Foolproof Nail Art: Giftwrapped

Getting caught up in the fun of the holidays, I've been keen to try different Christmas-themed nail art - remember my snowy manicure? Well this time round, I wanted to try something that would feature my official favourite holiday polish: Ruby from Joe Fresh. It is just the prettiest colour, and full of glitter, which I love. Best part? Unlike most glittery polish it is extremely easy to remove = winning. 

I got the idea for gift-wrapped nails on Pinterest where I'd seen people paint their nails one colour, then using carefully snipped pieces of tape, make a cross pattern on their nail and paint a second colour over top, removing the tape to reveal a pretty giftwrap-esque look. I attempted that trick, and it was an epic failure. The tape strips I had painstakingly cut out ripped off the base polish even though I let it dry completely first. The end result just. looked. awful. I will not be doing that again. So I turned to my nail art pen, and it was SO much easier. I promise! 

Here's how I did it:

1. Paint on a base coat. (I use an all-in-one from Essie).

2. Apply two coats of your chosen polish colour - in this case "Ruby". Allow to dry.

3. Using a nail art pen, paint on two intersecting stripes on each nail (I personally like having the vertical stripe to one side and the horizontal stripe about a third of the way down). Allow to dry.

4. Using the nail art pen, in each of the four corners where the stripes meet, paint little half circles, to make a bow! Allow to dry.

5. Paint on a top coat, allow to dry, and you're done!

Trust me - if I can do it, so can you! If you decide to give this nail art a go, please let me know how it goes! Even better? Snap a photo on instagram, or tweet one to me! I'd love to see your results!

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Instagram