Tutorial: Zebra Stripes Chase the Blues Away

Another edition of Tutorial Tuesday here.  I have been wanting to figure out how to do some free hand animal print for a while, cuz even with practice I just can't get a consistent stamp...aack!  I gotta keep working at it and maybe try some different plats.  Anyway, for today I studied a few videos of freehand zebra nail art and here are some things I learned to make this look:  You want to have a medium length detailing brush, a nice rich black polish or acrylic, your base color/s and a steady hand.  I will need to tweak 3 out of 4 of these things from what I used for the next time I try this, as you will see.  End result looks a little something like this:

1) Pick your base color.  I went with yellow.  As this mani is meant to chase the blues away, what else but a bright yellow, pink and black combo??  Apply one coat of your strengthening base coat and then two coats of your base color. This color pictured is Sally X-treme Wear in Mellow Yellow. Don't worry about cleanup til the last step.

2) Using a small wad of plastic wrap with your second color on it, dab the nail.  I chose this pink cuz it had a bit of bling in it to give the look more dimension.  It is Kleancolor Sparkling Cosmos.

 

3) Next, using your detail brush and black polish or acrylic(which I will use next time so you don't have the inconsistency you can see here) draw a slightly curved line diagonally somewhere through the nail.  

                             

4) Add more and more stripes till the nail is filled up.  I apologize for the glare here, but basically you're going to alternate which side of the nail you're striping from and make sure you get at least one forked stripe on each nail.  Out of the examples I looked at this seemed to be the simplest and most effective formula.  I know my freehand needs much work, but that's the whole point right?

5) Finish up with top coat once you've given the nail 5-10 minutes to dry.  You can never wait too long here.  

 6)  A bit of cleanup around the nail and there you have it.  A finished saran wrap/zebra print mani.

Hope this little step-by-step encourages you to be brave enough to sport something a little wild on your nails, and get a little practice doing freehand nail art.  Hey, if I can attempt it- you can!

Over and Out.