Every girl strives to make her hands look feminine and neat, and her nails to attract the gaze of others. A variety of designs on nails can emphasize individuality, add some zest and complete your look. Based on this, most girls, when creating a manicure, prefer a design with the presence of artistic painting, and the use of acrylic paints allows you to display an original, realistic design with a beautiful highlight of shadows.
What is paint?
Acrylic paint is a special mixture based on a water-dispersed liquid with a creamy consistency. It is quite convenient to use: it is diluted with water, has no odor and is quite easy to apply to the nail.
Before you learn how to paint your nails with acrylic paints, you should clarify some nuances: how to choose high-quality paint and how to apply it correctly.
Pros of acrylic paints
Despite the fact that acrylic paints have a wide range of applications and many varieties, to draw patterns on nails you need universal ones.
Manicure with acrylic paints
Acrylic has a lot of advantages:
- rich color palette ;
- easy to apply: flexible, lays flat, does not spread;
- has no chemical odor, non-toxic ;
- suitable for application on both natural and extended nails coated with gel polish or biogel, long and short;
- dries quickly;
- washes off with water , so design errors can be easily corrected during the application process;
- Even when applied in several layers, it does not chip or crack after drying.
Acrylic paints are made on a water basis, so they are non-toxic and therefore harmless to nails and the body as a whole.
Advantages of decor
The advantages of acrylic paints are as follows:
- Variety of colors. This paint allows you to mix shades with each other to get the color you need.
- Drawings can be applied to natural or artificial surfaces.
- Drawings with acrylic paints dry quickly enough in the open air.
- Acrylic paints are low cost and material consumption is low.
- The material is completely non-toxic. The paint is odorless, and its base is ordinary water.
- When the drawing is blurred or does not turn out very well, you can erase it with a sponge and drinking water.
- The technique of applying acrylic paints is quite simple and does not require additional equipment.
Considering all the advantages of acrylic mixtures, you can safely choose this material for applying high-quality manicure.
Why is it more convenient to paint with gel paints?
Beginning craftsmen and experts in home procedures often try to save money by purchasing only the necessary materials. Artistic gel paints are being replaced by various improvised means, which is fundamentally wrong.
- Large palette of colors. Paints are developed according to completely different principles; their palette is not tied to trends and includes a lot of shades. In addition, the paints mix perfectly with each other, which gives an endless kaleidoscope of color.
- The final integrity of the work. All paints have the same density and saturation, which makes the finished composition verified and complete. This result is difficult to achieve when working with a “mixed palette.”
- The paint does not dry on its own. To fix the finished image, polymerization under an ultraviolet lamp is required. Until this moment, the drawing is “live” and can be adjusted as many times as necessary.
- Well-developed consistency of the product. The paints remain in their designated places and do not flow due to their increased viscosity compared to other artistic media. During polymerization, the product does not deform or bubble.
- High pigmentation. Painting with gel paint gives a dense and rich layer in 1 touch.
- Economical consumption. Thanks to the brightness of the coloring composition, precise consistency and ease of use, such a product has very economical consumption.
You can paint with paints on both artificial and natural nail plates.
What do we need
Before you start painting your nails with acrylic paints, you need to acquire the necessary tools.
- Manicure accessories (tweezers, nail files).
- Set for applying gel polish.
- UV lamp.
- Acrylic paints of various colors.
- Brushes of different sizes.
- Surface for mixing paints (you can use a piece of foil).
- Cotton pads, a vase of water.
Having prepared everything you need, we begin to learn how to create a unique design at home.
What do you need to design your nails with gel paints?
In order to make designs on nails with gel paints you will need the following set of tools:
- Thin brushes. These can be either manicure brushes or art brushes.
- Dots. This tool is used for drawing colors, patterns, and dotted images.
- Palette. Using a plastic palette, a piece of plastic or foil paper, you can mix paints and get new shades and colors.
- UV lamp. Without this lamp, the gel nail paint will not harden or dry, which means that no nail design will work.
- Buff or polisher. It is used to remove the glossy layer from nails.
- Degreaser or cleanser.
- Primer.
- Gel polish base and top coat.
Acrylic painting technique
First of all, we will study in detail how to paint with acrylic paints on gel polish, so that the resulting design is no different from professional application.
- We give a neat look to your nails. We remove cuticles, file nails and polish them.
