It’s halloween time, y’all! Are you ready to make some magic with a fun spooky-color-themed leopard DIY? Sweet! Me too!
Let’s wrap a bit about the products I’m using. For those that have been following me for a while, you know I’m primarily a gel nail artist, however, when I’m working on set (or on my mother, who is not a fan of gel) I use traditional nail polish about 99% of the time. While a lot of brands have my heart, the only lacquer service I offer in my studio is Dazzle Dry. Dazzle Dry checks all the boxes that my clients care about (vegan, cruelty-free, non-toxic, made in the US) but all the green marketing buzzwords in the world are meaningless if the performance isn’t there. I’ll tell you right now, Dazzle Dry DELIVERS. Easily lasting 2+ weeks on clients and fully dries in 5 minutes. Is it sorcery? Witchcraft? Science? All of the above.
You can absolutely do this look with any polish, the dry time will just take a bit longer.
Step 1: Prep your nails. Remove all product, groom your cuticles, moisturize and use a cotton ball with some acetone or alcohol to remove any oils from your nail plate before starting.
Step 2: Once the nail is clean apply your base coat and let it dry. If you’re using the Dazzle Dry system, follow the instructions and apply two coats of base making sure that it dries matte between coats.
Step 3: One to two coats of Amber Glow, allowing lacquer to fully dry between coats
Step 4: Add offset large spots of Citrus Streak (in the video, mine are a little thick so there was some pooling, so err a bit more conservatively than I did) and allow to dry, apply a second coat on top if needed, allow to dry completely.
Step 5: using a palette and Doublemoss Arte #2 brush and Black Stamping Lacquer, start adding black spot detail around the Citrus Streak blobs. I like to alternate between large and small, allow to dry completely. I choose the Black Stampling Lacquer because the dry time is slower, so it gives me more time to hand paint.
Step 6: Add additional black dot detail to some of the negative space of the design, allow to dry completely.
Step 7: Apply Top Coat and allow to dry completely
Step 8: TRICK OR TREAT VIBES COMPLETE
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