London-based manicurist, Michelle Humphrey provides on-point nails for a whole host of famous faces from Dua Lipa and Adele, to Cate Blanchett and Priyanka Chopra Jonas to name a few.
Michelle shares her super simple and quick step-by-step guide for creating romantic nails right in time for Valentine’s Day. Here, she uses the Max Factor Masterpiece Xpress Quick Dry nail polish in the shades of ‘She’s Reddy’, ‘I Believe In Pink’ and ‘Made Me Blush’ to merge an ombré effect with nail art hearts, and mini stars. Fake Plastic Hand
Valentine's inspired nail art by Michelle Humphrey
Step 1: Good preparation of the nails is key
Cut and file nails to your desired shape.
Push back the cuticles, you can use a remover to help - Sally Hansen ‘Instant Cuticle Remover’ is great for this as it softens them.
Gently buff the nail and wipe clean with a cotton pad and polish remover. This will remove any excess oil and dust which is really important for product adhesion and manicure longevity.
Always use a base coat, this anchors down your color and prevents chipping.
Using a brush, apply the watercolor effect. Use polish remover or acetone to dilute the nail polish to make it more transparent. I ombréd the three colors from light to dark on the diagonal. Each nail can go a different way to change it up. A tip here is that you can use a piece of foil as a pallet to mix your colors.
If there are any patches, continue to add polish remover to soften any edges.
Use a dotting tool to create the top part of the heart in your red color of ‘She’s Reddy’. Paint the bottom detail using a fine liner joining a V together and filling it in.
A top tip, is to keep wiping your brushes clean with remover, or else the polish will dry in the bristles and harden.
Use a fine dotting tool to create the star effect in ‘Made me Blush’. Once complete, add a few horizontal and vertical lines to create star shapes.
Apply the topcoat to seal the design, and then cap the free edge.
Nail Drill See more nail looks from Michelle on her Instagram page and here.