Valentine’s Chalkboard Nails

I should have had this up the other day but some how it slipped my mind. Never mind though, there’s still plenty of time until Valentine’s Day! Last summer when Ciate brought out their chalkboard nails kit, I tried to DIY it myself and it worked relatively well. Not sure why I didn’t blog about it though! So when I was planning on my Valentine’s nail ideas (yes, I sat down and planned out ideas!) chalkboard nails came back to me and I thought I’d try them again. Here’s the results

Here’s how I did it

1. First apply a base coat. It’ll help keep that black from staining!

2. Apply black of your choice. I used Nails Inc in New York Noir (Kate Spade special edition that was sold with Glamour magazine end of 2013). Let it dry completely. If you need a second coat, apply and let dry (though in my opinion, a good black polish is one that only needs one coat).

3. Apply matt top coat of your choice. I used the Essence one. Now, you might debate if this step is needed, seeing as at the end you will need to top again with a matt top coat to finish the look. Indeed, you could skip this step. I like to use the matt top coat here, as first off it’s actually like drawing on a chalkboard then. And secondly, I find it much easier to nail art on a matt polish, especially when writing stuff and using a nail art pen instead of a striping brush.

4. Once matt coat is dry, you can doodle to your hearts content! It’s up to you what you use. As you see here though, use brighter polishes, they turn out much better. Anything too pastel and wishy washy will need a second coat to bring out the colour, which is fine but can be a pain. Anything too dark and you won’t be able to see it too well, I learnt above.

5. Allow to dry and then top again with matt top coat. Be careful doing this, try not to use too many brush strokes as you may end up smudging it.

Polishes Used

Baby finger- Barry M Nail Art Pen in White

Ring Finger- Catrice in Wrapped Around My Finger

Middle Finger- Angelica in Palma Violet

Index Finger- China Glaze in For Audrey and NYC in Water Street Blue

Thumb- Catrice in Meet Me At Coral Island and Barry M Nail Art Pen in White

I was originally going to stamp a heart in the place of Love, but then on my stamping plate there was Love so I tried that and failed, so I just used a brush to write it out instead. And as you can see the U smudged a bit but it’s not too bad. Overall though I’m happy with how this turned out!