Holiday Nails 2015

This year I wanted to do something a little bit different from my "traditional" Christmas nail art.  I've already done Santa's, reindeer, gingerbread men...

This is from Christmas 2014.  Unfortunately, I didn't blog with hints, but
I followed steps from "CutePolish" on YouTube.  See her video here.

Instead, I decided to do something that doesn't scream "Christmas", but is jazzed up with a bit of glitter.  It's a buffalo plaid nail.  Plaid has been everywhere and I figure, why not on my nails?  The inspiration for this post came from UK Cosmo, however, my steps were different from Cosmos.

Step 1:  Base coat.  Always.
Step 2: Paint your nail a red of your choice (doesn't have to be bright red).  I went with OPI Quarter of a Cent-Cherry. (This makes a great birthday present for the 25 year-old!).
Step 3:  Use a black nail striper to create a grid - it can be in the shape of a tick-tack-toe board/hashtag.  I ended up with three horizontal lines and two vertical lines on most of my nails though.  I didn't focus so much on the thickness of the lines - it all depends on how long and wide your nails are.  You should plan for two vertical lines though.
Step 4:  Shear out the black polish by using the same red polish to paint over the black lines that don't intersect.  Don't worry so much if it looks messy - you can clean it up afterward.  And, a good top coat will make a huge difference!
Step 5:  Add a bit of glitter.  I did a vertical and horizontal line just like the photo by UK Cosmo.
Step 6:  Top coat. I can't say enough good things about the Formula X top coat.  It might be is my favorite - it doesn't smear your work and it self-levels beautifully.  It dries pretty quick too.

The steps do sound easy, but this one took me a bit of time - mostly because I had started following Cosmos steps and then realized I had bright red polish showing through my darker red polish.  It also appears that the steps utilize a regular polish brush for creating the plaid stripes... and for me, it just couldn't be done.  I had to use my nail stripers and a nail striping brush with my OPI Quarter of a Cent-Cherry.

I hope you enjoyed.  Check here for a holiday tutorial from 2013!