So for tonights post I'm going to share Nail Art 101's post on essential supplies and tools. Again i did NOT write this I'm only sharing with all of you because it's super helpful. Especially to a newbie.
To Follow Nail Art 101 please click the link below:
Nail Art 101
Nail Art Supplies
The right nail art supplies are essential Hide your credit card before you read this page! I could have spent a fortune just from researching. It isn't impossible to do nail art designs without tools, but you will certainly save your sanity! You can only attempt to paint cupcakes using a toothpick so many times before you just need to drop $5 on a brush. My own collection is small by some standards but it's enough to get me by!
The first thing you should buy is brushes. You can get really nice sets of brushes just about anywhere and at any price range. I got mine in the art section at Wal-Mart but there's a great set on Amazon
that I wish I'd seen earlier. The most imporant ones are a long thin brush for striping and a shorter thin one for detail painting, but I still find myself using all the brushes in my set so they're pretty good value for money.
Read more about buying & caring for brushes...
If you're into detail work, you should invest in some nail art pens. There's lots of different brands out there of varying quality. There's two basic types: A felt tip type pen that you press down to get the polish flowing or a two-way pen that has a long brush and a pointed nib. I much prefer the two way pens, and they're pretty close in price. The felt tip ones just aren't thin enough for intricate detail work. For a more detailed breakdown of the different brands and prices, visit the Nail Art Pens page.
A Dotting Tool, or ideally a set of different sizes, is so convenient to have, but you can make do without them. Some other things that work are bobby pins (which I used in the Floral Nails Tutorial), pin heads, dried out pens, the ends of brushes or toothpicks. Soon you'll find yourself looking around the house for tiny round things you can stick in nail polish! But all that aside, having a real dotting tool is much better and for less than $5
, why not?
Oh, where to begin with nail files!? There are three different basic choices for nail files: Emery Boards, Metal Files and Glass Files. First off...don't buy a metal file. Emery and Metal files are both coated in a fine mineral called Corundum. There should be a "grit number" on the file. The higher the number, the finer the grit. Ideally you want a rough file for the down and dirty work and a finer file for smoothing and simple clean ups. A two sided file with the two grits you need is great. I wouln't recommend anything below 180, it can be too hard on your nails.
Ideally, you should get a glass file
but they can be more expensive than emery boards. They're smoother which makes them much easier on your nails. If you have soft or peelng nails, consider this option. Never share your nail art supplies with others! That's how you end up with a fungus!
Check out my guide on how to file your nails properly
If you've read the stamping tutorial you know I'm a huge fan of nail stamping. The first stamps, and arguably the best, were made by Konad. Their image plates are always well made with sharp, clear images. There's many other "faux-nad" plates out there, the most well known by Bundle Monster
. I've heard different opinions on the quality of their plates, but apparently they're quite good aboutg replacing faulty plates. The biggest tip I can give you if you're buying some image plates is buy them on ebay or amazon!!!. You can get them so much cheaper than what's charged on the "official sites". I just recently discovered this and I'm feeling very ripped off! There's lots of "faux-nad" plates on ebay, but they can sometimes be bad quality, and since they ship from Hong Kong you can be waiting for you parcel for aaaaaages! Aside from the plates all you need is a stamper, a scraper and you're ready to go.
Nail foils are so cool. Most of them are metallic and highly reflective, giving you a Minx-nails-esque finish. They're easy to apply and best of all...cheap! My favorite place is dollarnailart.com where you can get individual foils (and rhinestones, fimo, gems, studs, tapes and really all kinds of nail art supplies) for just one dollar. You can get them for really good prices so don't overpay! All you do is apply a thin layer of primer, press the foil onto it and voila! Robo-nails! There's also nail foils that are applied with heat, but I've never used them so they scare me. I've just ordered some from ebay, so I'll let you know how it goes!
Fimo is one option for 3d nails. Fimo is made from polymer clay and is sold in "canes" that look like a log of that Pilsbury cookie dough that has pictures in it. You can buy a whole cane
and slice it yourself, but ask yourself if you really need 300 slices of lemons, or buy pre-sliced pieces
. If you slice them yourself you need to use a very sharp razor blade (you can get them through nail art supplies stores) and please don't cut your finger off. That's one less nail to paint! Fimo is really popular, so you can find canes all over for decent prices. One of my favorite places to buy fimo pieces is Etsy because people get so creative and I love to support small business owners.
