Since we are all bored and stressed at home, why not turn to nail art as a great creative outlet to have fun with? Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t require specialised tools or brushes. If you have a bunch of nail paints lying around, you can easily play with them to create some easy nail art. All you need is some scotch tape, a steady hand and focus.
So, here’s our easy DIY guide to creating five arty nail looks at home in the simplest possible ways.
1.Try this half-and-half look with a nail polish that has large glitter particles
Not all nail art requires stencils. This one can easily be done with a free hand provided you have the products. Start by painting the entire nail in one colour—preferably something which has muted, pastel tones like this pink.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
Then, take a nail topper in a shade similar to the pastel you picked, and make sure this topper has large glitter particles, like stars or hearts. A lot of brands make these, and you can even get them from nameless, generic, local nail paint companies found in small beauty shops. Basically, these have coloured glitter suspended in a clear polish, so they don’t add colour to a look.
Here, we used a soft rose nail polish from Kiko Milano, with a baby pink nail topper from Innisfree. Whichever paint you use, apply this glitter top coat vertically on only half of the nail. That’s it, your “nail art” is done!
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
2.Channel your inner vamp-y mermaid with this horizontal party manicure
Use shades of sea green and purple together for a mermaid-inspired nail look. For the look we created, start with scotch tape and use it to block off sections of the nail as shown below. Make sure you use tape which is not too sticky because brown tape or electrical tape can leave a lot of glue residue, making it hard to paint over them.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
After that, apply a dark purple nail polish to the centre where there is an empty space. Then, remove the tape and apply dark teal glitter nail paint to the top and bottom sections. Finish with a clear top coat once all three sections are dry. Your dark and vamp-y mermaid nail look should look like this.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
3.Go for a Barbie-esque look with this pink-on-pink nail look
This half-and-half look is really easy. First, use tape to divide your nail into two halves by blocking off the top with scotch tape. Now, paint over the bottom part of the nail as shown below using a pink nail polish.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
Now, remove the tape. Along the border of the pink you applied previously, apply a glitter nail polish in the same colour as the nail paint using horizontal strokes. We recommend using horizontal strokes because that makes it easier to paint within the lines. It’s also important to remember that the glitter polish you choose shouldn’t be in the exact same shade of the pink applied, and should be lighter for a better contrast.
Once both sections are dry, apply a coat of clear nail polish as a top coat.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
4.Use multiple shades of the same colour for this nail look
Another free-hand nail look, this one can be done with any set of colours. You can use three shades of pink, several shades of candy hues, some sweet purple and mint tones—whatever works well together and looks like a colour ‘family’.
We chose three shades of orange-reds—starting with a bright, light orange, then using a vermilion, and finally a scarlet.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
To create the nail look, we applied one stroke of the lightest shade vertically to the right, leaving the bottom one-third of the nail clear. Then, we applied one stroke of the second-lightest, vermilion shade, leaving two-thirds of the nail clear from the bottom.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
Finally, we applied the scarlet hue to the top one-third of the nail. Once all three sections dried, we finished with a clear top coat.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
5.Create this neutral-glam geometric nail art with scotch tape
It’s not very difficult to create a geometric nail look like the ones you see on Pinterest and Instagram. All you need is tape, and a bunch of neutral nail polishes in nude and champagne shades.
For this look, start by cutting scotch tape into a triangle. Take one more portion and cut it diagonally in half. Paste them on the nail as shown below.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
Now, using the darker nude nail paint, paint over the empty portion, as shown below.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
Follow this by removing the triangular piece of tape on top. Paint this part with a champagne or rose-gold glitter, or metallic nail polish as demonstrated below.
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
Once that’s done, finish by applying a pale nude nail polish to the last corner which was covered with tape. Add a clear top coat once all three sections are dry. Your nail look is ready!
Image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
Which look is your favourite and which one are you dying to try?
Lead image credit: Stuti Bhattacharya
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