'Say It with Nails' Article Draft

Narrative Voice: 2^nd and 3^rd Person Narrative

Language Style: Colloquial

Introduction

Ever felt that just what you’re wearing alone isn’t expressing your personality enough? Sounds like its time for you to let your nails take centre stage!

 Nail art is a trend which is has become increasingly popular over the past 5 years. The trend was first made a hit by nail salon WAH! In London who made it their mission to show the world their unique, trendy designs. These days you can find video tutorials all over the internet demonstrating new designs! Here’s how to do some of our favourites

Leopard Print

You will need:

·         White nail varnish

·         Clear nail varnish

·         2 different colours of nail varnish

·         Double ended nail art pen in either black or dark blue

1.       Begin by painting a layer of clear onto the nails followed by a layer of white

2.       Paint on your base colour (lighter colours usually work better)

3.       Take your second colour and simply dab spots onto each nail using the nail varnish brush (It doesn’t matter if this looks messy, the lines will hide this!)

4.       Take your nail art pen and, using the pen end, carefully draw either two or three curving lines around each blob. Also put extra lines and dots in the gaps

5.       Finish by protecting your design with a layer of clear

Tiger Print

You will need:

·         White nail varnish

·         Clear nail varnish

·         2 different colours of nail varnish

·         Double ended nail art pen in either black or blue

·         A make up sponge

1.       Begin by painting a layer of clear onto the nails followed by two layers of white

2.       Take your make up sponge and cut it in half so that you have a completely flat edge

3.       Take the lighter of your two colours and paint a thin layer of the colour onto one end of the makeup sponge. Allow this to soak in a bit and then sponge onto ¾ of each nail

4.       Take your second colour and repeat step 3 apart from this time only sponge the colour onto half of the nail

5.       Take the brush end of your nail art pen and carefully draw stripes going across each nail.

6.       Finish by protecting your design with a layer of clear

Stained Glass Window

You will need:

·         White nail varnish

·         Clear nail varnish

·         Up to 7 different colours of nail varnish

·         Double ended nail art pen in either black or blue

1.       Begin by painting a layer of clear onto the nails followed by a layer of white

2.       Take your first colour and paint 3 random spots onto each nail. Repeat this with all of the colours until the nail is covered

3.       Take the pen end of your nail art pen and carefully draw around each colour, this will make your nails look like stained glass!

4.       Finish by protecting your design with a layer of clear

Glitter

You will need:

·         Clear nail varnish

·         A coloured nail varnish

·         Glitter/metallic nail varnish

·         Glitter

·         An old makeup brush

*All of these must be the same colour

1.       Begin by painting a layer of clear onto the nails

2.       Paint two layers of the coloured nail varnish onto your nails

3.       Paint a layer of glitter/metallic nail varnish on top of the colour

4.       Paint a layer of clear nail varnish and before this dries, dip your nail into the glitter

5.       Once the clear has dried, take the makeup brush and brush away any loose glitter

6.       Finish by protecting your design with a layer of clear

Tips and Tricks

·         Painting a layer of clear onto your nails before and after painting is a great way of stopping your nail from getting stained by the colour and also helps to make the design last longer!

·         Applying a layer of white before applying colour to the nail helps to bring out the colour. This is especially useful when using light colours

·         Make sure you leave each layer of nail varnish to dry fully before you apply another layer to prevent smudging!

·         Mix and match your effects! The sponged effect looks great by itself or teamed up with some leopard print!

We Recommend

·         Barry M’s colour collection; these nail varnishes come in all different colours and are strong and long lasting!

·         Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Treatment; this polish is perfect for little nails needing a boost and also works well at strengthening nails!

·         Models Own WAH! Nail art pen; created by the Queens of Nail Art, this pen creates clear and precise patterns with its double ended lid which has both a pen and a brush!

·         Nail Rock Nail Wraps; if you simply can’t get your head around doing your own designs, never fear! Nail wraps are what you need. They look good and are easy to apply, the perfect quick fix!