I plan on painting my nails something bright and tropical before we head off to Thailand, so to compensate, this week I went with something dark and wintry. black + gold is always a great combination, and I haven't done polka dots in a while. I started with 2 coats of essie's black licorice.
I decided to try out the metallic marker method. [they don't sell Sharpies here in Taiwan, so this is the closest I could find.] sometimes, I find these shortcuts too good to be true. but. this one actually works!
take the metallic marker and dot your pattern onto dry, polished nails. let it dry for a few minutes.you have to be very careful while the marker is drying, as it smudges easily. I tried to test it with my finger to see if it was dry... smudge. luckily marker comes off with rubbing alcohol. on the second attempt I ended up just going for it with the top coat, and had no issues with smudging or smearing.
perfect polka dots! dotting the spots on with a marker was SOOO much easier than using polish and a bobby pin [or other tool]. the tip on my Simbalion marker is 1.2mm - smaller than a Sharpie - so I was able to be fairly precise with my spots. I found that starting with 3 dots down the center, then filling in the between spaces on either side in rows helps keep your pattern neat.
I'm definitely going to be trying this trick again! I bough a silver marker as well, and am curious to see if this works with regular [non-metallic] markers. has anyone else tried using markers on their manicure? I haven't been able to find nail art pens over here so I'm hoping markers can be my alternative.
