Materials I used:
Basecoat - SuperChic Lacquer 'Bring it On!'
Base polish - Milani 'Gold Glitz' (Dollar Store find)
Calligraphy pen and black ink
UberChic Beauty Uber Mat
Topcoat - SuperChic Lacquer 'Marvel'
I started off with two coats of my sparkly gold glitter polish. I wanted this design to be blingy yet mature and I thought this made the perfect base.
After practicing with both polish and acryclic paints and a small brush to try and create a paisley design, I got frustrated and switched to my calligraphy pen. Lately, this has been my go-to drawing tool because the ink is much like acrylic paint and I have much better control. Using my Uber Mat, I started with a generous layer of topcoat, which I let dry completely. I drew a couple of paisleys for each finger and filled in the voids with swirls and little things that look almost like commas.
For those of you who would like to see a brief video of me drawing this pattern, checkout my Instagram account.
Once, I was satisfied with my decals. I removed them from the mat using a pair of tweezers. I applied a layer of topcoat to my nail and placed the decal carefully on my nail. If you've made your decal too thin it will most likely tear and give you problems during placement, that is why I recommend using a generous layer or two thin layers of topcoat for your decal base. After carefully pressing the decal down, trim some of the excess decal away with cuticle scissors or nail clippers. Dissolve the remaining decal away using gentle acetone and a brush, don't forget to do this around the free end of your nail as well.
I topped this all off with a final layer of quick drying glossy topcoat. This is important to ensure that the decal is sealed down onto the nail, and it helps smooth out wrinkles that my occur during the application process.
For those of you who haven't tried calligraphy nail art, I highly recommend it. For those of you who have tried it and found its not your thing, but you also don't like using a paint brush, I recommend trying a gel pen to create this and similar nail art designs. I personally haven't tried gel pens yet but it is on my nail art bucket list. I have heard from many other nail artist that gel pens are really easy to work with. I'm curious, have any of you tried calligraphy or gel pens in your nail art yet? What did you think?
When I first started creating this nail art design, I didn't think I would be pleased with the final results. However, I love the way they turned out and I hope you do too. Thank you for stopping by, see you next time.
Your Fellow Plebe,
