Nail artist Simcha Whitehill aka Miss Pop shows you exactly how to recreate this pastel Monet-like mani.
1. Prep. File your nails into the desired shape, push back your cuticles — DO NOT CUT THEM! — and then apply one layer of a base coat polish, followed by two coats of white polish like CoverGirl Outlast Nail Gloss in "Snowstorm." Be sure to allow time for those two coats to dry.
2. Create your own paint palette. On a piece of tin foil or a plastic palette, drip a few drops of four pastel polishes: a pink like Essie "French Affair," a light blue polish like Morgan Taylor "Take Me to Your Tribe," a muted teal like L'Oréal "Water's Edge," and a soft purple like Essie "Play Date." Then, grab an old shot glass that you won't drink from again and fill it with acetone nail polish remover.
3. Dab each polish onto your nails. Using a paintbrush, dip the tip into the shot glass and then into a color on your palette to thin out the polish. Then, dab the polish onto your nail, one color at a time. Every time you need to pick up more polish on the brush, first dip it in the nail polish remover so it doesn't go on too opaque.
4. Soften and blend the colors together. Dip your paintbrush back into the shot glass and quickly dab it over your nail to diffuse the colors, giving you that watercolor finish. Finally, seal with a topcoat.
Voilà! A mani masterpiece that people are going to pin the hell out of. Now, go pin, Instagram, and tweet your DIY design with the hashtag #CosmoManiMonday.
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Carly Cardellino was the beauty director at Cosmopolitan. If you follow her Instagram, then you know she'll try just about any beauty trend or treatment once (the pics of her purple hair are on IG to prove it). But her favorite part about being in beauty is finding the most effective products, and then sharing that intel with others—because who wants to spend money on stuff that doesn't work? No one, that's who. Her most recent discovery: De La Cruz Sulfur Ointment, which will change your blemish-clearing game! Hopefully through the beauty stories she writes—and the experiences she shares—you can see exactly why she's in this business.
