Nail Art Ebook: The Easy Way to Creative Nails (12 designs with online videos)

By LaLilliMakeup and Stefano Manzoni

This DIY nail art book is packed with great ideas and techniques you need to get started right away!

The instructions include techniques for dotting, painting, applying embellishments, and more. Mixable, water-based practice polishes make it easy to experiment with color. A selection of tiny gems, studs and plastic bows adds a little extra pizzaz. Design-stimulating ideas set you on your way to making fantastic, colorful nails.

Before you start wielding your brushes and dotters, a section on basic nail care, including recipes for homemade treatments, will help you keep your nails healthy underneath it all. The instruction book features fun projects--from cute cartoony critters to a little bit of heavy metal--plus a few others to try with bits and pieces you can find in stores or online.

Online video tutorials make it super easy to follow the instructions in the book. And once you get these basic techniques down, you will be able to create any original nail art you like!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Release date: Aug 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781462919475

Book preview

Part 1

THE BASICS

Nail structure and composition

First, let’s see what nails are made of and take a look at their structure.

A nail is composed almost entirely of keratin, with small quantities of vitamins, mineral salts, fat, water, and amino acids making up the balance. Fragile and dry nails often contain less water than average, while flexible and soft nails contain a higher percentage of water than average, close to 18%.

In terms of its structure, the nail can be subdivided into the nail matrix (the germinal layer), the nail plate (the actual nail), the nail walls, and the nail bed.

● The nail plate: is the largest part of the nail. It consists of layers of keratin.

● Nail root: is the bottom of our nails and is visible in the lunula (that little half-moon at the base of the nail).

● Body of the nail: is the central, pinkish part of the nail.

● Free edge: is the free, protruding part of the nail that is not bound to the nail bed as the nail plate continuously slides forward over the bed. In nail jargon, the curved line that marks this edge is called the smile line.

● The nail wall is the folded cuticle that covers the edges of the nail bed and the base of the nail (its root).

● Finally, the nail bed is a dermal tissue full of nerves and blood vessels.

COMMON PROBLEMS….and a few helpful tips

Nails can say a lot about your health. Polish can help conceal minor blemishes, but covering isn’t enough. Nail disorders should never be ignored. Healthy nails are strong, smooth, even, and of a uniform light-pink color.

● Brittle nails: weak and thin, brittle nails tend to break easily. Brittleness can be due to vitamin and/or mineral deficiency. As we’ve noted, keratin is the main component of nails, but the vitamins, minerals, fats and other elements that make up the smaller portion are important too. A deficiency in any of these can affect texture and thus weaken the nail. Frequent contact with solvents, detergents or other strong substances also causes deterioration, so wear rubber gloves when using them.

● Purple or purplish-blue nails: generally in cold weather nails, like lips, assume a purplish-blue hue, indicating poor blood circulation.

● Yellow nails: the regular use of dark or low-quality polishes can cause yellowing (so can smoking, so don’t do it!). Always apply a base coat before the colored