How to paint watercolor polka dot nails

Remember as a kid when your teacher let you play with watercolors? You'd swirl the colors together, creating bold artwork that your parents would no doubt hang on the fridge. Though you aren't a kid anymore, you can re-create that experience with this fun and artistic nail art.

Watercolor nails take inspiration from those same watercolors you used as a kid but put an adult spin on it. It's easy and fun, and you can use whatever colors tickle your fancy. Select seasonal hues or make each nail a different shade. Any way you do it, you're going to get compliments on your miniature masterpiece manicure.

Materials
- Cuticle stick, clippers
- Nail file and buffer
- Gel base coat
- Nail art pens in different colors (at least four or five)
- Gel top coat

Instructions
1. Start with clean hands and clean, dry nails. Push cuticles down with a cuticle stick and trim your nails evenly.

2. Use the nail file and the buffer to shape your nails and smooth the surface of each nail to ensure the polish goes on without any bumps or lumps. A buffer looks like a pumice stone; it's constructed from a rough material that polishes your nail's natural surface to create a flat canvas for paint to adhere to.

3. Apply a gel base coat to each nail and allow it to dry.

4. Create small dots in the center of each nail with nail art pens. Use a different color for each dot, making the dots overlap and slightly blurry so they're grouped together but you can still make out individual colors. You can repeat the same colors twice, but altogether around nine or 10 dots looks best. Make sure they're not perfect polka dots; the idea is for them to look like slightly blurred watercolors.

5. Allow the dots to dry.

6. Ensure the longevity of your manicure by painting over the dots with a gel top coat and letting it dry. Now you should have glossy watercolor nails, sealed from chips and damage with a protective gel top coat.