Exploding Nail Effect

Start by using nail polish remover on your nails. Even if you don’t have nail polish on, still wipe on the remover to take off some of the natural oils that reside on your fingernails in order to let the polish apply in a more even way and allow the polish to stay on longer.

Since you want all your nails to be the same length, trim your nails to get rid of uneven edges.  Next take a nail file, (I like to use glass ones), to smooth or shape your nail.  You can file your nail to make a rounded or square finish. File your nail from the outside to the center, never using a sawing motion, but only filing in one direction, the sawing motion can break and/or weaken the nail.

Next I took a small, shallow bowl of warm water and added some dove soap to it.  Taking one hand and placing it in the bowl, I made sure to immerse all of fingertips. I left that hand soaking for about 5 minutes.  Doing this softens the nail bed which you then push back with a cuticle stick back to the edge of the nail.  This process is repeated with the other hand.

Once the nail beds are pushed back and the nails are completely dry, take a clear base coat such as Orly Base Coat and place a thin layer over all nails. This provides a better a smooth surface for the polish to stick to, helping the color last longer and protects nails from becoming stained by the colored polish.  Don’t paint any more until the clear coat has fully dried. 

The color I used is Essie’s Chubby Cheeks, a dark peach colored polish.  The best way I’ve found to apply polish is to first place a drop of paint at the bottom of the nail, just above the cuticle, directly in the center.  The drop of paint must be enough to cover your whole nail, let the drop pool slightly.  Next you use the three stripe rule.  Dip the brush in the drop of paint and brush upwards in a straight line through the center of the nail, all the way to the tip. For the second stroke return the brush to the paint at the bottom of the nail and follow the curve along the bottom of the nail to the left, all the way to the tip.  Do this stripe again to the right side of the nail. This should establish a thin coat of paint.  If you need to do another layer wait until the nail polish is fully dried. 

For the stripes on the nail I used Essie’s Haute As Hello and a brush from Mash nail brushes packet.  Carefully dip the thin brush into the nail polish, careful not to get too much on forming a droplet.  With just a little of the polish start at the right corner of the nail and drag the brush towards the left corner of the nail.  Repeat this process carefully, stopping to clean the brushes every two or three strokes in acetone, which can be found at practically any grocery store. When you continue the strokes drag them in all directions on the nail, still starting from the right bottom corner. This creates an effect I like to think of as an “explosion”. 

After the strokes fully dry use a top base coat to seal the nail polish in, and prevent chipping.  One option is to use Orly’s Polished three in one topcoat.