Want nails that remind you of spring time and nature and all things pretty? A small escape from the gale force winds and gloomy weather we’re having? Then this tutorial is for you! This design requires pretty much no skill at all and no real nail tools!

The monarch butterfly wing nail design is one the easiest yet effective nail designs I have ever done. The whole thing took me around one and a half hours and I managed to make it last for a couple of weeks! (Which is a long time for me!)

You will need:
– Nail Polish colours of your choice (I used black, white, pink, purple and blue with gold for my accent nail)
For the ombre:
– Sponge (I used a makeup sponge)
For the design:
– A black striper (I used a toothpick)
– A dotting tool (I used the balled end of a bobby pin)

I made a pictorial which I’ll be using as the main reference for the step-by-step!

Step 1
Ombrè nails in which ever way you’d  prefer with colours of your choice. I decided to do a vertical ombre from pink to purple to blue. I did this over 2 nails from the outside inwards and then made my middle nail my accent nail by painting it gold.

Step 2
Draw a slightly curved line on the corner of your nail. If using a toothpick – dip the brush into the bottle and sweep the toothpick up and down the sides of the brush. The aim is to gather most of the product on the sides of the toothpick so that when you point it downward, the liquid flows down – kind of like a pen! 

Step 3
Draw lines coming out of the curved line – kind of like a sun! Start from the curved like and draw outward – this prevents the blobs at the end and an overall neater look.

Step 4
Join the ends of the straight lines with other curved lines.

Step 5
Do the same for the rest of your fingers – I made the wings face towards the centre (i.e the gold nail)

Step 6
Fill in the space above the flower -like shape up to the cuticle .

Step 7
Do the same for the other nails.

Step 8
With your dotting tool/back of bobby pin, make some small white polka dots in the area you just filled in!

Aaaaaaaaand, you’re done! 

The gold accent nail is meant to be like the middle/body of the butterfly with the wings coming off it – like a real butterfly!

Let me know if you give this one a try! Follow me on instagram @bymeneka and hashtag #nailsbymeneka

❤ Meneka