Hey friends! Tessa from tessacotton here. Confession: sometimes I splurge and treat myself to a mani/pedi. I’m so obsessed with the gel shellac manicures, they last forever and make my nails feel extra strong! The only thing is that I get bored with my nail color so quickly – gel manicures almost last too long! Here’s a great technique to spruce up your gel manicure, plus it’s easy to remove and change while still keeping your base coat intact.
Grab a ‘permanent’ marker like a Sharpie (the fine tip works best for detailed work, a thicker pen would be perfect for adding a french tip). Just draw directly on the nail, I always find great ideas for designs online. There is so much nail-art inspiration on Pinterest! I love the tribal nail art trend, but wouldn’t polka dots in a contrasting color be super cute?
If you make a mistake (or get bored again like me!) you can just wipe the sharpie design away with a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol. Your base coat will remain intact and you can get your nail art on again!
For the record – you don’t need to start with a gel manicure. If you finish your original mani with a quick dry top coat (like Seche Vite) you can go ahead with the sharpie mani. Let me know if you try this technique, I’d love to see the results! Hit me up on instagram or twitter.