- Degrease the nail plates.
- We apply Shellac coating in the standard way (base, color varnish and top coat).
- Remove the sticky layer using a special liquid or regular alcohol.
- We wait until the varnish layer is completely dry. At this time, leave a drop of paint on a separate surface; if the consistency is thick, dilute it with a drop of water and mix well.
- Using a brush of the required thickness, we begin painting on the nails with acrylic paints and apply the selected patterns.
- Dry the drawing in the open air and secure the finish with a coating.
Painting with acrylic mixtures is not that difficult, but painting experience will still help. If you are a beginner, try applying simpler patterns, each time making the design more complex.
Review of popular manufacturers
When purchasing dyes, it is best to opt for trusted manufacturers. You can check with your manicurist what brand he uses and choose a similar option.
Products from Chinese and domestic manufacturers are on sale. It is better to buy them in specialized stores.
Severina (Severina)
This is a product of a Russian company. It has good quality and a very wide range of shades, there are even metallics and ones that glow under UV light. You can assemble your own palette. The average cost of one tube is 105 rubles. The necessary set will cost about one and a half thousand.
Planet Nails
The product is produced in tubes, the country of origin is China. It features bright, rich colors and dense texture.
This is a very economical option: a set of 24 tubes of 12 ml will cost 415 rubles. But there is a drawback: if the design is complex and a large layer of paint is applied, it may crack.
Lady Victory
Some of the cheapest paints. A set of 12 colors will cost 360-390 rubles. You can even find 18 shades on sale. Suitable for nail design at home. But professionals prefer to take other options - they note problems with the durability of the coating.
Oumaxi
An inexpensive palette for nail design from this Chinese manufacturer can be purchased for 300-390 rubles.
There are even fluorescent and metallic colors available in soft, non-metallic tubes. Masters note that they are dense, with a bright pigment and fit very well on the nail, even in one layer.
They are also used in the stamping technique - this is a method of applying a design using special plates, a kind of nail stamps.
Irisk
These sets are not cheap. One tube costs about 40 rubles. The material is excellent for working with both natural and artificial surfaces. It is dense and the color is rich. Requires additional topcoat.
Masters categorically do not advise using French paint on artificial nails with this paint: the surface will crack and come off.
At the initial stage, you can buy a ready-made offer: one such set contains 12 colors. Each tube has a volume of 20 ml. The set will cost 1219 rubles.
French and butterflies on nails
The technique of drawing butterflies is quite simple, even a beginner can handle it, the main thing is to have a little patience and the luxurious design will decorate your nails for a long time.
Stock up on the following materials.
- Shellac coating kit.
- Beige and white matte gel polish colors.
- Pink and black acrylic paints (pink can be obtained by mixing white and red).
- Medium and fine brushes.
- A piece of foil, sponges, a little water.
Follow these step-by-step instructions:
- We cover the prepared nails with gel polish of a natural color.
- Draw a “smile” line in white.
- After drying the finish coat, be sure to remove the sticky layer.
- Take pink acrylic paint and draw the wings of the future butterfly. It will look beautiful if you depict one half of the butterfly on one nail, and the second part on the next nail plate.
- After drying, we can highlight the outline of the design using black acrylic paint and a thin brush.
- The design can be applied to each nail or by focusing on only two or three surfaces.
- We fix the design with a top coat and dry it.
Having tried this design in practice, you will undoubtedly be convinced that painting on nails with acrylic paints is not as difficult as it seems, since a butterfly is a fairly large design that does not require excessive painstaking work.
Application method
To make the drawing neat and beautiful, you need to follow the application technique. For the procedure you need to prepare:
- Base and varnish;
- Clear nail polish;
- Acrylic paints;
- palette;
- Water;
- Thin brushes.
Nails must first be prepared for the procedure.
For this purpose, a bath is performed. You also need to remove the cuticle and shape your nails. Nail polishing will be required. You need to use a file. This procedure allows you to make your nails even, and therefore the paint will adhere much better. Then you need to apply the base, which should dry. Then a varnish is applied, which will serve as a background. The drawing is done with acrylic paints. It is necessary to lay out the necessary shades from the tubes, and you can do the work. If the paints are thick, then water is added to them. Depending on its quantity, different patterns are obtained. With dense thick acrylic paints you can create rich drawings. If the images are complex and several layers are performed, then they must dry thoroughly.
