Whimsical Colourful Nails With Bright Feather Accents

Phew, it has been quite a while since my last manicure post. Work has rendered me unmotivated to do anything other than sit in front of the telly. So last week I finally made time to do my nails, after sporting a week’s worth of chipped polish.

This design is really easy to do and it looks artsy and interesting. I got this done in about an hour (could’ve been significantly less if I didn’t keep scratching and bumping my nails on everything), and it was so much fun to do.

I wanted something that looked simple but bright and unique, and easy to do of course. Then I remembered this gorgeous design that blogger Mr Kate had that I pinned on my Pinterest nail board.

Hers are significantly more ornate as you can see, complete with gems and baubles, done by the very talented nail technicians at ES Nail in LA. Being the lazy klutz that I am, I am decidedly hesitant about 3D nail art, so I wanted to try to get this look sans gems. I really liked the painted-on feathers, which really make the whole mani more fun.

I used a small nail brush to create those feathery strokes. To do this, drip a few drops of nail polish onto tracing paper or thick magazine paper (I used a flyer that I got in the mail, a great way to recycle!), dip your brush in and make straight, brisk strokes on your white nail. Make sure your base colour is already dry before you do this or you risk ruining it and having to start over. Don’t pick up too much polish with your brush cos that makes the strokes too wet and thick, and more smudgey. Do a few strokes on the paper before you go on the nail to make sure the consistency is just right.

The rest of the design was done using a small nail dotter. The base colors are For Audrey and Sunset Sail by China Glaze. I used my brightest colours for the ‘feathers’. Anything goes! Just mix and match and you’ll be surprised at the end result.