How-To: Easy Stained Glass Nail Art

Hi guys! Today I thought I'd show you how to create stained glass nail art that you can easily replicate on your dominant hand. Most of the stained glass manicures that I've seen involve very geometric colorblocking, which can be hard to do well with your non-dominant hand. So after a little experimenting, I decided that sponging on a gradient was both easier and better recreated the hazy vibrance of stained glass.

Step 1.) Apply a basecoat and paint your nails one coat of white. This ensures that the gradient will look vibrant and opaque.

Step 2.) Once the white polish has dried, paint 3-4 stripes of differently colored polish onto a porous make-up sponge. These stripes don't have to be perfectly equal in width- thicker and thinner lines will only add to the effect.

 

 

Step 3.) Follow the chart below to create a gradient effect on your nails.

 

Frame 1: Line up the strips of color on the sponge with your nail- the deepest color should begin at the cuticle and then fade to a hazy blue/purple. However, the colors are totally up to you- I've just decided to use colors that remind me of sunsets. Next, gently pat the sponge onto the nail. If you press down too hard, the sponge will actually deposit less color because pressure encourages the polish to be absorbed into the sponge.  

 

Frame 2: Immediately after sponging on two layers of the gradient, brush a fast drying topcoat over your nails to softly blend the colors.

 

Frame 3: Use a Q-tip dipped into nail polish remover to clean up around the edges.

 

 

Step 4.) Follow the chart below to add a stained glass design. 

 

Frame 1: Use a black striper to outline the sides of your nail.

 

Frame 2: Connect the lines you made on either side of your nail to box in the gradient. The easiest way make slightly curved lines like these is to gently rotate your finger while keeping the stiper almost still.

 

Frame 3: Begin to build an intricate looking design by using the same striper to create a large X.

 

Frame 4: Start to make random lines that branch out from any point on the X. Keep adding lines until you feel as if you've captured the look of a stained glass window. Personally, I like to break up the straight lines with occasional curved ones.

 

 

Step 5.) Wait 25-30 minutes before adding a topcoat, just to be safe. Accidentally smearing your black lines would REALLY suck!

 

Products Used:

 

Kiss Nail Art Paint in black, Essie "Blanc", Urban Outfitters "Crowded", Illamasqua "Milf", Sally Hansen "Mellow Yellow", Butter London "Dahling".

 

Basecoat and Topcoat: NailTek Foundation II, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti Chip Topcoat.

 

 

I hope you guys try this design out. Thanks for reading and good luck!