Airbrushed Nails: The Whole Process

Women love airbrushed nails... this lesson is inspired from all the guys out there who have e-mailed me asking me for more detailed instructions so that they could paint their wives/girlfriends nails for them - SO SWEET!

Several of the e-mails spoke of attempts that failed miserably because the woman involved panicked... I'm hoping you can show them this lesson and ease their minds.

For this project you will need the following:

• your airbrush equipment
• two acrylic airbrush paint colors (a light and a dark)
• mesh
• clear nail polish
• scrap paper

Scroll down when you are ready to start!

Step 1

First things first ... you need a hand with some nails on it :) If you are a guy, I recommend you let the lady take care of the manicure part.

The nails should be completely clean (i.e. no nail polish on them)

Step 2

Next gather all the stuff you need to complete your airbrushed nails. Here I have two little cups of paint, a piece of mesh, clear nail polish and some scrap paper to catch the overspray.

Side Note

The mesh I used is shown in the picture above... you can get this stuff in the sculpting section of your local craft story. It donned on me after the fact that I could have just used fishnet stockings.

Step 3

Load your airbrush with the lightest color of paint and spray each of the nails. Don't try to "stay in the lines" ... just spray.

This is the part where the woman getting her fingernails is gonna panic if this is her first time. You are getting paint all over her skin, its messy, and the color is DULL and FLAT and not in the slightest bit attractive. ASK HER TO TRUST YOU! It will get better.

Step 4

Once all the nails are painted with the light color, load up the airbrush with the darker color then apply the mesh over the top and spray away. If you are using something rough as a mesh (like I am) be careful that you don't scratch up the paint beneath.

Step 5

When all the nails are painted they will look like this ... again... really DULL and FLAT... but with a pretty pattern.

Step 6

Here is where we make the nails pretty! Apply clear nail polish over the top of each nail (or get her to do it for you ... she has had more practice). See how the dullness completely fades and the colors pop now?

Step 7

When all the nails are all cleared, use your airbrush to blow air lightly on the wet nails to dry them. Make sure they are really really dry before proceeding to the next step.

Step 8

Now it's time to get all that extra paint that is on the skin off! Simply wash off the excess paint with soap and water in the sink.

and VOILA .... airbrushed nails!

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