Hello lovelies,

It’s time for another weekly manicure.

This week I went for a plush yet sparkly velvet manicure. The base color is two coats CND Vinylux Tutti Frutti, with the velvet flocking powder pressed into the CND Vinylux Top Coat. The result is a fluffy, fun texture that has been getting lots of attention.

Nicci’s Fuschia Velvet Manicure

Want to try a velvet manicure? Follow these simple steps:

You’ll need flocking powder, a matching nail polish, a pair of tweezers, a piece of paper and a nail art fan brush. Optional items are a cuticle pusher or orange wood stick, a spray bottle with alcohol, and some paper towel.

1. Set up your workspace. Put the paper down on your workspace to contain any mess. Keep the flocking powder, tweezers and fan brush nearby.

2. Apply two coats of a matching polish to your nails. If you’re not using CND Vinylux, don’t forget to apply a base coat!

3. Open the flocking powder jar. Apply a third coat of color or a top coat on one nail. Right away, take tweezers and pile a bunch of flocking powder on top of the nail. Press firmly (but not too firmly!) down on the powder to get the fibers to stick into the polish. Make sure you get the whole nail.

4. Continue with the rest of the fingers on one hand. After finishing all five fingers, gently use the fan brush to remove the excess powder from your fingers and around the nail. Use a cuticle pusher or orange wood stick to clear any blobs that may have formed near the edges of the nail.

5. Repeat for your second hand, and finished!

6. To clean your space, use the paper as a funnel to put your excess powder back in the jar. You can definitely reuse this!

7. (optional) Alcohol and paper towel are great for cleaning up any messes that made it around the paper…

Here’s a pinnable step-by-step!

Follow these steps to get a perfect velvet manicure!

It’s actually not that complicated, but it can be a bit messy. Make sure not to wash your hands for at least 30 minutes afterward to give the polish time to dry. If you can’t wait that long, give your nails a sniff. If they smell like polish, try to wait a little longer. Once the polish is dry, the velvet will last as long as the manicure.

You might not want to use a top coat to stick the velvet to your nails because you could get the flocking powder stuck in it, and that would be pretty awful. Also make sure that the polish *isn’t* a quick-dry polish. The powder won’t stick if the polish is partially dry. Of course, doing this one finger at a time helps; I used Vinylux and it went fine.

Have you tried a velvet manicure? Or are you feeling inspired to try one now? Even if you aren’t, please #showmeyourmani this week!

Take care, and see you next time!

Nicci 😉