Chances are you've been far too busy festival-ing and holiday-ing to give your nails more than a lick of polish. But now that we're said hello to September and the official start of autumn (sorry but it's true) evenings and weekends are going to become less about day time drinking (sob) and more about X Factor and staying in. Which means more time for fancy nails so, every cloud.
This nail art tutorial by the ace Sophie Harris-Greenslade aka The Illustrated Nail using the new OPI Washington D.C collection (which was created in collaboration with Ms Kerry Washington herself) is an excellent place to start.
It's not too fiddly but it still looks like you've put a load of effort in plus the deep green shades make a nice change from the pastel brights you've probably been sporting recently.
Here's how to do it, in GIF form.
Step One
Prep the nails and file them into your preferred shape. Then apply a base coat like OPI A Natural Nail Base Coat, £11.50 to help give the nail art staying power.
Step Two
Paint alternate nails in OPI's The First Lady Of Nails, £12.50 and Stay Off The Lawn, £12.50. Give them two coats to make sure they're totally opaque and leave to dry completely – we don't want any smudges during the next crucial stage!
Step Three
Once it's completely dried (don't kid yourself here) cut four pieces of striping tape – you can get the tape for really cheap on Amazon. This is what's going to help map out the grid design.
Vertically place two pieces of striping tape on the ring finger (or whichever finger your like!) with a wide-ish gap between them, and another two pieces running horizontally across the tip of the nail with a smaller gap in between – you could even create a different design with the tape if you prefer. Make sure the tape is too long for the nail so there is an overhand which will make removing it in a later step much easier. Press the tape firmly to the nail.
Step Four
Apply a coat of the alternate colour over the top of the striping tape. For example, if the base is The first Lady of Nails, apply a coat of Stay Off The Lawn over the top and vice versa.
Using tweezers remove the striping tape quickly yet carefully to reveal the other colour underneath. Thenrepeat this process with the striping tape and lacquer on the middle nail (or your chosen nail).
Step Five
Apply the OPI Matte Top Coat, £12.50 to all the nails for a matte finish.
Like this? You might also be interested in:
A Lazy Girl's Guide To Nail Art When You've Got No Special Tools At Home
How To Do Cool Nail Art Using Shit You Already Have Lying Around The House
Follow Chemmie on Twitter @chemsquier
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.