Do I need to dilute acrylic nail paints? How to use acrylic nail paints

Modern nail art uses a wide variety of materials, using which you can create an almost imperceptible delicate and light pattern, as well as bright, eye-catching designs, make the coating translucent with light lace, or decorate your nails with paintings worthy of the title of masterpiece. One of these materials is gel nail paints.

Gel paint or gel nail paint is a thick, plastic substance with high pigmentation. This substance does not bubble or spread. Just like acrylic used for nail extensions, it polymerizes under the influence of ultraviolet lamp radiation for a maximum of two minutes. The properties of this substance allow you to create super nail designs. When working with gel paints, the master can take his time, fearing that the material will harden, and carefully draw every detail of the design or element of the pattern. Gel nail paint is a universal material. You can paint with gel paints on both natural and extended nails of any shape and length. You can make both Chinese and elegant with gel paints French manicure, and also use them for aquarium design. In 2017, French nail design is a combination of poorly compatible design elements, colors and patterns. The classic white tips of the nails are giving way to dark, black, foil, silver colors, various intricate ornaments and patterns that highlight the free edge of the nail. Today, making a French gel paint does not mean drawing simple white or colored stripes on the free edge of the nail, but also skillfully choosing patterns, rhinestones, sparkles, foil for them, in a word, it is interesting to play with the classic version of this type of nail design, beloved by many girls.

The difference between gel paints and gel polishes

Gel paints and gel polishes are often confused with each other. They are similar only in the presence of a gel in the base and some consonance in the names. As for the differences between these materials, they are as follows:

• Gel based paints do not require stirring. Gel polishes need to be stirred, even if they have not been used for just one day.
• Gel paints have a very dense consistency, which does not allow the coloring pigment to sink to the bottom of the jar, and also ensures economical consumption of material.
• The paints have high pigmentation, which means they are as saturated and bright colors. To obtain a rich color using gel polishes, you need to apply them in several layers, which is reflected in the thickness of the nail coating.
• Gel paints can be used to paint the finest and smallest elements and details of a design.
• The paints have a rich color palette.

What do you need to design your nails with gel paints?

In order to make designs on nails with gel paints, you will need the following set of tools:

• Thin brushes. These can be either manicure brushes or art brushes.
• Dots. This tool is used for drawing colors, patterns, and dotted images.
• Palette. Using a plastic palette, a piece of plastic or foil paper, you can mix paints and get new shades and colors.
• Ultraviolet lamp. Without this lamp, the gel nail paint will not harden or dry, which means that no nail design will work.
• Buff or polisher. It is used to remove the glossy layer from nails.
• Degreaser or cleanser.
• Primer.
• Gel polish base and top coat.

Step-by-step instructions for painting on nails

The texture and properties of gel paints for nail design allow you to create beautiful drawings not only in a beauty salon, but also at home. For this purpose, it is necessary to carry out all hygienic procedures with the nails, treat them with a buff, degrease the nail plates, apply a primer, then a thin layer of base, which must be dried in a UV lamp. After this, gel paint or gel polish is applied. Next, you can apply drawings and patterns to the surface of the nails. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to paint on nails using gel paints:

1. Take thin brushes (to reduce the thickness of the brush to the desired size, you can carefully cut off the bristles with a blade) and select the colors of paints that you will use. You can mix colors both on the palette and on the nail plate, getting an interesting avant-garde design.
2. When a drawing or pattern is drawn in detail and completed, it can be supplemented with sparkles, rhinestones, stickers, and foil.
3. Having applied all the decorative elements and made the finishing touches, you can dry the resulting drawings in an ultraviolet lamp.
4. To secure the nails, they are covered with a topcoat, from which the sticky layer is removed after drying.

