D.I.Y Floral Nail Art - Katie Charlotte Blogs

It will be no surprise to many of you who have read my blog from the start or follow me on Instagram that I love nail art. I love the process of painting my nails and creating something fun, inspired by other nail art or fabric patterns. When I saw this floral manicure on Lauren Conrad’s website (via Pinterest) I had to give it a go!

It’s perfect for spring/summer, and the only thing it really requires is patience! If you haven’t got a steady hand, ask a friend of family member to help. I painted mine whilst watching American Horror Story, so I had a good excuse not to watch all the gory bits…

Materials

Brushes – You don’t need to spend a lot of money on professional nail art brushes. I use these fine art brushes from The Works, but you can pick similar ones up in any arts and crafts store for super affordable prices.

It’s all about the base…

Step 1 – It’s important to protect your nails and I use Essie’s All-in-One base coat. It may be slightly pricier than many drugstore products but I’ve found this particular one dries the quickest and leaves a super smooth finish, sometimes I use it by itself on days between wearing polish for a ‘my nails but better’ look.

Step 2 – Choose your base colour. I alternate between bold colours, pastels and nude shades, and as I haven’t worn this beautiful blue in a while I was inspired to create something with it. I can’t fault Rimmel’s Rita Ora collection – the formula and longevity is fantastic and there is a great range of shades to choose from. This one in ‘Breakfast in Bed‘ has a slight shimmer to it but only noticeable in certain lights. I always suggest two coats for the best coverage.

Step 3 – Choose a pale pink shade (I used Barry M’s Gelly nail paint in ‘Rose Hip‘) and paint two splodges on each nail. This is to create the shape of the rose so it doesn’t need to look perfect.

Step 4 – Use a fuchsia pink to create the petals, and draw ‘c’ shapes on the pale pink splodges with a fine brush. Each nail will look slightly different and this really adds to the ‘DIY’ effect.

Step 5 – Similar to step 4, use a white polish to ‘highlight’ the petals and add dimension. An off-white like Barry M’s Gelly Nail Paint in ‘Coconut’ is perfect!

Step 6 – A dark green shade is needed to create the stems – I used Essie’s ‘Stylenomics‘ as it’s a great green grass colour. Draw one or two small lines next to each rose, again each one doesn’t have to be the same.