Bored in quarantine? Haven’t been to a nail salon in weeks? Well it’s time to take matters into your own hands. Try this week’s Mani of the Week for some inspiration!
*We’re committed to transparency. Products marked with an asterisk were given to us to try by the brand. As always, all thoughts expressed on Rouge18 are our honest opinions.
What You Need
Top Coat & Base Coat: A mani is only as good as its foundation and protection. You can use any base coat and matte top coat of your liking. I used the NK Nail Hardener as base coat and the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat. For stamping, you’ll likely want a smudge-resistant top coat to put on before the matte top coat; I used Moyou London’s Smudge Resistant Premium Top Coat.
Color: To get the more seamless gradient you can either buy nail colors that are close in shade or get creative with what you have and mix polishes. Mixing, in my opinion, is also more likely to give you a more seamless and cohesive gradient. I used:
1. *OPI Nail Lacquer in ‘Tile Art to Warm Your Heart’
2. a Duri Cosmetics unnamed lilac shade
3. Essie Nail Lacquer in ‘Blanc’
4. Barry M Cosmetics Quick Dry Nail Paint in ‘Eat My Dust’
Stamping Supplies: I used nail stamping to achieve the gingham pattern. There are plenty of plates with gingham designs as well as plenty of white stamping polishes; the ones I used are:
1. Moyou London ‘Trend Hunter 27’ Stamping Plate
2. TwinkledT Stamping Polish in ‘Glow Up’
For a good tutorial on nail stamping, check out this video.
How To
Step 1: Apply base coat to all nails.
Step 2: Apply Barry M Cosmetics Quick Dry Nail Paint in ‘Eat My Dust’ to your thumbnail.
Step 3: Mix approximately 1 part Barry M Cosmetics Quick Dry Nail Paint in ‘Eat My Dust’ and 3 parts coral OPI Nail Lacquer in ‘Tile Art to Warm Your Heart’. Apply to the pointer/second fingernail.
Step 4: Mix approximately 1 part Barry M Cosmetics Quick Dry Nail Paint in ‘Eat My Dust’ and 1 part coral OPI Nail Lacquer in ‘Tile Art to Warm Your Heart’. Apply to the middle fingernail.
Step 5: Mix approximately 1 part of the Duri Cosmetics unnamed lilac shade and 1 part Essie Nail Lacquer in ‘Blanc’. Apply to the ring/fourth fingernail.
Step 6: Mix approximately 1 part of the Duri Cosmetics unnamed lilac shade and 3 parts Essie Nail Lacquer in ‘Blanc’. Apply to the pinky fingernail.
Step 7: Apply a second coat of each color to your nails.
Step 8: Use TwinkledT Stamping Polish in ‘Glow Up’ to stamp a gingham design on each nail from the Moyou London ‘Trend Hunter 27’ Stamping Plate.
Step 9: Apply Moyou London Smudge Resistant Premium Top Coat to all nails.
Step 10: Apply a matte top coat to all nails.
Pro Tips
Whenever you’re mixing nail polish, 1) be sure to mix a large batch as you will need at least 2 coats and it can be hard to re-mix an exact match & 2) work quickly because polish mixed on a palette is exposed to air and dries up faster.
The Final Look
