Welcome winter with this festive, frosty nail look!
By Kim Bui, Martha Stewart
The holiday season calls for glitter and icy color palettes. Snowflake nail art is a great design for any beginner or nail art enthusiast. Line designs can seem intimidating, but this snowflake concept is perfect in that snowflakes are individually unique, as is each design. Read: You can't mess this up! Here's what you'll need.
MATERIALS
Base coat
Clear top coat
White and blue nail polish
A thin striper/detail brush
Pure acetone
A small glass cup to contain acetone
Fine glitter in any shade of blue
Dotting tool (if unavailable, a filed toothpick edge or end of a bobby pin are perfect household substitutes)
A fan-shaped brush (commonly found in cosmetic kits)
Paper towels
DIRECTIONS
Prepare each nail by wiping with acetone -- this will give you a clean base to start with. Apply a base coat, then apply blue and white nail polish interchangeably to your liking. Here I have done all white with a blue accent nail on the ring finger.
For the snowflake design, begin by drawing a horizontal line across the middle of the nail.
Next, draw two angled lines coming from the horizontal line. This will be the base structure for the snowflake.
Now, draw a small V shape between each of the longer lines. As you're working, clean the brush after every stroke to prevent polish from becoming dry and thickening on the brush. This will help you create crisp, thin lines for your designs!
Next, draw a small V at the edge of each of the 3 base lines.
Next, draw a small line right in the middle of the inner V shape. Be sure to keep it shorter than the base lines to help create a more multilayered snowflake nail art design.
Finish by drawing two dots on each side of the tip of the three base lines.
Now let's add some glitter! Before you begin, put down a sheet of paper under your hands -- it will make it easy to re-collect spare glitter and clean up afterward.
Start by painting a thin coat of clear base coat on the nails painted white. While the paint is still wet, dip the fanned brush in a small amount of glitter and gently tap from the top edge of the nail toward the cuticle to create a gradation effect. Here I am using a fine, iridescent glitter from the Martha Stewart Crafts line in "Blueberry Slush." Let that dry for about two minutes before moving onto a second coat. Repeat with another coat of base and dusting of glitter, but this time focusing toward the edge and tip of nail to build up the saturation of the gradation.
Let your freshly designed nails dry completely before finishing off with a clear top coat. When applying top coat, capping the polish along the edge of your nail with the brush will help your design last much longer.
Let us know if you try out this manicure for your winter festivities!
See more at: Martha Stewart
