If you think that plain shellac is boring, mundane and simple, then completely change your mind after reading the article. Even nails coated with one shade of gel polish can be beaten using many decorative elements. Combinations of matte and glossy coatings of the same color look great. You can complement the composition with glitter in tone or with small rhinestones or pebbles.
In the article, we will consider several interesting options for plain shellac with photos. We will give step-by-step explanations of the implementation of this work at home, teach the subtleties of skill. Let us show you what shades will look spectacular in the warm season and on cold winter days. Monochrome manicure is suitable for women of any age and will be appropriate on nails of different lengths and shapes. This is a good solution for a daily trip to work or to the store, and for a bright and colorful outfit.
Gentle manicure
Even the most strict boss will have nothing against a nude shade. Such plain shellac is also incredibly fashionable this season. Use this gel polish in summer and winter. Nails with such a coating look natural and well-groomed.
Even on short square-shaped nails with rounded edges, nude varnish looks feminine. You can add uniqueness to such a manicure by placing small rivets on one selected nail. They are fixed either with special cosmetic glue or on a varnish coat. And after drying, for reliability, small elements are additionally coated with a fixative.
Rivets of any shape are used to decorate plain shellac. You can lay out an ornament of triangles and rhombs, make a double strip in the center of the nail. However, a semicircle of circles near the base of the nail plate looks very soft and invisible.
Coral shade on tanned hands
In the summer, during the holiday season on the sea coast, choose pastel plain shellac (photo below) of coral color. It will look beneficial on tanned fingers.
You can use it on short square-shaped nails, as well as long in the form of a "ballerina". Even without additional decorative elements, it will refresh your appearance by adding natural brightness. A small openwork drawing with a brush or dots with the use of white varnish will look spectacular.
This incredibly warm shade can be applied to nails in the spring, when nature still does not have enough colors. Peach, lavender, turquoise and mint flowers will also look spectacular.
Summer decoration
The design of plain shellac, it would seem, is a simple white color, you can beat with dots like a French manicure. French strips are made with bright colors of different varnishes. This decoration is done after applying the main white color using dots. This is a stick, similar to a pen, which has metal tips with balls of different diameters at two ends.
Drop one drop of each color onto the plastic wrap, and then dip the dots ball into the thick liquid. Leave a clear imprint on the chosen place, in our sample it is a semicircle of a jacket on the edge of the nail. Before using the second color, wipe the ball thoroughly with a cloth. Similarly, a pattern is created from points on the remaining nails. Try to set the prints perpendicular to the plate, otherwise they will be deformed, and such a manicure will not be completely neat.
If you think that this is too variegated for you version of nail art, then use only one shade of gel polish for the dots. After the nails have dried, cover the surface with a fixative.
Matte Strokes
In autumn or winter, shellac of warm and dark colors will be appropriate. It is purple and brown, black and deep blue, emerald and burgundy. They envelop the nails with their calm and slightly muffled paints, adding coziness and comfort to the owner of the nails with plain shellac. Glossy and matte-coated nails look spectacular.
In the photo above, you can see how a monochrome matte varnish of a saturated violet shade harmoniously combines with shiny thin lines of different configurations, drawn with a skillful hand of a master with a brush. Silver gel polish, choose a not too thick consistency, since it will not work to draw such a thin line with one movement.
French gloss
Solid shellac for short nails can be represented in a variety of compositions. So, the combination of matte black varnish, which made the main coating, with glossy stripes on the edge of the nail like a French manicure looks great.
Lines can be drawn with a brush or made by sticking strips of stationery tape, especially if they are wide, as in our sample. It is interesting to experiment with pairs of gel polishes of any color. Fixer in this case is no longer used.
Elegant nail art for short nails
Even a manicure of nails with plain shellac (photo below in the article) can be made bright, sparkling and unique. For a festive party exit, it is advisable to use a deep red color that will suit any outfit. The semi-arches uncovered by varnish at the base of the nails look original.
Gloss add interesting compositions on the nails of the ring fingers, which are lined with rhinestones of different sizes, around which silver broths are placed. To attach them to a selected area of the nail, apply a few drops of the base layer. It will hold small parts together until dry. If you want to extend the life of this nail art, you can cover bright elements with a layer of fixative on top. With such an original manicure, everyone’s attention at the ceremony is guaranteed!
Decoration with rhinestones
Brilliant mother-of-pearl varnish looks spectacular on its nails by itself, but if you add manicure with small pebbles ornament, it will benefit from this.
Placing rhinestones in decreasing order of size of the parts looks beautiful along the nail plate at the lateral tubercle of the skin. And in this situation, small elements will be more securely fixed and will last a long time.
Knitted pattern
Recently, volumetric ornament on nails, reminiscent of knitted sweater patterns, has been very popular. You can choose any picture you like. For its manufacture, a base varnish of a thick consistency is used. Using a dots or a brush (optional), draw curved lines, rhombuses, and dots on the background.
After drying the transparent picture, paint the surface of the nail with the selected varnish color. As you can see, even with just one shellac, you can make a unique manicure.
Using acrylic powder
Another fashion trend is the implementation of manicure with powder. Draw a picture on the plain surface of the nail selected for the base gel polish. It can be a geometric ornament, a knitted sweater pattern, as in the previous example in the article, or a flower with several petals.
The base in this embodiment is not dried, and the nail falls with its surface with an adhesive layer into a container with powder. Its masters are called sugar. Shake off lightly the powder over the cling film and dry the nails under the UV lamp. All that remains is to wipe the crumbling powder with a brush, this must be done especially carefully in the thin passages between the voluminous details of the picture. The top layer is no longer applied, as the powder should remain fluffy. Such a manicure is not too durable, over time, “sugar” will begin to crumble, but it looks incredibly impressive.
As you can see, even making a manicure with only one color of varnish, you can make it unique. Enough to show a little skill and imagination!