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How To - Nail Art with Paint

Firstly, prepare yourself for a long post. Grab a cuppa, a kitkat and get yourself cosy, How To: Nail Art with Paint 101 is in session!

I love creating detailed nail art. It is very time consuming and therapeutic for me but you have to be prepared to put the time in to these little masterpieces. Anything from flowers to martians can take up to 2hrs but its so worth it in the end. Usually around half way through when I've gone wrong for the umpteenth time and want to give up I must remind myself that pushing on in true English bulldog spirit will get me there in the end. That and lots of tea (sponsored by PG - not officially but I should be!).

Sometimes pictures you see, things people say or the name of polishes can inspire these little works of art. You never know when the inspiration may hit, I have a massive list on the 'notes' app on my phone of all the great nail art ideas I get. I also screen snap others manis or pictures and store them in a separate album on my phone because my liked photos feed on IG tends to move quickly, it also can't store screen snaps/photos from any other page that I look at or photos I take while out.

My equipment:

Brushes
I use a variety of brushes, all bought off eBay. I tend to trim them down myself using nail clippers so they're thin and short. However the length of a brush and it's thickness depends on what you are going to create and also how you work. Practise on nail wheels but always give it a go. You'll never know what you can do until you try ... believe me time, patience and practise will see you right in the end. I have these brushes set 1set 2 and lots of others which I find cheap and randomly by.


Paint
I know a lot of people pride themselves on creating nail art using only nail polish, but honestly, as a medium it is incredibly difficult to work with when you want to create detail. I have found using acrylic art type paint so much easier. Plus you can quickly wipe away mistakes without ruining your base polish. I use Docrafts All Purpose Acrylic Paint that I buy from The Range. Each little pot costs around £1.25 but because you only use tiny quantities they will last for years. Plus if you buy the main primary colours and lots of white you can easily mix up your own colours.



Clean-up
Acetone is a must have in any nail artists arsenal. I buy mine from the Poundshop for .... well for £1 and a bottle will maybe last me a month. I use an old wine bottle, bottle cap as a storage for my acetone while working. It's a very volatile liquid so will evaporate incredibly quickly so I tend to only tip out tiny amounts when I need it and then cover it with a cotton pad when I am painting.


Other
My trusty old gift cards are the site for my paint storage/mixing. These can then easily be put in the washing up bowl at the end of your round of washing up to clean. However I may invest in one of these posh paint palettes! Haha.


Lastly have faith in yourself and give it a go. Doubting yourself will only stop you from creating. It's so easy to stick to our comfort zone, but sometimes the most exciting and interesting things happen when we venture out!

My first detailed nail art using paint:
Seriously, this fish was a huge surprise for me and it took me about 3.5hrs! I was so proud I sent a picture of it in a text to my mum, haha!


Other detailed nail art using paint.


Any questions or queries please feel free to ask. Let me know if you create anything after reading this!

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