How to do newspaper nail art

Moms, ever find yourself with a few minutes to spare and you’re not sure whether you should wash the dishes, take a nap, or ditch the country? Well, how about spending that hard earned “me time” on some quick and easy nail art! Yep, I said “quick and easy” and “nail art” in the same sentence. It’s totally possible. Well, that’s what I learnt this weekend when I tried out newspaper nail art. It took me all of 15 minutes (if that) and left me with all kinds of “wow, I’m so cool right now” feelings.

For those who don’t know: newspaper nail art is basically the transfer of newspaper print onto your nail. I’ve found that most tutorials require the use of rubbing alcohol. But, because the amount of rubbing alcohol found in my cupboards on any given day totals zero, I decided to try it out using plain ol’ water.

Before I started, I made sure my nails were trimmed, filed and buffed. Buffing your nails will help you to get rid of unsightly ridges and will make for a smoother nail polish application. I usually avoid nail art when my nails are super short, like it is now, but that’s another reason why I love this nail art tut – it looks really cute on short nails! 

Once my nails were prepped, I applied a base coat to protect my nails and prolong the lifespan of my mani. (If you’re looking for more info on base coats, check out this post.) Always remember to allow your base coat and each coat of color to dry thoroughly before moving on to the next step.

I then painted my nails with two coats of Essence The Pastels ‘Ice to meet you‘. You could use any other pastel or light colored nail polish, but  I quite like this icey white paint. I found that it goes on smoothly and is really opaque, unlike other white nail paints that I’ve tried. I also figured that a cool matt polish will show off the newspaper print that much more.

Anyways, once that was done, I decided to do an accent nail. Are accent nails still a “thing”? Well, either way, I do love the pop of color! I chose my ring finger as my accent nail and gave it two coats of Essence The Matt ‘I love my blue jeans‘. This is definitely one of my favorite paints – I am totally smitten with the matt effect it so beautifully pulls off.

Once my polish was dry, I prepped my newspaper by cutting out strips of paper big enough to cover an entire nail. I used pretty standard newspaper to do my nail art. (And yes, I work at a giant newspaper house, so this is very “i love my job” of me, right?) You could experiment with all sorts of prints though!

I soaked the strips, one by one, in a bowl of water for a few seconds – you don’t want to leave it in there for too long because it makes the paper mushy. After a few seconds, I simply applied the wet paper to my nail. Make sure that every inch of your nail is covered with the paper. You can place some pressure on the print for about 10 to 20 seconds before carefully peeling the paper away.

I transferred the newspaper print to all but my accent nail. I guess you could try the effect on a darker nail polish, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be as dramatic.

Once done, I immediately applied my gel-look top coat, to prevent the print from rubbing off. And that was that. Easy peasy! I have yet to try this out with magazine print, or color print, but I am sure I will get the same result. If you’re looking for a deeper stain, soak the newspaper strips in rubbing alcohol instead of water. But like I said, I preferred water and quite like the result thereof!

If you are looking to prolong the life of your manicure, but you simply cannot fathom a trip to the nail salon, you could totally attempt to apply acrylic nails at home too. Acrylic nails are basically artificial nail extensions. They are a bit more durable and I guess they are perfect for moms who are struggling to grow their nails (that’s me right now, yo). If that’s you too, then acrylic nails are probably your best bet.

So what do you think about newspaper nail art? Would you try this at home? Like I said, it’s really quick and easy and when you’re ready to remove it comes off easily with your usual nail polish remover. in terms of longevity, I’ve found that with a solid base and top coat, I usually get about 5 days wear out of this.

If you’re looking for more tips on how to do your own nail art at home, you should check out some of my other attempts. (You might not want to go too far back, some of my efforts were just shocking and might hurt your eyeballs.) But yes, I’ve tried it all! From the sponge/grunge effect using a kitchen sponge, to leopard print art using koki pens. I’ve also experimented with scribbled nails (all you need is a plastic baggie, ya’ll!) and the popular gradient nails, using three different colors.

There are also really cool nail art tools available, and they are seriously not that expensive. For inspiration check out the pretty nail art I did using holostripes. I’ve also experimented with nail art stamping plates.

If glitter is your thing, there are a variety of different glitter paints that I really loved using. You could go all out and do an accent nail bedecked with glitter or simply use a dash of glitter to add that extra pizzazz to your mani.

If you’ve tried any of this at home, please do share pics of your fave mani on my Facebook page, ladies. Let’s inspire each other!