Splatter Painted Nail Tutorial

One big trend that I'm sure you're aware of is the galaxy print! It's everywhere! On leggings (a great pair is from BlackMilk), on shoes (the every popular Lita boot is available is this design), and now on nails! I stumbled upon a tutorial of how to do them yesterday and fell in love. Unfortunately, I messed them up just a bit...oops! The results, however, were not a disaster! They ended up looking like an intentional splatter paint design, and now I'm here to bring it to you. No one else will have them, simply because I just happened upon this is my quest for something else. Enjoy my mistakes ;)

If people know me at all, they know my love of nail polish. And through the years of collecting all of my different colors, I've become something of a snob. I tend to stray from anything that isn't OPI, haha. But, that isn't to say that you couldn't use a different brand or even completely different colors. I'll list the colors that I've used in the steps below, but I'll also post general guidelines to choosing colors that will work well. Happy splattering!

Steps for Splatter Paint nails:

1. Prep your nails. Make sure they're clean of any other nail polish, file them, and apply a basecoat.

2. Choose a dark color that will be the "canvas" of your splatter painting. I used "Black Onyx" by OPI but any dark navy, black, or dark purple would work best.

3. Next, you'll need a make-up sponge. You don't need an entire one, just a corner. You could get by with using just a corner and use only one sponge. The base of your painting should be a light color. I used a light green mint color, "Mermaid Tears" by OPI. Put a blob of nail polish on the corner of the sponge and start to dab it on your nails in any sort of pattern you'd like. Wait for it to dry.

4. Next, using another corner of the makeup sponge, choose a bright color. I used a hot pink, "Strawberry Margarita" by OPI. After your first layer of the lighter color has dried, begin to dab on the second color. Let it bubble a little bit or purposefully let some of the first color come through to create the "splatter" effect.

5. Next I used "Road House Blues", a navy, to help accent the other colors, but this step is optional. It's really up to you if you want to use any other colors at this point.

6. The last step is to add glitter. I used a multi-sized silver glitter to help add more of a "splatter" effect and to break up the colors. Add a top coat, and enjoy your new splatter painted nails! If people ask if you've been in the studio all day working on your next masterpiece, just play along.