tutorials

VELVET NAILS WITH FAUX STUDS

photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

When it comes to beauty, we like to get experimental around here. Last week I was playing around with this new velvet nail polish I bought. I was going to make a gold metallic heart on top of the velvet, but quickly realized the gold metallic polish “beaded up” when I put a drop on top of the velvet. I’ve always wanted to do a studded nail tutorial but I feel like micro-beads are hard to work with. Picking them up and placing them just right can be pretty difficult. THIS quickly became my new favorite alternative. (Side note– I thought this whole velvet nail thing was going to feel really weird but it doesn’t! You get used to it so fast.)

The steps are simple…

• One by one, give your nails texture with a velvet nail polish. If you can’t find velvet nail polish in your area, you can always find “flocking powder” on a crafting website or just google it. First you’ll paint on the base color (which should match your flocking powder) and then shake flocking powder on the wet polish. Let it sit for 10 min and then dust off using an old blush brush or eye shadow brush.
• Next, using the mechanical pencil trick or a dotting tool, make metallic dots on top of the velvet polish. The dots will bead up and appear raised making them look a little more like studs than dots.

As you can see in the photos above, I practiced a pattern before I started applying my dots. You can do just one nail or you can do all 10. Good luck!