Options for designs on nails using gel paints

Nail design is not difficult to create, but this process will require some experience. Craftsmen use different techniques to create original patterns, from which a beginner can choose the method that is easiest in his opinion and gradually develop his skill, bringing it to perfection. Nail design step by step for beginners looks like this (we will omit the description of standard hygienic procedures for preparing nails and covering them with base and gel polish):

1. The simplest pattern that a novice master can master is the application of horizontal thin stripes, curls, and “lattices.” For this purpose, gel paint for a French jacket is perfect, which is also considered one of simple types design.
2. By dipping dots in gel paint you can decorate your nails dot pattern. You can use paint of one color or several colors for this. The dots can be carefully connected to each other and get an interesting pattern.
3. By drawing a smile line on the free edge of the nail, you will get a beautiful, delicate jacket. If you make a “reverse French” or an inverted French, the design of the nails will also be very original. In this case, the contrasting color fills the hole space of the nail.
4. By carefully placing small dots so that they form a geometric pattern, you can get a delicate beautiful manicure- “veil”.

Having mastered simple ways drawing, gradually you will be able to learn more complex techniques of drawing on nails. Many of them do not require good artistic abilities at all. All you need is imagination, precision and the desire to experiment.

But running out of ideas? Are you tired of the monotony, are rhinestones and stickers not inspiring? Feel like a real artist and create a masterpiece on your nails using acrylic paints. Anyone can draw with them, regardless of skill level. In this article we will look at how to use acrylic paints for nails, let's look at their advantages and disadvantages.

What are acrylic paints for nail design?

Acrylic paints are a popular tool used by most nail art artists. They do not contain harmful components, so they are suitable for use at home. They are made on a water basis. The cost of acrylic paints is low, but they will serve you for a long time, since their consumption is not high. The approximate price of high-quality paints is 500-600 rubles per set.

Advantages of acrylic paints

• Even an amateur can use it.
• Varied color palette.
• The ability to mix colors to achieve unique shades.
• Plasticity of paint and ease of application.
• You can paint on natural nails, extensions, and those coated with gel polish.
• The paint is diluted with ordinary water.
• Drawings can be easily removed with nail polish remover.
• The applied designs dry on the nail in a matter of minutes.
• Low consumption, which allows you to use paints for a long time.

How to use acrylic paints?

To create designs on nails with acrylic paints you need: a set of paints, a small container with water, a palette for mixing.

• We prepare the surface of a natural or artificial nail.
• We select a design to draw on the nails in advance.
• Squeeze a small amount of paint onto the palette desired color, carefully put it on the brush and begin to paint your nails.
• Mix the colors until you get the desired shade (if necessary).
• Thicken the thickened paint with a drop of water. You can simply moisten the brush with water.
• We wait until the resulting drawing dries well.
• Apply the finishing coat to the nail (clear varnish, acrylic or gel).

By the way, a thin contour brush with elastic bristles is well suited for drawing small details. And for filling, a flat brush made of natural bristles is ideal.

The drawing can be decorated with rhinestones, etc. Also, drawings with acrylic paints will be a wonderful addition to long nails.

Photos of nail designs with acrylic paints

See what beauty you can create using acrylic paints in nail design. Here are photos of several works:

Nail paints are an integral part of the nail industry, using chemical products and the work of professional artists. Paint and varnish coatings for manicure must have a number of qualities in order to become widespread in specialized salons and among ordinary users.

Acrylic paints have quickly gained popularity in this industry, as they firmly hold a niche due to their good aesthetic and practical properties.

Features and characteristics

A common form of paint release is acrylic resins. After water evaporates, they form a durable and elastic film that is resistant to mechanical and chemical influences.

Obtaining a given shade for nails is achieved by introducing stable pigments into the composition of water-based acrylic paint with an acrylate base. For nails and to obtain rare tones, masters can mix paints of different colors with each other.

A number of compositions add not only pigments visible in normal light, but also fluorescent substances. Nails painted with them will be clearly visible in the ultraviolet lighting of the clubs, emphasizing the luminescence of optical dyes in the composition of the clothing fabric.

Popular manufacturers

We have already talked about such materials, now we will talk about the manufacturers. Common and well-known brands of acrylic nail paints include:

• “Polycolor” is one of the most popular series, famous not only for its durability, but also for its wide color palette. It is worth understanding that you will have to buy Polycolor acrylic paints for nails at a higher price than other brands;
• “Wealth” is produced mainly in the form of small volume tubes (up to 12 ml), which have a low price;
• "Oumaxi" belongs to the relatively inexpensive segment of acrylic paints and has a small selection of shades used to obtain a rich palette;
• Starlet Professional is usually sold in the form of kits, which allow you not only to use the original mixtures, but also to combine them with each other.

