Quick & Easy DIY Mermaid Nail Tutorial

Can you believe we’re already in the middle of October? I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I walked into Home Depot last week and saw Christmas trees! Yes! An entire row of lovely evergreens all decked out with artificial lighting stood at a strategically placed section to the left of the entrance. Gotta love Home Depot’s marketing team. I will go ahead and admit the strategy worked on me. I came right home, sat down and started working out ways to begin holiday marketing across all my business ventures. 😀

Along with the holiday season comes the need to look beautiful. You know what I mean… hair, nails, and makeup gotta be bangin’ and on point. However, I for one, don’t have a ton of time to dedicate to 6-hour home mani-pedis, and I most certainly don’t have the funds to dish out for a Hollywood style manicure during this time of the year. Also, I’m an artsy craft girl. Translation… Fancy manicures don’t stand a chance against the beading and floral arrangement process. Don’t even get me started on the issue of finding the time to make such lovely things happen.

That’s why I created this quick and easy mermaid tutorial to help you look stylish in the minimal amount of time. Seriously folks. I dolled my fingernails up in less than an hour and was out of  the house shortly afterward. And nope, I didn’t mess up anything on the way out the door.

1. Start with clean nails. Now some folks choose to use a base which is fine and a good idea for other tutorials. However, for the Mermaid nail you don’t need to worry about using a base coat. You still need to make sure to remove and clean all traces of old nail polish or remover.2. Choose an electric blue base. I used a simple lacquer from Urban Outfitters called electric blue. The base makes or breaks this manicure so make sure the tone really stands out. Don’t worry about the brightness or coverage because later in the tutorial we’re going to be toning the look down. Add one coat to the nail.

Electric Blue from Urban Outfitters

A Few Other Blues That Can Handle the Job

Make it as smooth as you can but don’t double up on the coats. Part of the allure of a Mermaid style manicure is the imperfection in the finished style. Allow a few minutes to dry to touch. By the time you finish painting the the nails on your second hand then the first one will be ready for the next coat.

3. Apply the glitter. Okay. So in the very first Mermaid Nails tutorial I wrote a couple of years ago, I had this pretty extensive process that included a nail art kit and several layers of multi-colored glitter. Sounds a bit intimidating, I know. Never fear. Sally Hansen Mermaid’s Tale is here! I love how easy it is to use this nail polish/glitter. The shade is gorgeous. Goes on thick. Stays on well. Yet, we know what happens when we get slap happy with our glitter polishes, right? So, let’s not go there in this tutorial. Add ONE coat of Mermaid’s Tale. I repeat. One coat. Resist the urge to make the coverage look even or perfect. Or you’ll be removing nail Polish for days. This is why we started with a solid base coat. Allow to dry to touch about five minutes.

4. Apply one layer of Revlon’s Diamond Strength Top Coat. Ladies. Let me tell you how much I love this stuff. It goes on thick. Like super duperly thick. The first time I used this top coat, I found myself thinking: I’ll be waiting all day for that gob of polish to dry. Nope! I was fine. Box claims the top coat dries in 60 seconds. I swear it took less than a minute. And if you followed each step of this tutorial to the letter, then you won’t have to worry about any oops moments happening while you get dressed for work.

5. Enjoy all the compliments you receive.

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