Nail It: Mix & Match Nautical Nail Art

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since my last Nail It post. I have noticed that these posts are the most appreciated and the most viewed so I'm going to try to make more of them. With summer already here I decided to do a design, perfect for the sunny days. It's inspired by the sea and incorporates a very popular trend for this summer- the nautical look.

So, let's get started with this super cute design!

I. Nail Polishes

This nail design does not need that many polishes. You basically need a white polish, a dark red polish, and a navy blue polish. Optional but advisable is to use a base and a top coat. Here are the ones I used:

- Active Nail Hardener by "Perfect"
- Base & Top Coat by "Very Me" - Oriflame
- Classics Charming Nail Lacquer in the color 03
- Golden Rose Rich Color Nail Lacquer in the color 23
- Miss Selene Nail Lacquer in the color 204

II. Tools

Now, the more specific things you will need are thin nail art brushes, a dotting tool and striping tape. If you don't have striping tape you can just cut pieces of regular tape. Here are the tools I used:

III. Steps

For this design I decided to do a mix & match style, that's why most nails are different, but you can only use two designs- one for your index finger and thumb and one for the other nails. I'm going to describe each nail design separately.

-Nail Design 1: Anchor

1. Apply a base coat to protect your nail.
2. Paint two thin coats of your white nail polish.
3. With a tiny dotting tool dipped in red polish (or blue) or an art brush mark four dots as in picture 3- these will be the ends of your anchor.
4. Connect the top and bottom dot using your art brush.
5. 6. Connect the right and left dots with the top center dot with two slightly curved lines. If you need to connect them in the middle with another line, so that they can look like one long curve.
7. Now add details to make your anchor more realistic: with a slightly larger dotting tool add dots on the top of your anchor and on either sides. And with your are brush add a short stripe below the top of your anchor.
8. With a toothpick dipped in white polish add a tiny dot in the middle of the bottom red dot for a whole.
Optional: With a toothpick ot a needle make the left and right dits of the anchor slightly pointy. 

When your design is dry add a top coat!

- Nail Design 2: Red & Blue Nautical Stripes

1. Apply a base coat to protect your nails.
2. Paint two thin coats of your white polish.
3. With striping tape or regular tape cut 2-3 strips (depending on the legth of your nails) and press them down in equal spaces.
Tip: You can add two strips next to each other- I find that it looks better, because the colors are better separated. 
4. Paint the top and botton white spaces with dark blue nail polish. (or red)
5. Paint the middle space with dark red polish. (or blue)
6. Remove the tape immediately after you are done. Clean up around your nails.

When your design is dry apply a top coat!

- Nail Design 3: Blue Nautical Stripes (or Red Stripes)

1. Start with a base coat. This will protest your nails.
2. Paint two thin layers of your white polish.
3. With striping tape or regular tape- cut a few strips and press them down your nails like in picture 3. Here I added two strips next to each other in order to better separate the blue stripes.
4. Paint your whole nail with blue polish (or red).
5.Immediately remove the tape (very carefully). Clean up around your nail.

When your design is dry apply a top coat!

- Nail Design 4: Nautical French Tip

          I don't think I needed to explain this design in steps: paint the tip of your nail white (like when your make a french tip). Then place a piece of blue or red striping tape on the bottom of the tip to create a clean edge and also give the design a more nautical feel. If you don't on striping tape you can use your art brush and some blue (or red) polish and make a thin line.

When your design is dry apply a top coat!

I hope you liked this design. This summer I am mostly going to do Nail It Tutorials, so there will be a lot more. 

xoxo,
    HriS