Product price

You can purchase manicure paints at any specialized or chain store. You should avoid retail places of sale with mountains of vials or tubes piled into boxes - their cost and quality will be extremely low.

To check the suitability of the purchased paint, you need to lightly dip the brush into acrylic liquid. If the dipping area immediately begins to “tighten”, the paint is fresh; if the damage to the surface remains for a long time, the paint is expired or counterfeit.

Tip: If you buy a set of acrylic paints, check all the containers, not just one to choose from. You should not trust the information about the expiration date indicated by the manufacturer on the packaging, since its storage conditions are unknown.

The price of a bottle (20 ml) of acrylic paint for painting on nails from a well-known brand is 200 rubles. and more. Formulations of the same volume from less popular companies cost 70-90 rubles. Standard forms of release of acrylate compositions are soft tubes, glass or plastic jars, as well as pencils for creating thin and clear inscriptions.

It's time to learn how to use acrylic nail paints.

How to use acrylic nail paints

The compositions are applied with special brushes that differ in thickness and hardness. The acrylic component can be used to create both a general background layer and subtle strokes.

For the best adhesion between the paint layer and the surface of the nail, a primer layer should be applied. The presence of primer significantly strengthens the coating and increases its adhesion.

Acrylic paints dry and polymerize fairly quickly. To prevent premature “aging” of the paint, the bottle should be closed with a lid after each dipping of the brush.

As an alternative, you can use special plastic molds, similar to paint molds. Some of the paints of various colors are poured into them, used to create a colorful palette.

Customer Reviews

We analyzed a large number of customer reviews about acrylic nail paints. When using acrylate paints, users highlight the following qualities of the product:

• high durability of the coating, allowing you to extend the time between repeated applications;
• mixability - the ability to obtain a uniform and homogeneous mass after combining multi-colored mixtures. This makes it possible to obtain shades that cannot be achieved by simply adding colors (pigments);
• good hiding power - the degree of surface coloring that makes the underlying painted layer invisible. The higher the value of the parameter, the thinner the paint layer must be necessary for uniform application on the nails;
• significant resistance to ultraviolet and external mechanical influences – ensures the aesthetics of the paint throughout the entire period of use;
• wide range of colors - a large selection of colored compositions suits a variety of styles and styles of clothing.

In the following video you will find a useful review of the popular acrylic-based paint for nail design:

How to dilute

Acrylic paints are diluted with water or an alcohol-based solvent. For best results, branded solvents should be used.

This makes acrylic nail paints very different from paint mixtures, which are less picky about the quality of the thinner.

Brushes for work

• When purchasing materials, you should decide on the expected parameters of the designs - the main means for painting with acrylic nail paints are brushes of size “1”, “0” or “00”.
• To create straight lines, a long and sparse pile is used - “hair”.
• When creating decorative dots and strokes, dots brushes are used.

Since the technique of painting on nails is limited only by the artist’s imagination, a set of tools is required for the work. This will avoid limited options when creating new drawings.

The following video will help you understand the variety of brushes for working with acrylic paints:

Acrylic paints are a universal tool for maintaining the aesthetics of a manicure for a long time. The absence of harmful and unpleasant-smelling solvents makes acrylate compositions attractive for constant use. High mechanical resistance and ease of application simplify the use of acrylic paints for professional and amateur purposes.

Every girl at least once in her life tried to make a design on her nails, using varnishes more than dark shades(than the main background), needles (instead of brushes). Of course, such “creativity” in adolescence welcome, but it does not always look good on the hands of more “mature” girls. Creating a beautiful manicure at home is really not difficult, the main thing is to have high-quality acrylic nail paints, brushes and a few minutes of your time.

Choosing paints

Buying nail paints is not a problem, you can go to any cosmetic store and you will immediately be provided with a wide range. Of course, all of these paints are suitable for painting on nails, but how to choose those that will have the densest colors and will go on as smoothly and evenly as possible? It is really difficult to choose high-quality nail paints, and price does not play a significant role here.

