Mani of the Week: Autumn Leaves

As the leaves on the trees slowly die, I figured I’d immortalize them in my manicure for the week. Read on to learn how to capture autumn’s essence on your nails.

*We’re committed to transparency. Products marked with an asterisk were given to us to try by the brand. As always, all thoughts expressed on Rouge18 are our honest opinions.

What You Need

Top Coat & Base Coat:

As always, use the base coat and top coat of your choice. For base coat, I used one coat of the Sally Hansen Triple Strong 3-in-1 Gel Protection followed by a coat of the Orly Bonder Rubberized Base Coat. For top coat, I used the *Anise Pro Gel No Light Base Coat & Top Coat.

Color:

1. OPI Nail Lacquer in “AmazON…AmazOFF” – a deep jungle green

2. *OPI Nail Lacquer in “Sun, Sea, and Sand in My Pants” – a sunshine yellow

3. Essie Nail Lacquer in “Meet Me At Sunset” – a dark orange

4. Essie Nail Lacquer in “Blanc” – a snowy white

Stamps:

To create the design on the accent nails, I used the Salon Express Nail Art Stamping Kit and the leaves design from the BP-19 Born Pretty Stamping Plate. For a good tutorial on nail stamping, check out this video.

How To

Step 1: Apply base coat to all nails.

Step 2: Apply two coats of OPI Nail Lacquer in “AmazON…AmazOFF” to thumbs, pointer/second fingers, and pinkies.

Step 3: Apply two coats of Essie Nail Lacquer in “Blanc” to middle/fourth and ring/fifth fingers. Allow the polish to dry completely.

Step 4: Stamp two large orange leaves onto each accent nail using Essie Nail Lacquer in “Meet Me At Cunset”.

Step 5: Stamp two large yellow leaves onto each accent nail using OPI Nail Lacquer in “Sun, Sea, and Sand in My Pants”.

Step 6: Stamp several (recommended: 4-5) small green leaves onto each accent nail using OPI Nail Lacquer in “AmazON…AmazOFF”.

Step 7: Apply top coat to all nails.

Pro Tip

Whenever you perform nail stamping, be sure your base color is completely dry before you being stamping over it. Personally, I like to paint the base color on nails I know I will stamp, then do errands for a few hours, then come back to do my stamping. This way, I know the nail polish is completely dry and won’t smudge when I stamp on top of it.

Final Look

Obianuju Enworom

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