Sheer black polka dot nails with flowers and glitter
The two polka dotted nails have a sheer grey base using two coats of Gelish Clean Slate (coming out next month), and then I used a dotting tool and some black gel polish to draw the border around each nail. After curing the border, I added the dots while flash curing periodically to keep the dots from running together. I have a new favorite black… Black Cat by DIY Hard Nails. I only applied one coat of black to each nail so you can see how opaque it is. After curing my outlines and dots, I applied a layer of TIO and cured… then I lightly buffed the top coat and applied a second layer of TIO. This helps minimize the bumpy look of dotted gel manicures. Next, I drew on the flowers using some of my Mundo de Unas stamping polishes, and then I applied one final layer of TIO after the polish dried completely.
My index finger has three coats of TruGel Freaky Fete. The thumb and pinky both have three coats of TruGel Magic and Mischief and then I added a glitter gradient into the tacky layer of the polish before top coating. Watch this video to learn how to do a glitter gradient with loose glitter. I used purple holographic ultrafine glitter from AFC.
The index finger, TruGel Freaky Fete looks a lot like IBD Cashmere Cutie. Is it just a few shades darker or is my monitor just playing tricks on me? The purples that I own are Cashmere Cutie, Ink Secret Desire and Gelish Night Reflection and Gelish He Loves me He Loves me Not (mine fades blue)…but I’ve been looking for a brighter summer purple. Of course I’ve considered You Glare I Glow but it looks so thin and patchy in most of the pictures I see it in :( Do you have any recommendations for a brighter purple with good coverage?
Cashmere Cutie is a little lighter and a little pinker than Freaky Fete. My favorite bright purple this summer is Gelish Tahiti Hottie.
BTW I think this mani is adorable! :)
I love that you added the two flowers to the one nail – it just completes the look. I really like it!
Andrea,
My Clean Slate is not sheer like yours. Did you mix it with TIO? Do you recommend any other color that would work besides Clean Slate? Thank you!
I received a press sample that had the wrong formula. It wasn’t supposed to be sheer, but mine was and I kinda like it :) I don’t know of another sheer grey like this, but I think you can mix black or grey with TIO to get something similar.