This is an easy and less expensive way to do your nails at home! Start by finding a picture of nails online or coming up with something on your own for inspiration that you want to recreate. Then you are going to find the nail tips of your choice. Nail tips come in all different shapes and sizes, so this one is really up to you and your inspo pictures. Make sure that the nail tips fit sidewall to sidewall of your natural nail to prevent lifting. Once the nails are laid out, you’re going to start prepping your natural nails to prepare for application. To prep your nails, you will need to cut them down to a shorter length to ensure that the nail tips will last. After this, file your nails to roughen the surface. With a brush, take acetone or a nail dehydrator and dehydrate your nails for better application.

Once your nails are fully prepped, you are going to add one layer of base gel to each nail and cure for 60 seconds, leaving the gel cured but also a little tacky. Finally, you are ready to glue the nail tips on. For this, you need to take the gel nail glue of your choice and apply it to the inside of each nail tip, doing this one at a time. I find it easier to use a small lamp so you have more control and can apply pressure to make sure that each nail is glued on well, and cure for 60 seconds each. Now that your nail tips are on, you will need to file the ends of the nails to get rid of the sharpness. Also, with a buffing block, buff the top of the nails to remove the glossy finish and prevent the polish from peeling. For a seamless and natural look, add acetone to the cuticle area of each nail to melt it into your nail bed.

Now you can go ahead and pick out any colors you need for your designs. For my design, I used a base color closest to my natural nail, white, and a pearlescent blue/purple to match my inspo. When applying the nail polish, do a thin, even coat and cure for 120 seconds. For a more vibrant look, you can do multiple coats, still curing for 120 seconds between each. Next, using a liner brush, I painted the outline of the French tips and filled it in, then cured them for 60 seconds.

The last design includes blooming gel. Apply a thin layer of your blooming gel onto the nail and do not cure. Choose the color you want for this nail and drop the polish onto the area you are wanting to cover. For me, I put white on the ends of my nails and let the blooming gel blend the polish into my base color. Cure for 120 seconds. Now for the 3D designs! Use sculpting gel or rhinestone glue, whichever works best for you. Follow the designs according to your inspo. On the white French tips, I added two lines going across. On the middle blue French tip, I did a seashell design starting from the bottom and bringing the gel to the tip of the nail. For the full blue nails, I did two dots of gel and a line through the middle going across. Also cure for 120 seconds.

Using the same gel, add a small amount to where you want to glue on your nail charms. On your pointer finger, do three small gold beads lined up in the middle. With pearls, you are going to line them up going across your ring finger and cure for 120 seconds to make them stick to your nails. Finally, apply a top coat on all of your nails and cure for 120 seconds. Now your nails are done!