For a long time, I had been meaning to do some nail art revolving around Mondrian's artwork. The white background, the clean lines and the red, blue and yellow. Plain and simple.
And then, I read that colour blocking was/is experiencing a revival in the world of fashion and beauty and I still hadn't done my Mondrian nails. Sigh! The reasons: (1) I didn't have the time. (2) I didn't have a yellow crème polish (and refused to go out to buy a bottle just for this manicure, never to use it ever again after that). (3) I found out that Mondrian manicures are nothing new - they've been done, done and done before.
So, I shelved the idea of doing a Mondrian nail art theme and decided to do a variation of it. Mondrian-inspired conservative colour blocking, is probably the best way to describe this. It's conservative as it uses only black, white, grey and red.
These were the nail polishes that I used:
These were the nail polishes that I used:
L-R
Grey: KOH - Playful
Red: Alessandro Stiletto - No. 21
White: Herôme - Ottawa
Black: Arcancil - Arrogant Black
I also used a base coat and a top coat for this manicure (not shown).
I've worn this look twice, once with the colour blocking on just the ring fingers and another time on all nails. I thought I'd show step-by-step how I got this look. I freehanded all the way. Tapes and such just never work on me (they hate me!). Just as with normal nail polishing, it's best to rest both your hands on the table when doing this. I have unsteady hands, so please excuse any imperfect lines.
You would of course need to wait at least five minutes between each coat/step.
1. Apply base coat.
2. Apply 2 or 3 coats of the grey polish as the base colour.
Grey: KOH - Playful
Red: Alessandro Stiletto - No. 21
White: Herôme - Ottawa
Black: Arcancil - Arrogant Black
I also used a base coat and a top coat for this manicure (not shown).
I've worn this look twice, once with the colour blocking on just the ring fingers and another time on all nails. I thought I'd show step-by-step how I got this look. I freehanded all the way. Tapes and such just never work on me (they hate me!). Just as with normal nail polishing, it's best to rest both your hands on the table when doing this. I have unsteady hands, so please excuse any imperfect lines.
You would of course need to wait at least five minutes between each coat/step.
1. Apply base coat.
2. Apply 2 or 3 coats of the grey polish as the base colour.
3. Apply in one sure stroke (length-wise) the red polish on a little more than one-third of the nail.
L: Just applied; R: Cleaned up
4. Apply the white polish from the red border to the side of the nail. Don't worry if it's messy. The black lines will hide the faults.
L: Just applied; R: Partially cleaned up
5. Use a fine brush to draw the black lines. I borrowed the brush from one of the Essence Nail Art Tip Painter bottles.
Draw the two short lines to enclose the white rectangle. Then, draw the lengthwise line that separates the red from the other colours.
L: Just applied; R: Cleaned up
6. For the thick black French tip, apply the black polish in a few strokes in the direction of the nail tip (ie. not side-to-side).
7. Apply a clear glossy top coat, clean up the sides and you're done.
More nail and outfit photos over at Witoxichic.
