Regarding the contest, winning this month provides the winner with $500 and a guaranteed spot in a nail art competition in New York. The competition will be held at Sally Hansen head quarters August 11-13 and is all expense paid for the winner and one guest. The competition itself is for the 3 winners from the May, June, and July contests being held by Sally Hansen. One of the 3 competitors will be named best nail artist of the year and will also receive $2,000 as well as many Sally Hansen products. In all honesty, I would love being referred to as the Best Nail Artist of the Year, just as much, if not more, than the $2,000. That would be totally amazing right? Wow "Harli Hall: Best Nail Artist of the Year" has a nice flow to it, don't ya think?
The next question I am often asked is regarding voting. I know it is kind of a pain to vote sometimes. Sometimes it will say you have already voted and sometimes it won't let you vote at all. Every person is allowed one vote every 24 hour period. If you wait 24 hours, it should allow you to vote. If you have waited the 24 hr period and it still says you have already voted, hit the check mark next to vote twice and even though the number of votes I have received may not immediately changed, it will at some point!
Lastly, I really need everyones help in order to pull this off! I know it is so tedious to do, but if everybody could just keep voting and sharing daily, then I can get there! I am still one of the top competitors at this point, but without votes I will not stay there long! So please take 5 seconds out of your day and vote... maybe force your BFFs to vote daily as well. ;)
Now, without further ado, here is the nail art I submitted and how to get them yourself!
You Will Need:
Step 1:
Apply a base coat! This step is super important when it comes to nail care. Without a base coat, nails can become dry, stained, and your manicure's longevity will not be great.
Step 2:
Paint thumb, pointer, and pinky fingers with a white polish (or really any color that you choose) and the ring and middle fingers black.
Step 3:
Once the black polish has dried, apply 5 dots to act as guidelines for the petals. Apply them to the lower right or left quadrants of the nails leaving enough space to paint in the center of the flower. I think they look better when the petals are close together and similar in size, but don't be afraid to play around with it! Try using different sized dots or not lining them up perfectly.
Step 4:
Using white nail polish and a skinny brush apply curved lines to both sides of the dots extending to the top of the nails. The lines do not need to be perfect, in fact, they look more realistic if they aren't perfect curves! Do your best to leave black space between petals, but it is not completely necessary! You can always go back and add black lines between later!
TIP: Flicking the brush creates the best results. DO NOT try to do this step slowly. Honestly, I hold my breath when I do this part... so try that if you're struggling. (:
Step 5:
Fill in the center of the curved lines with the same white polish.
Step 6:
In the blank black portion of the nail apply white dots with a dotting tool. This part it is really necessary to make sure the dots are not all the same size. It creates dimension. Try to stay within the same range of size, but go a little larger and smaller on some.
Step 7: (Optional)
You can totally apply your top coat in step 6 and be done, but this step is what really adds dimension and realness.
Using a very sheer gray polish and a skinny brush, add some splotches to the tops and bottoms of the petals. Make sure you don't give the gray spots a clean edge, make parts of the gray areas higher up on the petal than other parts.
Step 8:
Apply your favorite top coat and let dry completely!
I definitely think the top coat is the most important part to any nail design. A design might not look that great before the top coat, but once a clear coat is applied, it seems that the design just magically gets prettier and neater! This is my absolute favorite step... ask just about anyone that has had their nails done from me!
As you can probably tell from the pictures, the right nail has been finished with a top coat and the other has not, I just wanted to show how much of a difference it makes!
Voila! You're finished.
If you ever try out some of my nail designs please tweet or instagram me using #heyhar
I would absolutely love to see the recreations!
Thanks and remember to follow the link on any of my social media pages to vote every 24 hours if you like any of my nail designs!
Harli
