Step by Step Scratch Cover Nails - Traffic Light Lollipop Design

I loved creating this front cover for Scratch Magazine. Not only was I the nail artist but also the make up artist, hair stylist and model!
My inspiration for this was 'lollipop lady'. I was originally planning on entering this image into a nail competition where the theme was careers - hence the lollipop lady theme and during the shoot, we just knew that the image would in fact be perfect for a Scratch cover. 
I styled the nails as 'traffic' lights with red, amber and green and used a lollipop as a prop to give the theme of a lollipop lady.
  1. Apply KB PROtect to the natural nail then using an extreme length form such as Crystal Nails Wonder Forms, create your nail bed extension with cover pink.
  2. Mix red and yellow Crystal Nails colour drops together for the amber colour and place this mix, red and green in 3 different dappen dishes with monomer for the traffic light colours (N.B. the more monomer you add, the more transparent the colour will be). Place the brush into the first coloured monomer and pick up a bead of clear acrylic then apply onto the form the create the first part of the wing.  Keep adding the different colours to give the traffic light look.  Repeat this step on the other side and build up the structure of the upper arch. 
  3. Remove the nail form and using an orange wood, gently slide under the KB PROtect and pop off the enhancement. Apply to nail art tip holders (I use a magnetic chess board).  You can use any magnetic tip holder, or even a brush or pencil with some blue tac.
  4. File into shape using a 150/180 grit nail file and buff smooth using a 220/280 buffer.  By filing the enhancement off the nail, you can hold the enhancements in different positions that you usually wouldn’t be able to make sure the enhancements are super thin for the shoot.
  5. Using Crystal Nails Silver Baroque Gel and Crystal Nails Barbara II nail art brush, outline the three different colours and cure for 3 minutes in a UV lamp. Then use black acrylic paint to add tiny dots on these lines.
  6. Top coat with a non wipe gel top coat.
  7. Use gem glue, such as Crystal Nails Gem Glue to apply various Crystal Parade Swarovski Crystals and Crystal Pixie to the nails in the colours of traffic lights.
  8. Once the nails are ready, apply a new KB PROtect to the natural nail and use a bead of clear acrylic to adhere the enhancement to this ready for the shoot.

Tip: Use KB PROtect on the natural nail first, so you can pop off the enhancement to file and design off the hand and reapply for the shoot.

Let me know in the comments if you love this image and if you're going to try and replicate it too.


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