It's pretty easy but requires a bit of patience so maybe don't do this when you're in a bad mood. ;)
I first saw this sort of technique (sort of) on YouTube from CutePolish but I didn't really like the method too much. She uses sticky tape, paints the polish on, and then cuts it into strips. It does make it really easy to cut into strips, but you leave the sticky tape on your nail, and I found that the tape lifted and peeled after about a day of wear. Tammy from Oh My Gosh Polish created a similar tutorial on how to do the zig zags, but I do it a little different from her method so I thought I'd share it. :)
Just so we're clear, I didn't invent this method & I'm not claiming to, I just wanted to share how I do it!
You Will Need:
- Zip lock bag
- Tweezers
- Nail polish (if that wasn't obvious already...)
- Fast drying top coat
- Regular top coat
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| Click on the photo to see a larger version! |
Then leave for at least 3 hours to dry! This is really important so be patient! I tried waiting only 1 or 2 hours and it just doesn't work. The polish won't peel off the baggie unless it's dry. So maybe you can do this at night and then have it dry overnight, or if you do your manis at night, do this in the morning, and then by night time the polish will be ready to go! While you're waiting for the polish to dry, this might be a good time to paint your nails with a base colour, so it'll be dry when you want to add the zig zags on. :) (The polish I've got on as a base is Born Pretty holo #8 that I posted earlier today)
2. When the polish is dry, use a pair of tweezers to carefully lift up the side of the polish and peel it off of the zip lock bag.
3. Using your pinking shears/scissors, cut the polish into strips as wide/thin as you'd like them to be. This will probably vary depending on your nail length and how many zig zags you'd like on your nail. The thinner you cut them, the more zig zags you'll get on your nail. It can be fiddlier to cut the strips small, though so I prefer to cut them a bit wider. I usually put on 3 zig zags per nail.
4. Put a thin layer of a top coat over your nail *not a fast drying top coat!* for your zig zags to stick to.
5. Pick up a zig zag with your tweezers and place it where you want the first zig zag to be. You can move it around if you need to but it's best to just be really careful when you place it because if you try to lift it up, it may be already too stuck onto your nail and it could rip. :( Repeat with as many zig zags you like.
6. Trim off any excess on the sides with a cuticle nipper or nail scissors/clippers and clean up around your cuticles with polish remover & a small makeup brush if necessary.
7. Add a generous layer of your fast drying top coat, and you're DONE. :)
I hope this tutorial was easy to follow! It's my first pic tutorial ever, haha. I actually found it much more time consuming (it took me about 5 hours all together! With waiting for polish to dry and all) and harder to put together than a video tutorial, though. :/ I probably won't be doing many more pic tutorials in the future, just sayin'.
