 

You can create hand painted designs using small brushes or use the larger brushes to create designs. A feather brush dipped in acrylic paint and then dragged across the nail creates amazing effects. When painting, always wipe off the excess before you apply it to the nail.

 

Can be messy but well worth the effort. Start with a small dappen dish with water in it. Use good quality nail polish, dribble one colour in, then another colour of top of that, then a third colour on top of that, then using a Marbelling and Dotting Tool , drag the point through the nail polish and you will see the design start to take effect. Then place your nail onto the design (your nail needs to be face down onto the nail polish), let sit and with a cotton bud wipe around the nail while it is still in the mix, this is to drag up the excess nail polish and pull the design on teh nail to eliminate water bubbles. When you lift your nail you will have excess polish around the cuticles and finger area - don't touch it, let it dry and then with non acetone nail polish remover and a cotton bud, clean it off when it has dried. This technique is also used for doing tips, just adhere the tip to a cuticle stick and dip in the same way.

Art On Nail Colour Concentrates

This is a fantastic product which enables you to colour both acrylic and gel. A couple of drops into your monomer will give you coloured acrylic and same with your gel - mix in a couple of drops. Use it with clear powder or gel and you get a translucent look, use it with white and you get an opaque look. With this product you can mix colours together to make even more colours.

                      

We have 12 colours available, Nail Art Pens come with a striping brush and nib so you can create very fine details work. They are nail polish and easy to use.

There are so many more products available for nail art:

3D Ceramic Flowers - easiest way to apply is with nail glue to a polished nail

Spangles - little hologram shapes available in different colours

Bullion - micro glass beads, usually applied using nail art adhesive to the top of the nail.

Decals - either stick on, rhinestone, 3D or water decals.

Laser Strands - applied to tacky nail polish or use nail art adhesive, use nippers to cut the strand just before the edge of the nail, this will help stop the strand lifting which it will do if it hangs over the edge of the nail.

Striping Tape - available in a wide range of colours, again just with nippers before the edge of the nail to stop lifting. Striping tapes comes in 2 widths 1/68" and 3/68" and generally there is about 30 feet on each roll.

 

REMEMBER: YOU ONLY LIMITED BY YOUR IMAGINATION