Watercolour Nail Art Tutorial (page 2)

Watercolour Nail Art Tutorial

Posted by Alexandra C. | Wednesday May 23, 2012

We first caught onto the watercolour manicure after seeing it at Toronto's Spring Fashion Week 2012 at the Lucian Matis show. For some bizarre reason though, we never thought to try them out. We thought it would be too difficult to achieve the same runway look. But then we thought, 'nah! We're an adventurous bunch here at ChickAdvisor'. So we sat down and played around with this fun nail art look!

It turned out to be really simple and it didn't require a lot of skill (phew!). The best part is, it doesn't need to be super polished and sleek so mistakes are welcome! We decided to go with a pastel colour palette for this look, on a white background to keep with the trendy candy coloured pastels for summer.

Here's what you'll need:

Acetone (you find this at drugstores or mass merchandisers like WalMart, you should use 100% pure acetone but you can use a polish remover with acetone as well)
White nail polish (for background)
3 or more polishes of your choice
Top and bottom coat
Paintbrush
Paint tray

Step 1 + 2: Prep

1. After applying your bottom coat, paint your white polish background.
2. In your painting tray, pour a small amount of acetone. You'll be mixing this with polish so keep the acetone separate or be sure that it won't blend in with the polish.

Step 3: Mix Polish

3. In a separate part of your tray or in another mixing bowl all together, place a few drops of your first polish of choice. Next, with your paintbrush, mix in a bit of the acetone with the polish. The polish should become clearer and if you are using pure acetone, it should be able to mix thoroughly and be consistent.

Step 4 + 5: Paint

4. After mixing, lightly brush on using a patting motion (more than a painting or dragging motion). You can play around with whatever pattern you like. You went for an abstract, splotch effect.
5. Your first polish coat should dry fairly quickly. Start on your next colour polish, using the same, blotting action.

Step 6: Extra Polish

6. Repeat the process, with a few different colours of your choice. We found that after a few layers, the polishes would start to rub off. So, be sure to use a blotting action, make sure each layer is dry and to clean to brush between colour applications.

Final Look

Clean up the cuticle area with a bit of polish remover on a Q-Tip. Apply a top coat and voila- your watercolour mani is complete!

Have you tried out a watercolour manicure yet? What's your latest nail art obsession?

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27 Comments

	on May 24, 2012 annmarie 4,261 said: super cute but don't think i have the time or patience to do this.
	on May 24, 2012 flower 4,433 said: looks messy
	on May 24, 2012 Kewald 2,141 said: THIS IS amazing!
	on May 24, 2012 Vlicious 3,821 said: Looks nice, but that's a lot of work! lol
	on May 24, 2012 Aliza 13,996 said: Looks cute and fun!
	on May 23, 2012 Henrys 815 said: I have tried a very similar style and really liked it. This looks fun, too!
	on May 23, 2012 KatelynRose1984 20,704 said: Cool idea, but not my style at all. They look chalky! It sort of reminds me of when I was back in elementary school, and I painted my nails with white out..
	on May 23, 2012 farouknabela 3,469 said: This looks like an awesome idea for a girls night in! Thanks!
	on May 23, 2012 Bren 26,031 said: I tried the one you posted awhile back about dipping your fingers into water that had drops of nail polish in it and it never worked for me..I will have try this one to see if I have better luck..Looks cute.
	on May 23, 2012 LadyFlash 8,899 said: Very cute idea.