We asked Bio Sculpture tech NICOLA BARLOW to create three festive nail designs to suit very different client types

NICOLA BARLOW

Winter Make-up and Nails

CHRISTMAS CUTIE

STEP 1 Apply two coats of gold shimmer Gilded Reflection using a round brush, curing between each

STEP 2 On the ring fingers, create a small circle for the gingerbread man’s head using a nail art brush and French White. Create a star-like shape on each for his arms and legs. Cure

STEP 3 Using light brown Chocolate Fudge, go over your white gingerbread man shape to add colour, and then use black Liquorice to create the outlines and draw on the eyes, mouth and a line in the middle of the right arm and leg. Cure

STEP 4 Using a dotting tool and French White, add two buttons in the middle of his body and cure, before covering with red Breaking Dawn. Cure

STEP 5 Dip your nail art brush into French White and on the index, middle and pinkie fingers, create the shape of a holly bush and two berries in the centre. Cure

STEP 6 Add the outline to the holly leaves and berries on each finger using Liquorice and cure

STEP 7 Apply bright green Spring Maple Leaf to fill in the holly leaves and Breaking Dawn to fill in the berries. Cure

STEP 8 With French White create the shape of a holly bush in the top left of the thumb, with one leaf coming down the left-hand side and one running along the top. Create the base for another gingerbread man as above in the bottom right hand corner. Cure and add colours as above. Cure

STEP 9 Add outlines and details to both shapes as above. Cure

STEP 10 Using your dotting tool, add two buttons to the gingerbread man’s body, cure, and then add Breaking Dawn to buttons. Cure.

All nails were first prepped appropriately, painted with Base Gel and cured. Every look was finished with a coat of clear Soft Gel to seal in the design which was cured before a layer of Evo Gloss Top Coat was applied, followed by a final curing. Bio Sculpture shades French White and black Liquorice were used for each design, as was a round gel brush.

GLITTER BOMB

STEP 1 Apply two coats of French White to each nail using a round brush. Cure between each layer

STEP 2 Paint a half moon above the cuticles of the middle fingers with Soft Gel to create a tacky layer. Dab fine silver glitter onto the half moon using a dry brush, and then apply Soft Gel over the top. Cure.

STEP 3 On the ring fingers, create a reverse half moon covering most of the nail using the same technique as above. Apply silver glitter with a dry brush and cover with multi-coloured glitter Glitter Bug to increase the density. Cure, apply Soft Gel and cure again, before lightly buffing to smooth over glitter

STEP 4 On the index fingers, paint a small circle using Soft Gel. Dab pink glitter onto the circle using a dry brush. Use a fine nail art brush and black Liquorice to detail the bauble. Cure, apply Soft Gel and cure again

STEP 5 On the pinkie fingers apply Soft Gel and use a dry nail art brush to paint even stripes of pink and silver glitter into the tacky layer, leaving white stripes in between. Cure, apply anothe

MINIMAL MONOCHROME

STEP 1 Apply two coats of French White to the middle and ring fingers using a round brush. Cure between each layer

STEP 2 Apply two coats of Liquorice to the thumbs and the pinkie and index fingers, curing after each

STEP 3 To create your minimalist Christmas trees, use an upper arch brush to paint a triangular outline on each of the four white nails, coming up from the cuticle to the centre, using the black gel

STEP 4 Using your round brush again, fill in the triangles on the ring fingers with two coats of black gel. On the middle fingers, leave the triangle white and fill the rest of the nail in black, curing after each layer

STEP 5 With the upper arch brush, paint two fine diagonal lines across each triangle for your minimalist tinsel, using white gel over the black triangles and black gel on the white

STEP 6 With the same brush and contrasting colour, add a small dot at the top of each tree then cure. PB