Happy Fourth of July!!
A few of my fellow nail bloggers and I decided to do a Watermelon Wednesday, where each of us will share our variations of Watermelon nails! After checking out this tutorial, be sure to check out the other watermelon manis from these talented ladies:
365 Days of Color
College Polished
Jilltastic Nail Design
Munchy's Nails
Manicurator
Tall Girl In Heels With Pretty Painted Nails
DIY Polish
I've never done watermelons before, and was super excited to try my own
spin on them... since watermelons are rarely perfect, I thought I would
go for a realistic look with a gradient under a jelly pink!! ...And I
figured while I was at it, I would do a tutorial for you as well!! :D
Supplies Needed:
Polishes Left to Right:
Nina Ultra Pro Black
Avon Nailwear Tropical Punch
FingerPaints Pop Rock Pink
China Glaze Holly-Day
Deborah Lippmann Almost Paradise
Orly Rubberized Base
Essie Good-To-Go
Make-up Wedge cut in half
Foil (or plastic plate, whatever you prefer)
Dotting Tool
Nail Art Brush
You can use any light and dark green... and you will need a jelly pink polish (Pop Rock Pink isn't quite jelly enough, it didn't work as I had planned exactly... but it worked OK!)
You will also need a nail art brush - I went with my go-to short brush. I love the control it gives me. And a small dotting tool. I used both sides of this tool.
Here we go!
Start with a base of your light green color. I only did one coat, it isn't necessary to get it fully covered.
Drop some of your dark pink polish on your foil and use one of the make-up wedges and sponge the dark pink color.. leaving approximately 1/8" at the tip of your nail. (this was meant to be visible after the jelly pink coat over it... that's where it went wrong haha)
Drop some of your light green on the foil and sponge over the pink a little.. to blend it better. This does not have to be perfect, the jelly overlay smooths it out and hides imperfections.
Now, most watermelon manis just have the seeds over the pink, but we all know in real life watermelon seeds are a all throughout. It seemed fitting to add a couple on each nail before the jelly coat. Use your small dotting tool with you black polish to add them.
I used the pointy end of my dotting tool to make them tear-drops.
Make sure you let your black seeds dry completely and use your pink jelly polish to cover the whole nail... If you don't, you will get smudges, like I did with my impatience.
Now, grab your small nail art brush and paint the tip of your nails with your dark green polish. It took two coats to get full coverage with no streaks.
Now finish it off with more seeds and little, light green stripes. Let your nails dry as much as possible. I like to do my clean-up while they are drying... it keeps me from getting impatient. Then top coat and enjoy!
I think the sponging really helped to make the pink "meat" of the watermelon look more realistic. One day I am going to find the perfect pink jelly and master this mani!! :p
Have you tried a watermelon mani before?? Now I'm craving watermelon... lol
