4th of July Nail Art Tutorial


Ally, from Nail in the Coffee, is back with her newest nail tutorial for Pretty Prudent. She first shared her sweet Springing into Summer Nail Art Tutorial a couple of weeks ago. Have you tried them? Today, she’s mixing in a little nautical & patriotic with this striped 4th of July nail art. The nice thing about this cute style is that you can really do it with any colors you have on hand. Master the look now and show it off at the 4th of July BBQ.

For a little more nailspiration, check out Ally’s Retro Nails with polka-dots, and stunning pink and silver Chanel Runway Nails. See the nail and braiding fun we had at Ally’s Girly Night Extravaganza (mine are the matte purple ombre nails).

Keep reading for the full 4th of July Nail Art Tutorial after the jump…

As summer heats up, everyone’s mind wanders off to the 4th of July. Whether it’s the BBQ you love, time with friends & family, or simply the fireworks, everyone’s got a special place for Independence Day in their hearts… and their wardrobe. This year, make sure your nails are no exception with my tutorial, below:

Step 1. Paint four of your nails a bright, crisp red, and paint the fifth nail (of your choice) white.

Step 2. Place Nail Striping Tape across your nail horizontally, to create small, uniformly spaced stripes.

Step 3. Grab a creamy, vibrant blue and paint over the entire white nail, tape and all. Almost immediately after, while the nail polish is still wet, grab the ends of the tape and carefully pull them all off at once. You’ll have the white that was masked off by the tape, and the blue that was painted over, creating perfectly clean stripes.

Expert Tip #1: Sometimes white nail polish can be finicky, leaving streaks or sheer blotches. A second coat can usually even out any problems, but with a manicure like this, when time is of the essence, you really want to nail it in one coat (pun intended!). Giving your nails a gentle buff, and a completely dry basecoat will help the white go on smoothly. Don’t go back for touch-ups with white – passing over the area a second time only makes it worse!

Expert Tip #2: Trial and error with these great little tape strips taught me that you want to take them off right away after painting over them – if you wait too long, the polish you just painted will begin to dry, and will come off in chunks with the tape as you remove it (instead of staying behind, where you wanted it).

You don’t have to be the star-spangled type to do this mani – it’s subtle and classy, with a clean “Americana” look.

Here are the colors I used:

Stay tuned for another festive nail art tutorial!
Till soon,
Ally

by

19 Comments

Happy 4th of July! | SugarSocial

[…] Indulge in a little July 4 nail art: Fourth of July-themed nail art is fun and festive, but can quickly veer into tacky territory. When researching cute nail art ideas, I was bombarded with options that were truly over-the-top. I prefer this demure mani that’s still fun and totally patriotic. (Image and tutorial by Nail in the Coffee for Pretty Prudent) […]

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *