A beautifully manicured set of toenails will pull the attention of everyone, and since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, will attract a lot of two-way critiques. That is why the toe-nail design has to be spot on, and there are only three ways to go about this. The first is the easiest, although the more expensive way of going to a professional toe-nail designer. The second and third way are the cheaper but not less fun or end result versions, where you either paint your own or apply decals.
Both methods have a stepwise process for success, and I will present these two methods to you. Naturally, if you prefer the easy way out, just pop down to y our favorite pedicurist and ask for a floral design added to your pedicure.
Flower Toenail Designs Review:
Two methods:
- Paint
- Stick
Painting Flowers in 3 Steps
- Preparing Your Nails
- Creating the Flowers
- Completing the Artwork
Painting your Own Flowers
I suggest you have the following tools and solutions ready by your side before you start:
- Nail Polish Remover (Non-Acetone)
- Toe Nail Clippers
- Nail Scissors
- Cotton Wool
- Ear Buds
- Toothpicks
- Nail File
- Other Pedicuring Tools
- Nail Polish
- Painting Brush Set
Step 1: Preparing Your Nails
Make sure your nails are clean, trimmed and smooth. Just as with any painting, you have to make sure the surface is suitable for the application. Start off by setting up a clean (sterile) workplace, make sure you are comfortable and that everything is within hands reach.
Start off by cleaning your toenails with the acetone and then trimming and filing them to make them look as perfect and as neat as possible. Remember, the shape and finish of the nail (canvas) are sometimes more important than the lacquer and design added to them. There are different styles of finishing and these include the square tip with sharp edges and the soft rounded tip style. There are variations of each, and your toe shape is usually what decides which suits you the most.
When trimming your nails, make sure you end up with the same length and make sure they are slightly longer than you want, because you will reduce the length when filing for the smooth finish. While filing, make sure your toenails are the same length.
Step 2: Applying the Base
When painting flowers, the base color is all important, it can either enhance and show off the flower, or swallow up the design. So, make sure you know which color your flower design will have, and apply a contrasting or muted base. For brighter flowers use a darker base, and for darker flowers use a lighter base. The last thing you want is someone needing a microscope to see your design. (Unless that is your intention)
When applying the base, make sure you dip the brush in gently and do not take too much color, the best results are reached when applying three coats of lacquer. However, if there are some uncovered surfaces, use more strokes to cover the toenail surface completely.
After applying the base color, wait until it dries. Obviously, there are methods to speed this up, including the use of a fan to blow air over them. No matter what you decide to do, wait a little longer so that the base surface is completely set. Bases can be more than one color, they are the canvas background to the focal point, so you can paint whole scenes, have fading colors, or just have one color.
Step 3: Painting the Flowers
It’s that moment where your creativity sets in and your imagination starts to play around with the end colors. I suggest you start off with a solid vision and don’t change that vision. You can always apply different color flowers on another day.
Also remember, there is no such thing as perfect in painting. You have to be ready to lay down the brush and let the product speak for itself. There is a golden rule in the art (and in cooking) less is better.
For your flowers, you will want two lacquer types, the opaque polish for creating the larger parts, and the sheer polish for creating the detailed parts. If you want a very bright and garish design, or a bright, simple design (such as daisies) then only use sheer polish types. Some flower designs can be finished with only two colors, while others require up to 5 colors. It is also an issue of the depth of detail you want to reach.
Flower Centers
Using a toothpick, start off by applying a dot of color. Make sure the tip of the toothpick is not too sharp, the broader the tip, the more lacquer you can apply. You dip the toothpaste into the lacquer and then touch the surface of your toenail leaving a small dot of color as the center of your flower. This also helps you mark locations for designs that have more than one flower on them. Applying more pressure on the end of your toothpick will flatten the dot. So, you can either create small or large circles with this method.
Flower Petals
Petals are made a number of ways, one the easiest ways to do this is also the dot method as above, and make five dots (or six). After applying the dot, you can either leave them as circular flower petals around the central dot, or you can flatten them with a number of tools. Just drag the toothpick across the dot, and it will flatten out in the direction you move the toothpick.
Another option is for professionals or those with experience, you take a very fine painting brush and apply the petals using this too, in the right hand’s petals can be formed in a variety of shapes.
Step 3: Completion
Take heed that different lacquer brands dry at different time rates. This means that you need to wait until the slowest drying component is set. There are tricks to speed dry, one of these is using a hair dryer set on the lowest level, after all, you don’t want to burn your toes or sizzle the lacquer. If you are an impatient person (they don’t paint yourself), you can go and buy a polish-drying spray
After your flowers are dry its time to get even more creative and either decide that what you have is enough. Flower designs can be solely flowers or can include all kinds of additions and colorations, as well as complete pictures of flowers, bees, birds, trees, clouds and what have you.
Stems
Painting a stem is a quick and delicate process. You use a paint brush and apply a thin coat of sheer color lacquer that starts between two petals. You can create stems that link flowers, or entwine them. Stems are optional and are part of your overall design vision. If you don’t want to use a brush, you can find specialty tools such as designer nail polish pens that will do the same job, but cost more than a toothpick or delicate paint brush.
Bling
After completing the flower and stem, you can now add all the details you want. Although the more detail you add, the less focus there is on the flower; you can go crazy in this stage and even add bling items, such as small gems, glitter polish and other accessories that can be stuck on using a fast-acting clear lacquer to act like glue.
Topcoat
Now its time to finish it all off. Your design is in place; you are now ready to apply a thin layer of topcoat that will protect the design from scratches and chip. You can either use a matt or gloss topcoat if you want that lovely shiny appearance use a glossy top coat. Apply it gently, and in three strokes as you applied your base coat. The final product will be a smoothed-out design that captivates the eye and gives you that all day smile.
Sticking ready Made Patterns
If you prefer to leave the artwork to the professionals and want a quick and secure solution, then you can use the various decals and full nail covers such as nexgen nails that come ready to be applied.
There are two types, the decals that require you apply them to each nail surface and the full nail cover that requires you to stick it to your nail surface. The choice of which to use is subjective since both are equally fast and precise application methods, but faster and less intense than hand painting.
Water Set Decals
This type of decal is applied to your nail directly, usually without any base coat.
However, some people do prefer a colored surface under this decal for extra security. So, after you have applied a base coat, make sure you choose the right base coat color that will show off the decal.
You will need:
- Sheet of Decals
- Flat Surface
- Water
- Tweezers
- Scissors
- Base Lacquer
- Top Coat Lacquer
- Tissue Paper
The process
- Cut out the individual decals from the whole set; they tend to come in sets on special paper.
- Place a single drop of water onto the work surface
- Place the nail decal on the drop if water with the blue side facing down
- Count to 10 or 15 whenever the paper curls first and then using the tweezers pick up the decal and lay it on your nail
- Use your free fingernail and hold the decal side while pulling the backing paper with the tweezers from underneath.
- Position the decal, and use the tissue paper to suck up excess water gently.
- Count to three and then apply a thin coat of topcoat lacquer over the decal.
- Now apply a full coat of topcoat to cover the whole nail.
Rub-on Decals
This type of decal requires a base coat color. Make sure you choose the right base coat color that will show off the decal.
- Peel off the chosen decal using tweezers.
- Place it over the nail of choice.
- Tap the decal gently using an earbud to make sure you remove any possible air-pockets.
- Apply a full coat of topcoat to cover the whole nail.
Full Nails
These are ready to cover nails; they just require some trimming for correctly fitting over your fingernails. You apply the glue for fastening, and that’s it.
Conclusions
As you can see, there are three options; the longest and most satisfying is the self-created artwork which is something to brag about, and then get called up by your friends and family to do their toes. Or, you can take the easier route and just stick some designs on your toes. Whichever method you choose the end result will be satisfying and add some extra color to your daily routine.
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