If you read my at-home nail review of Dashing Diva’s products, you’ll know I’ve become quite the lazy girl when it comes to going out to get my regular mani-pedis. Why spend an hour at a salon for nail polish when I could be finished in five minutes with Dashing Diva nails?
However, there are things I love about the salon experience. For example, I love that special luxe nail art I can get at the salon from an artist. Albeit, I don’t miss being stuck with that special nail art for 2 weeks when I only wanted it for a special event!
I’ve become a fan of doing things more like they do on the runway: fast and easy to apply and just as easy to remove.
If you read my post on Christian Cowan’s SS20 NYFW show, you’ll see that even complex glam nails can be quick when you use the right ingredients.
Just like a recipe, you can spend your time in the kitchen all day long making everything from scratch (which is where I prefer my spare time to go), or you can buy things ready-made so you can prepare a meal quickly! For my nails, I choose the latter.
But that doesn’t mean quick and easy can’t be gorgeous. And it definitely doesn’t mean you can’t have that high-end luxury nails look! When I was in London, I wanted a special nail for a nighttime glam look to go with my silk Ted Baker dress.
I have been seeing that bling, sparkle and glam nail look on the red carpet and wanted to put my own personal spin on it. I think after Kim Kardashian did her dripping water-inspired look when the Met Gala did their 2019 “Camp” theme, the dense nail-covering bling started to morph into a flowing, almost star-like sparkle.
Watch my video for a step-by-step tutorial!
Here’s what I used to achieve my look:
Magic Press in Polished Porcelain (application instructions here)
Deco Jewels in Ready, Set, Sparkle (Small)
Deco Jewels in Shine On (Medium)
Deco Jewels in Ready, Set, Sparkle (Large)
Application Tools:
Tweezers
Safety pin (paper clip would’ve probably been better, but I was traveling ;))
How to get my DIY look
Step 1: Prep – Apply Magic Press nails in a solid color (the closer you are to nude, the more on-trend it’ll look)
Step 2: Create Symmetry – Apply a small crystal jewel right above your nail bed on each finger in the center.
Step 3: Create an accent nail – Apply a Gem Gem accent crystal on one of your nails (I chose my middle finger).
Step 4: Apply crystal jewels on nails – Divide the jewel sizes up and alternate while applying to each nail bed. Less is more for this look! I tried to stick with mostly odd numbers and created a “dice” pattern.
Step 5: Apply crystals to fingers – If you’re going out for a special occasion or event, this will add that show stopping magic!
Step 6: Clean up – Any extra glue will come off easily with acetone, or just wash your hands a couple times. My preference is to use soap and water so I don’t risk discoloration.
The crystals stayed on my nail beds beautifully with the glue, however, the crystals came off my skin the next morning pretty easily. I was impressed by how well the crystals stayed on without a top coat.
Most important step: These nails should be unique to you, so don’t be afraid to mix it up and have fun!
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