☆★ Dolphin nail art ★☆

My mother absolutely loves dolphins.

She was a bit hesitant when I suggested blue glitter with a dolphin stamp,

and especially when I said to do one nail completely in a color (in this case, glitter)

But she loves it!

And I must admit, it looks nice!

On the ringfinger I did a fade going from silver holo to blue, and on top a black dolphin stamp.

In the video I start off by removing the old design with a file.

Gel is not as hard to file as opposed to acrylics, so I like to do that by hand.

When the old design is removed, I dust everything off, and cleanse the nails with a dehydrator, 

that gets rid of any excess dust and any oils or dirt that might be on the nail.

Next I put on the primer, but first I drain the excess on a paper towel.

I do that on all 10 nails

Then I start with my first coat of gel.

With my gel brush I pick up a small to medium amount of clear gel and put it on the nail with a stroking motion

(as you would apply nail polish)

The first coat does not have to be thick, but as you can see, I use a bit more on her middle finger because that had no gel on it. And that is better, so when you are re-doing nails after a couple of weeks, you don't file on the natural nails when you take off the old design.

The reason I file off the old design completely is because your next design will look prettier.

(if you had an old design with black and you did not remove it completely, and you want to use some light glitters, your black design will shine trough and that's not pretty, unless you like that look )

I go around the cuticles with a rosewood stick and then let it cure for 2 minutes.

On the ring finger I applied a thin coat of clear gel over the entire nail.

I start at the free edge with applying blue glitter, fading it up a bit.

Then I take a silver holographic glitter and go from the cuticles fading down toward the free edge.

Again, going around the cuticles with a rosewood stick and I let that cure for 2 minutes.

On the rest of the nails, on the free edge, I applied a thin coat of clear gel

and form a smile line with the blue glitter.

I clean up my smile line, and then let it cure for 2 minutes

When all 10 fingers have been done with glitter the way you want, it is time to put on our last coat of gel.

This is the same for all 10 nails.

Apply a thin coat of clear gel over the entire nail

(if you picked up any glitters onto your brush, just clean that off)

Then dip your brush into the gel and pick up a nice string of gel, and start wiggling from left to right over the nail.

I usually start at the free edge, going up to the cuticles and then back to the middle to build up some thickness.

Then I have a look around and add more strings to the places that need to be filled up a bit more.

When the gel self levels, it will be smooth.

Do not use too much gel, and try to work with some kind of a tempo, or else the gel will run in to the cuticles and side walls.

This is not a disaster if that happens, it's just messy.

If that happens you can either

*take a wipe with nailpolish remover and remove the gel (this works best when you're not working with pure glitter)

or

*take your rosewood stick and try to clean it up by going around the cuticle and side walls

or 

*wipe everything off with your gel brush

Again, I go around the cuticles with a rosewood stick and let it cure, this time for 3 minutes

When all 10 nails are done,

Cleanse the nails (removing sticky layer) with nailpolish remover and a lint free wipe.

File the free edge and side walls.

Clean off the dust, and then I start with my stamping,

polish, scrape it, stamp it, nail polish over it, done.

Put some cuticle oil on the cuticles and give them a good rub to get that blood circulation pumping again.

And voila!

Products used:

IBD prep

lint free wipes

nailpolish remover

IBD builder clear gel

rosewood stick

blue and silver holo glitter

file 100/180

black stamping polish Konad

image plate with dolphin

Orly Glosser clear nailpolish

cuticle oil