Hey everyone, so today I tried something a little different on my nails, and I just had to share the whole process with you guys. I went for the “tortoiseshell” look. Yeah, I know, it sounds a bit weird, but trust me, it’s pretty cool. It’s been popping up everywhere—I’ve seen it on folks like Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner, so I thought, why not give it a shot?
First off, I had to get the right colors. For this tortoiseshell thing, you need a sheer, dark orange, a dark brown, and a black polish. Oh, and this stuff called blooming gel, which I guess helps the colors spread out all fancy-like. I found this set online that had all the colors, so that made things easier.
I started by prepping my nails—you know, the usual: pushing back cuticles, shaping them, and all that jazz. Then I put on a base coat. After that, I applied a thin layer of the sheer orange. This is where the blooming gel came in. I put a layer of that on each nail but didn’t cure it under the UV lamp just yet.
Next, I used a tiny brush to add some splotches of dark brown and a little bit of black on top of the wet blooming gel. The idea is to let these colors kinda melt into the orange and each other. It’s a bit messy, but that’s part of the charm. I played around with the placement until it looked kinda like a tortoiseshell pattern. Once I was happy with it, I cured it under the lamp.
After curing, I added another layer of the sheer orange to soften the look a bit and then another layer of blooming gel. I repeated the splotching with the brown and black, curing after each step. It’s a bit of a process, layering and curing, but you gotta build up that depth, you know?
Once I got the tortoiseshell effect to where I liked it, I sealed everything with a top coat. This makes it all shiny and protects the design. And boom! Tortoiseshell nails. It’s a bit bold, not gonna lie, but I think it’s really interesting. It is like having little pieces of art on my fingertips.
Tips
- Take your time: This isn’t something you can rush. The layering takes a while, but it’s worth it.
- Less is more: When you’re adding the brown and black, start with small amounts. You can always add more, but it’s harder to take away.
- Practice makes perfect: If you’re new to this, maybe try it out on a nail wheel or some fake nails first to get the hang of it.
Alright, that’s my tortoiseshell nail adventure. It was fun to do something different, and I’m pretty happy with how they turned out. If you guys try this, I’d love to see how your nails look!
Catch you all later, bye!