The designs are secured with clear varnish. In this case, the acrylic will be protected from external influences. With a clear coating, all unevenness is eliminated, and therefore the nails will look shiny.
About gel polish
. The product consists of regular varnish and gel. Cosmetics are used to build up the nail plate. Previously, to create the perfect manicure, you had to use one product and then another. As a result, the whole procedure took quite a long time. Gel polish is applied quite quickly. The result lasts for a long time, while the nails look bright. Cosmetics allow you to create the perfect manicure, which is why women of all ages love to do it. The work can be done at home if you purchase all the necessary tools for this.
A plot from spikelets
Having mastered the technique of drawing large drawings with acrylic paints, you should learn to design with the presence of small details.
For this we need:
- Shellac coating kit.
- White, yellow, green and black acrylic paints.
- Thin brushes.
- A piece of foil, sponges, a little water.
Let's take a closer look at the image of the spikelets.
- We coat the prepared nails with gel polish. For this design, the nail plate can be left natural color.
- After removing the sticky layer of Shellac, you can begin to apply the design.
- First of all, we learn to depict green grass. We draw thin lines in a chaotic manner, thickening them closer to the free edge. It turns out quite beautiful if you make several shades of green, diluting it with white.
- Next, mix white and yellow colors and draw ears of wheat. Carefully make identical strokes.
- After the acrylic paint has dried, we can begin applying the accents of the design. To do this, draw the contours with black paint and show some highlights. Don't overdo it with dark lines so as not to spoil the design.
- After the acrylic paint has dried, we fix the resulting design with a finish - a coating.
Practice, try applying various designs with acrylic paints. The main thing is to use your imagination, and you will see that luxurious designs are not so complicated.
Recommendations
Acrylic paints are very economical, but dry quickly. In order for them to last for a longer time, several rules should be followed.
For acrylic you need:
- comply with the storage conditions specified by the manufacturer;
- check the expiration date before purchasing;
- squeeze out of the tube in small portions.
Acrylic in tubes still dries out over time - then it is diluted with water, just like in cans.
To independently master nail painting techniques at home and surprise others with small masterpieces, you should listen to the advice of professionals.
Recommendations from nail design specialists:
- The hand should lie motionless. To do this you need to choose a convenient place.
- When painting, do not press the brush with force. Masks should be lightweight.
- For beginners, it is better to choose designs that are easy to perform.
- First, the outline is drawn, then it is shaded.
- If a complex pattern is taken, then it must be performed on one finger. The rest are made of simple overlapping fragments.
- Another fashionable trend: they take one finger of each hand and draw two overlapping scenes on them. And on the rest - just a monochromatic coating.
- A special fixative is applied to the finished miniature to fix the design.
If errors occur during the drawing process, excess layers of paint can be removed with water. To do this, use a regular cotton swab.
After work, you should not leave acrylic on the brush. It will be almost impossible to wash.
Beginners are advised to practice on plain paper. Try mixing and applying paints, work with painting patterns, study the results of applying paints to each other.
Photo of nail polish coating
Even more photos at the link: Gel polish with photo painting.
How to use paint
The first step is to squeeze the paint onto the panel.
But a small amount is better, as it dries quickly. If you think the color is too bright, you can check it on a piece of paper. Need a lighter shade? Just dilute with water and stir with a stick. Also, if you don’t have the desired shade, for example, you need pink, but you only have red and white, just squeeze out a couple of drops of red and white paint and mix. They should not be placed on top of each other, but side by side. This makes it easier to make the color you want.
How to create a design
Three main types of design creation:
We use colored varnish as a base. Any varnish is applied to the nail plates (are you planning dark patterns? Then you need a light varnish, and vice versa).
We wait for it to dry completely and start creating the image itself with acrylic paint, there are a lot of options - flowers, stars, leaves and so on. When the drawing is dry, coat it with a protective clear varnish to secure it.
Now we use acrylic paint itself as a base. Using a wide flat brush, apply paint to the entire surface of the nails.
Simply dip the tip of the brush into the paint and spread. Before adding more paint, dip the brush in water and wipe off the excess with a napkin. Next you can draw patterns. Finally, coat with varnish.
Without applying the base layer, you can achieve an unusual naturalness of the pattern. It is without a colored base that they look very natural. By the way, acrylic paint dries in only 10 seconds to a minute.
