OPI - Liquid Sand - Concrete Nail Art "DIY"

The possibilities are endless for textured nails !!!

So now I have a DIY for concrete nails.  Pretty simple actually.  Actually with this DIY I made some improvements for the "OPI - Stay the Night (Liquid Sand) *DIY* and that will be my next post.  That'll teach me to rush to put up some content.  LOL



Follow the jump for the tutorial for "Concrete Nails".






The supplies  

Base Coat

White crafting sand

The Best Glue Ever

Clear coat

Matte top coat (optional)

Step One is to prepare the canvas.  

I first applied a base coat to my nails.  This was followed by a single coat of China Glaze "Concrete Catwalk".  Allow to dry.

Step Two 

Apply a coat of "The Best Glue Ever" and allow to dry.

For easy application of the glue I put some into an old cleaned out nail polish bottle and added about 1 part water to 3 parts glue.  This glue is very thick even with the water added.  To make it even easier to apply without watering it down further I let the bottle sit in a cup of hot water.  When warmed it goes on nicely.  From the photo you can see that it dries from a purplish color to clear 

Step Three  

One at a time dip your nail into the mix.  I dipped and pushed into the mix a couple of times just to make sure every spot was covered.  Shake off as much as you can from each nail before completely removing your finger from the bottle.  

Firmly tamp over the entire nail to make sure that the mix is well adhered.

Brush off any loose mix.  I brushed over, across, up, down and around the entire nail to remove any loose mix.  As you can see from the photo, the mix stayed on the nail very well.

Step Four 

Apply a clear coat of choice over the nails.

This step causes the white sand to absorb the color of the polish.  How cool is that!!!

After this dries the texture feels like that of an emery board.     

Step Five     

Apply your final top coat.

I chose to stick with the high gloss top coat as I really like the way this looks.  I may add a matte top coat and possibly some art later.

This second top coat smooths down the roughness but does not take away the texture.

An FYI about "The Best Glue Ever"....

It is quick to dry.  You'll know it is dry when it turns from a purplish color to clear.  Once dry it is VERY tacky.  This really is "The Best Glue Ever"!!!!  Even though it is dry once clear it does still have a "curing" time.  In my experience the glue is not FULLY cured for a couple of hours, just like most polishes and top coats.  Once cured your nails are fully protected from biffs.    

So far today I've done two sink fulls of dishes, played with my two big dogs, was tormented by my cats, folded laundry, ran some errands and got bit by one of my pissed off macaws yet my nails are still flawless.  

It takes some getting used to to having texture on your nails but I must admit that I'm really digging how this feels.