Create a glitch manicure with stickers and nail decals

Digital media is fraught with glitches such as pixelation and buffering, which has led to an unexpected art form known as glitch art. Artists alter photographs and other images by blurring them and introducing elements that seem out of place, such as when two photographs accidentally overlap. Glitch nails use the same techniques to make people temporarily rethink their perceptions of art.

Creating glitch nails at home gives you the freedom to choose images and words to create an unexpected result. The tutorial video includes a statue nail decal plus the gold word “dreamer” in an eye-catching, provocative way.

Materials
- White gel polish (Born Pretty, Day)
- UV or LED lamp (Lumcrissy, not shown)
- Statue nail decals (IBDI)
- Small sharp scissors
- Small dish of water
- Tweezers
- No-wipe topcoat (Cheri)
- Black drawing gel (Elite99, 5604)
- Small round brush
- Gold word nail stickers (Cheetsan)

Instructions
1. Apply two coats of white gel polish to the nails. Cure between coats with the UV or LED lamp.

2. Cut out a statue decal of your choice.

3. Submerge the decal into the small cup of water for 10–15 seconds.

4. Use the tweezers to gently remove the decal from the backing and position it on the nail facing away from the cuticle. Press it in place with your finger.

5. Trim the edges of the decal if they extend beyond the nail tip.

6. Seal the decal in place with no-wipe topcoat, and cure it with the lamp.

7. Paint a horizontal line through the eyes of the statue with black drawing gel using the short round brush. Cure the gel with the lamp.

8. Use the tweezers to lift a gold word off the backing sheet. Position the word on top of the black gel, and press it into place with your finger.

9. Seal the sticker in place with a coat of no-wipe topcoat. Cure the gel again with the lamp.