For proper japanese nail art you need lots of cute little plastic or acrylic bits. And rhinestones. Bits and rhinestones, there's your lesson on japanese nail art. ;) Like most of this stuff, you can find them easily on the internet
but the price can vary quite dramatically. I've started selling 3D acrylics that you can easily apply to your nails. I'm also happy to take requests if you have a certain shape in mind!
The Main Tools
The first thing you should buy is brushes. You can get really nice sets of brushes just about anywhere and at any price range. I got mine in the art section at Wal-Mart but there's a great set on Amazon that I wish I'd seen earlier. The most imporant ones are a long thin brush for striping and a shorter thin one for detail painting, but I still find myself using all the brushes in my set so they're pretty good value for money.Read more about buying & caring for brushes...
If you're into detail work, you should invest in some nail art pens. There's lots of different brands out there of varying quality. There's two basic types: A felt tip type pen that you press down to get the polish flowing or a two-way pen that has a long brush and a pointed nib. I much prefer the two way pens, and they're pretty close in price. The felt tip ones just aren't thin enough for intricate detail work. For a more detailed breakdown of the different brands and prices, visit the Nail Art Pens page. A Dotting Tool, or ideally a set of different sizes, is so convenient to have, but you can make do without them. Some other things that work are bobby pins (which I used in the Floral Nails Tutorial), pin heads, dried out pens, the ends of brushes or toothpicks. Soon you'll find yourself looking around the house for tiny round things you can stick in nail polish! But all that aside, having a real dotting tool is much better and for less than $5, why not?Oh, where to begin with nail files!? There are three different basic choices for nail files: Emery Boards, Metal Files and Glass Files. First off...don't buy a metal file. Emery and Metal files are both coated in a fine mineral called Corundum. There should be a "grit number" on the file. The higher the number, the finer the grit. Ideally you want a rough file for the down and dirty work and a finer file for smoothing and simple clean ups. A two sided file with the two grits you need is great. I wouln't recommend anything below 180, it can be too hard on your nails.Ideally, you should get a glass file
but they can be more expensive than emery boards. They're smoother which makes them much easier on your nails. If you have soft or peelng nails, consider this option. Never share your nail art supplies with others! That's how you end up with a fungus!Check out my guide on how to file your nails properly
Nail Stamps
If you've read the stamping tutorial you know I'm a huge fan of nail stamping. The first stamps, and arguably the best, were made by Konad. Their image plates are always well made with sharp, clear images. There's many other "faux-nad" plates out there, the most well known by Bundle Monster. I've heard different opinions on the quality of their plates, but apparently they're quite good aboutg replacing faulty plates. The biggest tip I can give you if you're buying some image plates is buy them on ebay or amazon!!!. You can get them so much cheaper than what's charged on the "official sites". I just recently discovered this and I'm feeling very ripped off! There's lots of "faux-nad" plates on ebay, but they can sometimes be bad quality, and since they ship from Hong Kong you can be waiting for you parcel for aaaaaages! Aside from the plates all you need is a stamper, a scraper and you're ready to go.Foils
Nail foils are so cool. Most of them are metallic and highly reflective, giving you a Minx-nails-esque finish. They're easy to apply and best of all...cheap! My favorite place is dollarnailart.com where you can get individual foils (and rhinestones, fimo, gems, studs, tapes and really all kinds of nail art supplies) for just one dollar. You can get them for really good prices so don't overpay! All you do is apply a thin layer of primer, press the foil onto it and voila! Robo-nails! There's also nail foils that are applied with heat, but I've never used them so they scare me. I've just ordered some from ebay, so I'll let you know how it goes!Japanese 3d Nail Art
Fimo is one option for 3d nails. Fimo is made from polymer clay and is sold in "canes" that look like a log of that Pilsbury cookie dough that has pictures in it. You can buy a whole cane and slice it yourself, but ask yourself if you really need 300 slices of lemons, or buy pre-sliced pieces. If you slice them yourself you need to use a very sharp razor blade (you can get them through nail art supplies stores) and please don't cut your finger off. That's one less nail to paint! Fimo is really popular, so you can find canes all over for decent prices. One of my favorite places to buy fimo pieces is Etsy because people get so creative and I love to support small business owners. For proper japanese nail art you need lots of cute little plastic or acrylic bits. And rhinestones. Bits and rhinestones, there's your lesson on japanese nail art. ;) Like most of this stuff, you can find them easily on the internet but the price can vary quite dramatically. I've started selling 3D acrylics that you can easily apply to your nails. I'm also happy to take requests if you have a certain shape in mind!
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