Hey Ladies! I thought I’d share with you my first DIY project ever! I decided to go with a DIY African-Print Inspired manicure. It’s pretty challenging especially when it comes to detail, but overall it is very fun, and time consuming if you have nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon. 🙂
What you will need:
Black Nail Polish bottle
“Nail Art” nail polish or nail polish with a thin-lined brush
Cotton Swabs
Nail Polish remover
Clear Nail Polish
1. First, you want to make sure your hands and nails are clean. If you need to, make sure you use nail polish remover to remove any excess nail polish.
2. Start, by adding a solid base of black nail polish to each finger nail. Wait and let it dry for 5 minutes, then apply second coat. (just to make sure the coating is not transparent)
3. Wait and let second coat of black nail polish dry for ten minutes.
4. Slowly, apply the “french tip”, 1/4″ at the top of your fingernail. (The french tip is a line that you create at the tip of your nail, which is usually referred to as a “french manicure” I decided to paint the french tip a different color for each of my nails to give it more pop!
5. Once you have applied the “french tip” to each of your nails, let dry for 5 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, decide what print you would like to replicate:
Zig Zag:
Starting from the bottom of your nail, take your nail art brush and slowly create a zig zag line, horizontally across your nail bed, from left to right (unless you are left handed). Repeat that motion until you reach underneath the french tip that you created. (The zig zag doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, If you want to give it a funky look, purposely make your zig zags uneven).
3 Strikes:
With your nail art brush, start from the bottom of your nail. Create three straight lines, vertically, then create three straight lines horizontally, stacked upon one another. Although the group of three lines are drawn in different directions, make sure they are the same height, in order to make the pattern design consistent.
African Print Diamonds:
With your nail brush, start at the bottom of your nail. Draw a diamond within a diamond, and keep repeating until there is not room left. From there on evenly create diamonds stacking on top of one another until there is not space. If you have random spaces in between the diamonds, just add a line to fill in the space.
Your Own:
If you have a specific pattern you love yourself, why not try replicating it !? It’s really fun. The more you practice, the faster you’ll become a pro!
7. Once you have created different patterns on each of your nails, let your nails dry for at least 15 minutes
8. Add a coating of clear polish, and voila!
The best part about doing this manicure was adding a pop of color to black and white. What do you think about this African Print-inspired manicure?
Send me your awesome african-print inspired nail designs, we’d Love to see them!
(E-mail me at jamilla@adiree.com)