It often happens that when you purchase expensive acrylic paints, you get a “sloppy”, rough manicure, while the lines of the created pattern are clearly felt through the layer of transparent varnish. But what paints are best to buy in order to use them constantly at home?

Today there are many manufacturers who offer their products. As a rule, acrylic paints are sold in sets or individually. But it is advisable to purchase a whole set only after you “try” this product.

Therefore, initially it is advisable to buy 1-2 tubes from one manufacturer, and then, if it is convenient to work with them, purchase a set.

What types of acrylic paints are there? As a rule, acrylic paints come in several types: denser in consistency or more liquid (the color density is no worse).

If you have never done a manicure at home before and you don’t have special brushes to apply paint to your nails, you need to buy them. So, in order to do a manicure with acrylic paint, you need to buy special nail brushes in advance. They can be with natural bristles or artificial ones.

It is worth noting that the cost of brushes from artificial pile significantly lower and in certain cases (for example, to create a “Chinese” manicure) they are much easier to work with, since they “absorb” less paint. In your “arsenal” you must have several brushes for painting on nails: the thinnest and shortest (for creating small details), flat wide (for creating flowers and other two-color elements), thin and long (for creating waves), dots (for creating points), etc.

How to make a manicure using acrylic paints?

Before you do a manicure at home with acrylic paints, you need to prepare your nails for work. First we do a manicure. Step-by-step instructions: remove the cuticle, hangnails, file the edge of the nail, be sure to thoroughly polish the nails (for this you need to use a soft buff). The same must be done if you have acrylic or gel nails.

Next, you need to choose the design of your future manicure. There are quite a lot of design options, you need to choose the one that you like best (you can look at some samples) and will suit the length of your nail. Before you paint anything on your nails, you need to prepare the necessary tools in advance.

In order to make a design, you will need acrylic paint, a glass of water, brushes, disposable napkins, a panel (to make it convenient to use acrylic paints and mix them), an orange stick (for mixing different colors), a clear varnish to secure the resulting design, and some colored varnish to create a base (optional). Also, if you wish, you can prepare some sparkles or beads in advance in order to decorate your nails at the end (if you use them, the design will be more festive).

Applying paint is not difficult, the main thing is that your hand does not shake: rest it on the table (while your hand should move freely).

Step-by-step instructions for use: for convenient work, squeeze a little paint from the tube onto the panel; no more is needed, as it dries quickly. First try applying it to a sheet of paper and check its density. If it seems that it is too thick, you can add (using an orange stick) a little water, then stir everything thoroughly.

An important step is mixing acrylic paints at home. In order to get the desired shade, you need to mix different colors. For example, you have a rich pink, and you need a paler one. To do this you need to mix pink and white. But how to get the right shade for your future design? Squeeze out a drop of pink initially, then next to white. Halfway through, start mixing the colors. If the shade is too white, add a little pink, if too pink, add white. When mixing, it is very important to squeeze the drops side by side, and not “on top of each other” - this will allow you to achieve the most correct, desired shade.

Ways to create a design

There are several basic options for creating a design with acrylic paints at home: using colored varnish, acrylic paint, or a colorless base as a base.

So, step-by-step instructions using colored varnish: initially we disinfect the surface of the plate, then apply a layer of varnish (if the pattern is light, the varnish should be dark, if the pattern is dark, the varnish should be light). When it has dried, we make a drawing with acrylic paints. It could be any flowers, cobwebs, leaves, twigs, etc., there are a lot of options. After the acrylic paint has dried, apply a layer of clear varnish.

How long does acrylic paint take to dry? It all depends on the density of application, but, as a rule, this requires from 10 seconds to 1 minute, no more.

Step-by-step instructions: creating a manicure with an acrylic base at home. Making an acrylic base is quite easy, but you will need a flat, wide brush. We put paint on the tip and carefully distribute it over the plate, starting from the cuticle area to the tip. If necessary, you can apply it again, but before doing this, blot the brush with water and “leave” the excess moisture on a napkin. After creating the base, we immediately begin creating the drawing. We cover everything with varnish. Additionally, you can use sparkles, beads, stones.

