Admittedly, I’ve been getting pretty technical with my manicures lately. From chevron to tribal print, some of these manicures really require a steady hand.  With today’s manicure, that’s not the case.  While the look may have been inspired by the gorgeous paintings of Monet and Cézanne, you don’t need to be a famous artist to pull it off.  All you need to be able to do is breathe – and if you’re having trouble with that, you should probably stop reading now anyway.

I started this manicure with my Nail Tek II base coat, followed by a coat of Zoya’s Snow White.  For this coat, it’s okay if it’s not totally even or opaque.  You’ll be covering it almost entirely by other colors, so it doesn’t really matter.  I just like to include this base color in case my design doesn’t go all the way to the outer edge of the nail.

To create the water color design, you’ll need a few different colors of your choice – I would recommend using pastels if you’d like to stick to the watercolor theme.  Otherwise, feel free to use whatever you’d like! I used Essie’s Bikini So Teeny, Maybelline Color Show Nail Lacquer in Green with Envy, and Color Club’s Reign in Spain – and a straw.  Yep, just a plastic disposable drinking straw.  I cut mine in half because I think it’s easier to manipulate that way.

• Apply a dot of your first color to one nail.
• Very quickly, take your straw and blow through it, using the air to push the color around your nail.
• Repeat this process on the rest of your nails.

After creating 1-2 abstract shapes on each nail using the above technique, repeat the whole process with the second color, and then the third.  After you’ve created 1-2 shapes on each nail with each color, feel free to go back and fill in any spaces you missed or cover any shapes that you don’t like.  Finish with your favorite top coat – and don’t worry if it smudges the shapes!

This manicure takes a while to complete, but it requires no skill or steady hand.  If you mess up, just add another dot of color, blow it around, and you’re all set!

Is this watercolor manicure something you’d try? Let us know!

Check out more great manicure tutorials:

• Manicure Monday: Alumni Pride
• Manicure Monday: Bold Ikat
• Manicure Monday: Matte Tribal