Palm Tree Nail Art Tutorial

So this is my first ever blog post on rebeccacotzec.co.uk (Yay!) and unfortunately I feel I should start this blog with a confession: this design isn’t mine. I’ve borrowed it from Nailedit who sell gorgeous false nails.

However, I’m not really fan of wearing falsies (how do people manage to type in them?!) so I thought I would try to recreate the look because:

• It’s more fun.
• I thought this design would be perfect for shorter nails –which is great as I’ve broke all mine.
• It’s not your typical palm tree look.
• It’s also fairly simple, so great if you’re a nail art beginner.

I started this nail art design with a pale pink base, I used Rimmel’s ’60 Seconds Nail Polish’ in ‘Ring a Ring a Roses’ and while I loved the colour – a pale pink that looks neither washed out or sickly sweet- it wasn’t great to apply. Yes drying in 60 seconds(ish) is all well and good and admittedly helpful for nail art; however it’s a bit thin to be honest. It takes quite a few coats to get coverage, and after them it’s not even. I’ve been practising nail art for over a year now, and I struggled to get a smooth even finish. Maybe because it’s so thin and watery, but I don’t think that the fact it dried so quickly helped matters.

Once the base was dry, I used a dark purple from called ‘Benn’a Berry’ from Collection 2000 (is it still called that?) to add on the ‘branch’ of the palm tree. Ok… So in a realistic world I suppose you’re supposed to use brown, but I think that the dark purple is dark enough, while the slight reddish tone works well with the other colours. I used a dotting tool, using a medium end to draw the line. If you’re new to nail art, using a toothpick works just as well – sometimes even better if you want a fine line.

Next I used a green that is just described as ‘matt green’ from the always-awesome w7 Cosmetics. If you haven’t used this brand you must try them, they honestly are my favourite. They last quite a while, even for someone who chips their nails as much as me, they also have a great range of colours. If you’re shopping on their site, investing in their eye-shadow is another must! Love it!

Anyway, getting back to the point of this blog, now we begin to add the ‘leaves’ Try to make the leaves thicker towards the branch getting thinner as they splay out. As you can see from the photo I’ve left gaps in between my leaves, but tried to elongate them to cover more of the nail.

The final step is to add in some more ‘leaves’ you could do them all in one colour however I personally think that doing them in two shades just gives it a bit of depth, the detail adding to the overall effect.

I used ‘Pear Drop’ from Rimmel’s ‘I Love Lasting Finish Collection’ and just added in leaves wherever there was space. You can see an example of the lighter shade next to the (badly drawn) arrow.

And that’s it! You have palm tree nails! If you decide to give this design a go, why not show me by commenting or tweeting me… I’d love to see! Or if you’re currently rocking some nail art, share it with me too… I’m always on the lookout for inspiration!