Emerald City

Project #1

Easy

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Take a walk down a yellow brick road, or just a normal brick road, with these incredibly easy yet stunning nails.

I wanted to design a pair of simple nails that I could wear out for dinner that would be glittery and bright, but not so busy. These were one of the first sets I made, and while I would make some changes now, I am still really happy with them and look for excuses to wear them out.Take a walk down a yellow brick road, or just a normal brick road, with these incredibly easy yet stunning nails.

Supplies

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  • Acrylic nails (or your nails)
  • Filing boards
  • Soft sanding block
  • Rhinestone glue

Polish & Pigments

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Buy This Project

Equipment

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  • UV curing lamp
  • Tweezers
  • Magnet wand/strong magnets

Top coat (optional)

Champaign rhinestones

Rhinestone glue or clear coat

Emerald Green Cat-Eye Magnetic Polish

Chunk AB glitter in clear coat (optional) or black glitter gel

Black gel polish

Base gel

Acrylic nail base or your nails

Design Formula

Prepare Your Nails

For these, I wanted them shorter but not too short. I used the “Medium Almond” length soft gel tips, and trimmed off the first ⅓ to create a more square tip, closer to a coffin nail. I found this helps when I hold chopsticks, and since these were to go with a dinner dress, it seemed like the right choice.

To Reshape Acrylic Nails

Using nail clippers, cut off the pointed tip first, and then use filing boards to somewhat round out the sharp corners and smooth the end into a nice square shape.

To prepare Nails (Acrylic or Your Nails)

Buff the top of the nails with a soft sanding block so the base gel will stick better.

Then apply a thin layer of base gel, curing it for 3-4 times the normal curing time. In most machines, this means 2 minutes to set it.

Just a note: the base gel will stay a little sticky – this is normal. It is to help the color layers to adhere better, and is especially important to not wipe it off if you’re using it on your nails and not acrylics.

Coffin Shape Clear Acrylic Soft Gel Tips

Coffin Shape Clear Acrylic Soft Gel Tips

Original price was: $25.00.Current price is: $18.00.
Solid Black Gel (#001)

Solid Black Gel (#001)

Original price was: $6.00.Current price is: $4.50.
Black Star Glitter Gel (#118)

Black Star Glitter Gel (#118)

Original price was: $6.00.Current price is: $4.50.

Black Gel Polish

Apply a layer of black gel polish. One coat should be good. Cure it for 30-60 seconds.

Chunk AB Glitter (optional)

This is totally optional, as most of it gets covered up with the magnetic gel, but it really gives some additional color and flash.

Apply a thin layer of clear coat to support the large chunk glitter.

Using either a dry brush, tweezers, or a toothpick, pick up a few bits of glitter and tap them into the clear coat. Do this until you have covered the whole nail, then cure.

… or …

You can use a black gel with glitter already in it. It achieves the same effect with this design and is easier if you just want to make them.

Emerald Green Cat-Eye Magnetic Gel

Apply a layer of emerald green cat eye magnetic gel polish.

Before curing, use a strong magnet or magnetic wand to pull the particles in the gel to create a wide “flash” of light in the middle of the nails.

Just a note: you can play around with the magnetic gel as much as you’d like before curing it.

If it isn’t cooperating and shining how you want, simply use the polish brush to ‘reset’ the magnetic particles and use the wand again until you get the effect you want.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and try again – the magnetic particles in the gel won’t be set until you cure the polish!

Coffin Shape Clear Acrylic Soft Gel Tips

Coffin Shape Clear Acrylic Soft Gel Tips

Original price was: $25.00.Current price is: $18.00.
Coffin Shape Clear Acrylic Soft Gel Tips

Coffin Shape Clear Acrylic Soft Gel Tips

Original price was: $25.00.Current price is: $18.00.
Champagne Rhinestone Kit

Champagne Rhinestone Kit

$7.50 – $25.00
Crystal Top Coat

Crystal Top Coat

Original price was: $6.00.Current price is: $4.50.

Rhinestone Glue or Clear Coat

Apply either rhinestone glue or some clear coat to adhere the crystals to the nails.

You can either apply it directly to the nails, or you can use a small brush or toothpick to apply it exactly where you need, or even on the back of the crystals themselves.

Just be sure there’s enough to securely hold the gems in place.

Rhinestones in Variable Sizes

Pick out the size of rhinestone you want for the center focus.

Then, go one size down for the crystals on either side of the main stone, creating a varied size pattern.

Place these stones near the cutile edge of the nail or near your cuticles, ⅛ inch (3mm) or so from the edge.

Top Coat (optional)

If you plan on wearing these nails a lot and needing the crystals to really adhere on there, or if you’ve found the crystals falling off, a top coat can help.

It will make the crystals look more like pearls or drops, but I personally like it.

Just remember – if you put too many layers of top coat on, it will cause acrylic nails to shrink a bit so be sure you’re working at a good size and use as thin of a coat you can manage.

Find More inspiration

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