You can make your nails a “work of art” if you create a design without any base. As a rule, such drawings look as natural as possible. Here you can also make all kinds of flowers, leaves or other designs. But “Chinese painting” looks the most impressive.

Creating a “Chinese painting” manicure is a rather labor-intensive and lengthy process. The manicure design is created using two colors at the same time, which requires a wide flat brush (less commonly, an angled brush is used). They are not difficult to do: we make smooth, zigzag movements with the brush.

Today we will dwell in as much detail as possible on the topic of how to make designs on nails with acrylic paints step by step for beginners.

Why should you paint with acrylic?

Acrylic paints have many advantages. Painting with these paints is a pleasure: the end result looks neat and very different from the awkward designs created by varnish.

• Latissimus color palette: Missing colors can be easily obtained by mixing pigment.
• Acrylic dries quickly, due to which painting can be done in a short time.
• The paint is easy to use, even a beginner can use it. If you have good brushes, it is possible to create entire paintings on your nails.
are not expensive, are consumed slowly: a standard set can be enough for six months of active use.
• In the process of drawing, you can make correction failed elements.

Where to start

Before you start draw on nails, it is worth considering several nuances. It is especially important to know this information in advance if this is your first time picking up an acrylic brush. So:

• Painting with acrylic paints should be done on varnished nails. If you want the base under the design to be transparent, use a clear varnish.
• The intensity of the color is adjusted by the pressure applied to the brush.
• For a comfortable drawing process select a separate palette, on which you can mix colors and take paint from it for drawings. A piece of cardboard will serve as a palette.
• Before applying the design to your nails for the first time, practice on a piece of paper.

Leopard print

First drawing, which home craftswomen begin with when they get their hands on acrylic paints. It’s very easy to do, just look carefully at the photo or read the instructions:

1. Cover your nails with the polish you like best. Decorating your nails in different colors will look very beautiful.
2. Select nails on which you plan to place the acrylic drawing.
3. Apply dots of any color. Choose different thickness dots to give an interesting effect.
4. A thin brush with black (or any other) paint, circle every circle. Do not trace some circles completely, or bend the tip of the tracing line.
5. Cover the drawing with clear varnish.

Delicate white

Beginners can create an excellent manicure with only white paint on hand. He is exceptional easy to perform:

1. Cover your nails with clear polish. Permissible light beige base for French manicure.
2. Place a drop of white polish on the cardboard. Dip a cosmetic sponge into it and press it onto the nail for 5 seconds. You can do it gentle gradient.
3. Dip a thin brush into white acrylic paint and paint along the edge of the nail plate.
4. With the same brush fill in the dots along the inner contour of the curl.
5. Cover the composition with finishing varnish.

Frivolous hearts

What could be more favorite for girls than hearts in detail? Making a manicure as in the photo is simple: apply intersecting lines with a thin brush and shape them into hearts, slightly rounding the corners. Don't forget fix nails clear varnish.

- a popular print on nails among girls who are mastering the specifics of applying a design. To draw a butterfly follow the simple mini instructions:

1. Decorate your nails in your favorite style: it can be a solid color or a French manicure.
2. Choose a nail that decorate the drawing. You should not draw butterflies on all your fingers: the image will look tacky.
3. Do three petals at some distance from each other.
4. Draw the body of the butterfly to the petals and draw the outline of the wings from it. Create an outline, based on your preferences.
5. Decorate the wings with circles or stripes.
6. Draw characteristic mustache to the butterfly's body.
7. Cover the design with clear varnish.

Summer

Do you want to surround yourself with flowers? Don't miss the opportunity to draw them on nail plates acrylic paints. Bright and light colors will create amazing clearing on your hands:

1. Cover your nail plates with white or green polish - it will be a stylized clearing.
2. Start planting flowers: draw flowers of different sizes and colors, not forgetting to mark the core.
3. Cover with clear varnish.

White-blue

Chic, feminine manicure, accessible to any beginner. To complete it step by step, you don’t need to have an art education - just draw thin blue lines on a white background. Make a blue flower by connecting three pointed triangles: stick rhinestones in the middle or place a white dot-core.

