I got an adorable set of pastel (and scented!) nail varnishes for Christmas, so I had to christen them with a pastel-tastic unicorn nail art session.

 

Colours used:
4 x cute pastel colours
White

Materials:
Wedge sponge
Fine liner paintbrush
Small paintbrush
Dotting tool
Matte topcoat

Skill level:
★★★★☆

1. Paint

I can never pick just one colour, so I used different shades as a base.  Let them dry completely before step 2…

2. Sponge

To give them a cloudy look, take a cosmetic sponge and use the other colours to dab splodges on each nail. Don’t be too heavy handed if you want a subtle finish.

Oh, this will make the areas around your nails incredibly messy, so use a masking fluid if you have one, or just scrub later!

3. Clouds

After you’re happy with the amount of colour on your nails, use the exact same technique but with white nail polish.  This will make it look extra ‘cloudy’ (and magical).

4. Dot

Using a dotter (do they have another name?) add white dots. You don’t have to of course, I just wanted to.

5. Detail

With all the dots complete, it’s time to add the real magic – the unicorn!  You thought I’d forgotten, hadn’t you?  To be honest I had…  To keep it simple(ish) I only painted one.  So this is hardly unicorn nail art at all, and I apologise if you’ve read this far and now feel cheated.

Start with a white shape resembling a horse head.  If you don’t own your own horse you can google images of unicorns or watch The Godfather for reference.  Add the finer details with a tiny paintbrush, a dotter, and/or whatever you feel comfortable using.  You can also pick up adorably cute unicorn nail art stickers these days too.

Finished!  I prefer using a matte top coat on pale colours and cloudy designs.  It gives a softer feel to nails.