Today’s tutorial is called Giddy in Green and has an overall fun, youthful feel. It is easy to do but a bit time-consuming. I have done a few other manicures like this (see tutorial #003) and get faster each time. This particular manicure took me about half an hour from start to finish.
The following items are what you’ll need to achieve this look:
– Sassy by Revlon
– First Mate by China Glaze
– Nicole by O.P.I.’s My Favorite Gold
– Lexington Yellow by NYC
– Silver nail studs
– Any kind of dotting tool (here I have used 12 gauge craft wire that has been cut to reveal flat, circular ends which are perfect for dotting)
– Tweezers (Pictured above is a tweezer/scoop combination that can be found at Michael’s or any other craft store. It is perfect for this manicure because not only can you pick up and place these small beads with ease, you can also use the back of the scoop to tap them which helps set them in place.)
– Q-tips and acetone for corrections (optional)
1.) Paint two coats of your base color and add a quick dry topcoat for optimal dry time.
2.) Take a glob of polish and place it on a piece of paper. Dip your dotting tool into the glob and try a few practice dots on the piece of paper before moving on to your nails. Place one dot at a time on your nails.
3.) Immediately after placing one dot of polish, use your tweezers to pick up a stud and place it in the middle of the dot. If it is not placed perfectly don’t worry. You can always use the tweezers to push it a little in one direction or another to achieve perfect placement. Be sure to do it while the polish is still wet though or else the stud will fall off easily.
4.) Clean your dotting tool off by dipping it in acetone and wiping it with a cotton swab or paper towel.
5.) Using two other colors of nail polish start placing more dots on each nail.
And there you have it! A manicure made of dots and studs in bright, playful colors. Be careful not to bump your nails into anything (use the bathroom before doing your manicure!) because the studs come off easily until they’ve finished setting. It also helps to add a topcoat to sort of seal them into place but this is optional. Be sure to wait to add the topcoat until everything else is dry though because the brush might drag a stud out of place. Fortunately this is easily fixable with tweezers but it might take some polish from your base coat and subsequently require doing the dot (or dots) over again.
Rookie Nails 