Gold Leaf Manicure!

Ok, guys. My mom had this great idea a coupla months ago to buy gold leaf and put it on my nails. Kinda like a nail wrap. Well, the very first time I tried it I had only been doing nail art for a few months, so it turned out really awful. Because of that one time, the gold leaf went into the bottom drawer of one of my nail polish carts and was left to sit.
The other day I decided that I would give it another shot, using some of the new techniques that I hadn't known before. And they turned out very nicely. So now, I'm gonna show you how to apply Gold Leaf to your nails.

Now, first off, Gold Leaf WILL NOT go on perfectly smooth, no matter what you do you will get wrinkles and crinkles. The great part of this is that if you accidentally tear it, or bump it, while putting it on, you can apply another peice over the top and not a soul will know the difference! The application is pretty simple once you have the few key tricks up your sleeve.

First, you create a sticky surface on your nail. I'm using a nail foil glue, which I purchased from Dollarnailart.com (if you haven't been there before, check it out!) You brush the glue on and wait for the neon-blueish twinge to go away and your nail to turn dull and milky looking. Then you apply the Gold Leaf. You can use a clear base coat as well, it just takes longer to dry.

The second step is to apply the Gold Leaf. Cut off a piece of Leaf that will fit the area that you want covered. You have to be very gentle while doing all the next steps, Gold Leaf is very delicate, and tempermental. You can try to use tweezers to pick it up, but I find it easiest to just pick it up,CAREFULLY, with my finger nails.

You then just rest the Leaf on the glue, or base coat, and GENTLY press it on with your finger. If you are too rough, you will find yourself with a ripped up mess.

You then let the basecoat, if you used one, to dry before VERY CAREFULLY top coating it. When you top coat, use extreme caution not to drag the brush along the Gold Leaf. Put a lot of laquer on the brush and gently spread it around. Another option, if you have the resources available, would be to use a UV Sealer and a UV lamp. I prefer this method because in just three minutes, I know my polish will be dry, my nails will be safe, and I could go straight off and bake cookies if I wanted too, without ruining my nails.

After you top coat it, or seal it, you will be ready to go with a super cool mani and you could even do a really easy Gold Leaf Pedi, just follow the same steps for your fingers. Go ahead and give it a try and lemme know how it comes out! <3