Tutorial and Images - Debbie Page-Wood
For this simple pastel polka dot manicure with a cute little Easter bunny feature nail, you’ll need:
- Nail polish remover
- lint-free wipes or cotton pads
- an orangewood stick or cuticle pusher
- 180-grit buffer or a buffing block (the ones with 4 different sides)
- a nail file
- base coat
- 5 pastel shades of your choice (I used pink, purple, blue, green and yellow)
- 5 darker shades of the same colours
- white, black and pink nail polish (for the bunny)
- top coat
- dotting tools
- a mini striping brush (small paintbrush or clean eyeliner brush)
- cuticle oil and hand cream.
Start off by prepping your nails; remove any old polish, push back your cuticles, file your nails into the desired shape and then buff them lightly.
Cleanse your nails again with nail polish remover to get rid of any nail dust and natural oils that will have come to the surface of the nail. Apply a thin layer of base coat and cure it according to the instructions on your lamp (for gel) or wait for it to dry (for traditional polish / lacquer).
Apply a thin coat of polish to each nail, making sure to cap the free edge (guide the brush along the very tip of your nails). Cure or wait for it to dry. Apply a second, thin coat of polish and cure or wait for it to dry.
You don't have to use 5 different colours, you could stick to using one or even two.
On the feature nail, paint a large white circle for the face of your bunny. I didn't have a dotting tool that was big enough, so I used the handle of a make-up brush. Using a mini striping brush or eyeliner brush, add two leaf shapes at the top of the dot and fill them in, to form his ears. Cure or wait for the white paint to dry.
Using a small dotting tool, add a little pink nose and paint the insides of his ears pink. Cure or wait for the pink to dry. Using a very small dotting tool (or toothpick), add two little black dots for eyes and then paint him some black whiskers, using a small brush or toothpick.
Using a large dotting tool, add some white polka dots onto all your other nails. Cure or wait for it to dry. Using a smaller dotting tool, about half the size of the large one you just used, add darker dots of colour in the middle of each white dot. You don't have to use a darker colour, you could use the same colour as the base or alternate your base colours and put pink dots on the green nail, green dots on yellow nail, yellow dots on the blue nail, blue dots on purple nail and purple dots on pink nail. You could even just leave your polka dots white, if you like. The options are endless! Add a few small dots of colour in any gaps between the large polka dots and cure or wait for it to dry.
Apply a good quality top coat and cure or wait for it to dry before finishing off your manicure by rubbing cuticle oil onto your nails, cuticles and the skin around your nails. Apply a nourishing hand cream and you're all done.
If you do give this little Easter bunny a try, please post a pic on the Photo Wall.
Happy Easter, everyone!
Love,
Debbie x
Thank you so much Debbie - as always, we can't wait for the next one ;)
Check out Debbie's portfolio and blog debbiepagewood.com and follow her Facebook and Twitter.
Would you like to feature as a guest blogger, (and expose your blog to tens of thousands of thousands of Beauty Lovers) right here on NZ's largest beauty website? Simply drop us an email linking us to your blog and we'll be in touch :)
i lalalala love the pastel colors and the bunnies but something about the spots just isn't doing it for me!