This unusual beaded manicure is sure to grab some attention. This time of year always reminds me of back to school. I haven’t had a first day of school in a while now, but September still brings that sense of being able to start things fresh and reinvent your look. I wore this beaded manicure to my very first day of high school (clearly I was subconsciously screaming to be a part of the music/theatre/art cliques).
This manicure is definitely more bulky than most, but after a day or so you get used to it, and if your top coats of clear polish are thick enough this manicure can actually last as long as your regular manicure. So here’s how to get the look:
Materials:
clear top coat
multi colored seed beads in a shallow dish
tweezers and toothpicks (optional, but helpful)
Step 1:
After your nails are prepped and filed to the length you want, apply a clear coat of polish to one nail.
Step 2:
Press that one nail into the dish of seed beads.
Step 3:
Use tweezers, a toothpick, or just your other hand to fill in any gaps with more seed beads. See step 3 in the photo above—the nail on the left is immediately after dipping into the dish, the nail on the right is after filling in the gaps. Repeat steps 1–3 with each nail on one hand.
Step 4:
Apply a generous clear top coat to each nail. See step 4 in the photo above—the left nail has a generous coat of clear, the right nail has no clear top coat. Repeat steps 1–4 to your other hand. You might choose to do only one or a couple nails on your other hand and paint the others solid (like I did).
Step 5:
Apply a generous second clear top coat to each nail.
To make this manicure last even longer, apply a top coat every other day to the edges of your nail—specifically around the top and sides where the edge of the beads meet your nail. If you try this for yourself share tips in the comments below, and post your own photos to Instagram using #craftwhatnot!