Guest Post: Lilac Flower Nail Art Tutorial

Today I have a fantastic new beauty blogger to introduce to you.  Laura from BeautyBestFriend has kindly agreed to write a guest tutorial for me making nail art look easy and extremely accessible, so thanks very much Laura! As I said, Laura is new to the blogging world but she’s already written some great posts, so please head over to her blog and show it some love. 

Hello, I am Laura from new blog www.BeautyBestFriend.com. Here is my simple step-by-step guide to creating this pretty Lilac Flower Nail Art.

Here is the kit that you will need:

A matt coloured nail polish – I used Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Prickly Pear

A glitter coloured nail polish – I used Barry M Nail Paint in Silver Multi Glitter

A clear top coat nail polish – I used Chanel Extreme Shine Nail Lacquer

A selection of nail gems (one for each nail)

A wooden stick

Masking tape

A small craft punch

Paint the nail on your ring finger (the finger next to your little finger) with 2 coats of the glitter polish. Paint your remaining nails with the matt coloured nail polish. You must now allow the nails to dry thoroughly.

Once the polish on your nails is completely dry take a small piece of masking tape and, using the craft punch, punch out your desired shape. Be careful as you remove the tape from the punch as it may stick to it.

Position the masking tape over the nail on your ring finger ensuring that the punched-out shape is in the centre of the nail, then press it down gently until it is stuck down with no air bubbles.

Paint a thick coat of the matt coloured nail polish over the masking tape, just over the section where the shape is.

Before the polish has time to start drying carefully and slowly peel the masking tape away from the nail, leaving your chosen shape painted in the matt coloured polish on the nail.

This is what your nails will now look like close up. Allow the painted shape to dry.

Now it’s time to add the nail gem. Apply a tiny blob of the clear top coat to the centre of the shape, then place the nail gem onto the blob of top coat using the moistened end of a wooden stick. Allow the nail gem to dry for a few minutes before coating the whole nail with a coat of clear top coat.

I think this nail art look would also look great in some other colour combinations – perhaps a black shape over gold glitter, or a white shape over blue glitter. Plus you could put it onto all of your nails, rather than just one accent nail, for a really stunning effect.

I will soon be doing some more nail art step-by-step tutorials at my blog www.BeautyBestFriend.com.

Where to buy

• Barry M Nail Paints are priced from £2.99, available from Barry M.

• Chanel Extreme Shine Nail Lacquer is priced at £18, available from Debenhams.

• Nail gems are fairly inexpensive and can be purchased online, I bought mine from Ebay.

• Wooden sticks are priced at £1.14 for 10, available from EssentialNails.com.

• Masking tape is inexpensive and can be purchased from supermarkets and hardware stores.

• Craft punches cost from around £2 and can be purchased from craft shops, plus there is a great selection on Ebay. Make sure you choose one with a small enough shape, the flower shape I chose is approximately 7mm wide.