Watercolor Nails

Yesterday afternoon, I set up a poll on the Chalkboard Nails Facebook page to have you guys help choose my manicure. But it was a secret! I only offered options A and B, and then in my head I knew which manicure corresponded to which. This was the winning choice!

I originally saw this technique when Rebecca showed me this video tutorial from Beautygeeks on how to achieve it. Check out Rebecca's interpretation of the design, I love the neons!

It is a surprisingly easy look to achieve. I would recommend watching the Beautygeeks video to see it done "in action," but I'll also do a quick run down of the process for you. Rebecca also has a tutorial on her post about this technique.

1. Paint your nails a base color. Top that with two coats of topcoat to make sure that when you use acetone to make the watercolored look later, your base doesn't get ruined.
2. Pick out your first color. Place a couple small dots of it on your nail, in random locations.
3. Take a medium sized brush (I used a makeup brush, but a watercolor brush would work well here) and dip it in acetone. You don't need a lot of acetone, but you don't want your brush to only be damp, either.
4. Dab your acetone-d brush onto the small dots of polish. Continue to dab the brush around to achieve the watercolor look that you like.
5. Repeat with 2-3 more colors.
6. Topcoat again!

For my color palette, I chose:

OPI Skull and Glossbones (base)
China Glaze Heli-yum
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
OPI Ogre the Top Blue
OPI Funky Dunkey

That is also the order that I applied the colors in.

This is a really really cool look, guys. Especially in person!! It's unique and I can guarantee you will get a lot of people asking you about it and being interested in what your nails have got goin' on.

I hope you enjoyed this design and I also hope you give it a shot yourself! I promise it is quite simple to achieve! :)