Have you ever seen a fingernail polish design that was so detailed, so intricate, that it could have been a sticker? What if I told you that you don't have to go to a salon to get those kinds of nails? There are people out there who put an incredible amount of effort into learning this creative hobby. My sister is one of these people.
Like any girls, we loved playing with nail polish as kids. Then one day, our mom bought some nail polish pens. This allowed us to experiment with detailed designs like we never thought possible before. From that point on, my sister was hooked. Today, she has a bucket of nail polish colors and tools. But, you don't have to be intimidated by that. All you need to start creating this kind of nail art is some polishes and paints, dotting tools, patience, practice, and maybe a friend to do your non-dominant hand :)
Oh, and the step-by-step list of tips she shared with me below:
Like any girls, we loved playing with nail polish as kids. Then one day, our mom bought some nail polish pens. This allowed us to experiment with detailed designs like we never thought possible before. From that point on, my sister was hooked. Today, she has a bucket of nail polish colors and tools. But, you don't have to be intimidated by that. All you need to start creating this kind of nail art is some polishes and paints, dotting tools, patience, practice, and maybe a friend to do your non-dominant hand :)
Oh, and the step-by-step list of tips she shared with me below:
 | In this post, my sister painted my nails as Despicable Me minions. To start, she pulls out the colors she will use from her ever-growing collection of bottles. One key component of her nail designs are the dotting tools she uses. These tools allow her to make tiny details at varying sizes. The smallest of her dotting tools has a point as thin as a toothpick. For the minion nails, she needed yellow, white, blue and little bit of red polish. She also used black and white acrylic paint - not polish - because she needs a grey color for this design, and paint mixes better than polish. |
Step One
The first step of any nail painting project is a base coat on clean nails. This coat will help the design last longer. And, let's be honest... if you're going to dedicate two hours to designing this nail art, you want it to last 1-2 weeks. My sister uses an Essie base coat.
Step Two
Lay the foundation color. These types of involved designs require several layers of polish. Visualize the design you want to create, and think about what the background color will be. In this case, the minions needed a yellow background. For my thumbs, my sister wanted to paint the minions' logo, so we painted those nails blue. Don't forget to allow each layer to completely dry before painting anything on top of it.
Step Three
The next step for the minions was their grey goggles. Because grey nail polish is usually too thin to achieve the nice solid grey color my sister likes (without it running or looking sloppy), she mixes black and white acrylic paint on a plastic tray. Be careful, though; if you mix the paints together on a paper or Styrofoam plate, it might melt right through the bottom!
Step Four
Some of the minions have one eye and some have two. My sister uses her medium-sized dotting tool to dab circles onto each nail.
Step Five
To get started on the minion's overalls, she makes a small square of blue on the very tip of each nail (except the thumbs). She used a skinnier dotting tool for this part. Even though she didn't have to mix the blue, it's easiest to get the paint onto the dotting tools by dabbing the nail polish brush onto a paper plate. This gave her a little pool of the pain to dip from while making these tiny marks.
Step Six
Add the whites of the eyes. Dab a little bit of white nail polish onto a paper plate and use a medium-sized dotting tool to add a white circle on top of each grey circle.
Step Seven
Now, we need to add the goggle and overall straps. Just like the other steps, pull a glob of black paint onto your side plate. You'll need a smaller dotting tool to get these lines sharp. Draw a line from the each edge of the grey goggles off the side of the nail. Do the same off the side of the blue overalls. Don't worry if you get some paint on your skin; we will go back at the very end after all the paint is dry and clean that up. If you try to wipe it off now, it could smear or damage the paint already on your nails. While you already have the black paint out, go ahead and also add the pupils to each white eye circle.
Step Eight
Now let's build the mouths. Use the black paint with a small dotting tool to draw a smile on some nails, and a half-circle on others. On each half-circle mouth, use the white to add teeth and a dot of red for a tongue.
Step Nine
If at any point during the process you make a mistake, don't panic. If it's a small mistake, fill the cap of your nail polish remover and use a Q-tip to dab the mistake. If it's a larger mistake, you may need to clean off the nail and start over. If you smudge one of the blue tips, you can easily Q-tip off the whole tip, and repaint the yellow, blue and black as needed.
You can also use more nail polish to cover up a mistake. For example, my sister didn't like how one of the black smiling mouths looked, so she used her dotting tool with yellow nail polish to cover up the black line. After the yellow dried, she re-drew the black line.
You can also use more nail polish to cover up a mistake. For example, my sister didn't like how one of the black smiling mouths looked, so she used her dotting tool with yellow nail polish to cover up the black line. After the yellow dried, she re-drew the black line.
Step Ten
Top coat! Don't forget to finish off your masterpiece with a layer of clear top coat. This helps to prevent chipping, which will help the minions last longer.
After the nails have dried, use your Q-tip of nail polish remover to clean up any paint that you may have gotten on your skin - but be careful not to wipe too closely to your nail!
After the nails have dried, use your Q-tip of nail polish remover to clean up any paint that you may have gotten on your skin - but be careful not to wipe too closely to your nail!
That's it! These minion nails are just one of my sister's many nail masterpieces. To see some more of her designs, visit her Pinterest page.