Decorate your white nails dark blue frame made with acrylic paints.

A spectacular manicure, suitable for evening walks. This pattern can be easily drawn without additional training. Just follow the instructions, periodically checking the photo:

1. Cover your nails dark purple nail polish, leaving two nails on each hand to paint a different color.
2. Apply light lilac polish to selected nails.
3. Dip a thin brush into black acrylic paint and begin to paint thin branches-roots on light nails.
4. Secure the result with clear varnish.

A simple acrylic painting technique - tulips. Surely as a child you drew cute roses and tulips in the fields. Stretch your memory and remember the simplest movements: they will allow you to depict a simple design of petals and stems on the nail plates. Don't forget Protect the design with a topcoat.

Roses

There are a great many options for decorating nail plates with chic flowers. To decide which method is right for you, watch the video. In it, the nail artist explains in detail and clearly the technique of making pink flowers.

Another floral option on a French manicure - delicate, simple flowers. Take a closer look at the photo and make the same drawing with acrylic paints.

You can absolutely draw a bug on any background. First practice drawing a family ladybugs acrylic paints on paper, then get started to perform on nails:

1. Draw a red oval in any part of the nail - this corpuscle future ladybug.
2. Draw a line of black paint from the beginning to the end of the oval. Trace the oval.
3. Put several points on the back of a bug.
4. Draw the mustache.
5. Apply topcoat.

Flowers with leaves

A distinctive feature of this drawing is its unobtrusiveness. Despite the fact that the flowers are large in size and, together with the petals, occupy the entire area of ​​the nail plate, delicate color the composition does not look defiant or flashy. If you want to achieve the same effect, create flowers exclusively on a white background. Please note that flowers are designed to be lightweight, sweeping movements a thin brush, and the sheets are clearly drawn. This is done so that the composition does not look blurry.

A chic youth manicure is shown in the photo: all you need is spontaneous strokes, which you will outline into shapes. It’s up to you to decide what shapes there will be: you can leave everything as it is. original photo, or you can contribute something of your own. Fantasize to create some really interesting nail art.

The magnificent painting shown in the photograph can be done while flying in the clouds. Slip with a thin brush on a burgundy or white base will create a magnificent flight of thought.

Simple, and at the same time, difficult material for a beginner to memorize. they are created quite simply: the only difficult thing is to bring them into the form that you see in the photo. The fact is that a beginner who has not learned how to control a brush cannot always immediately correctly adjust the thickness of the lines. And if everything is clear with thin lines, then in thicker lines there is often a lack or excess of thickness. To don't be disappointed For the first manicure of this kind, practice on a piece of paper how to correctly execute the design. We are sure that 20 minutes will be enough for you to feel like an ace in drawing roses from thickened lines.

Are you an amateur? bright jewelry and exotic countries? Then you should definitely paint on your nails not complex geometric patterns, arranging them in an ethno-composition. Rest assured: a few bracelets, a manicure and a boho sundress, and not a single man will pass by without turning around.

There are many ways to create stripes. One of the popular ones is tape. Of course perfect evenness can only be achieved this way, but imagine how much extra work? Acrylic paints paint stripes no worse: get used to holding them leading hand when working straight, and the result will not disappoint you.

A bright and rich manicure from the photo, it looks as if markers have just been drawn over the nails. This is not so - on the nail plates you see unusually designed stripes. They add volume to the manicure and make it expressive.

If you want to achieve the effect like in the photo above, use only black paint over the rest. Any other color will instantly blur the volume of the picture.

The most delicate manicure with bows will drive any man crazy. Follow the instructions to create this miracle:

1. Create a classic French manicure using the free edge pink polish
2. Dip a medium sized brush into black acrylic paint.
3. Draw a line dividing the main nail from the free edge.
4. Draw on the side of each nail two triangles, with their vertices facing each other.
5. Using a thin brush, adjust the triangles, turning them into bows.
6. Decorate the center white dot.
7. Apply topcoat.

We have presented many options for designing nails using acrylic paints. There are quite a lot of them simple options that do not require training in manicure art. Try your hand at making designs on your own nails. We hope we helped you understand how to make nail designs with acrylic paints step by step for beginners.