With all the “20% off SDSU apparel” coupons we get from our State planners to use at the bookstore,we all probably own a lot of red and black items with our school’s name, acronym, logo, or year of establishment on it. Here’s a way to go above and beyond the typical shirt, jersey, or sweater while still showing school spirit for SDSU!
They’re called “Ikat” nails, and they have recently been trending around the Internet. Here’s a tutorial on how you can do these simple “tribal-meets-Aztec-pride” nails!
1) First, start off with your base colors, I chose “Haute Red” from Orly, “Liquid Vinyl” from Orly, and “Blanc” from Essie. The following directions will be for the nails with the white base.
2) The next step can go one of two ways: use a nail polish with a thin brush, or use a toothpick to draw two pairs of vertical, parallel lines randomly on the nails. I used a nail polish that comes with a thin brush by LA Colors, from their “Art Deco” line.
3)Then, still using the thin brush or toothpick, go back and “connect” these two lines at the tips with a bunch of short strokes. Essentially it should look like a tribal rectangle with evident brush strokes.
4)Then randomly place a touch of your third color to the center of each space, where the white is exposed.
5) For nails with a color base, the only step you need to add is to make two brushstrokes of white on the nail, and then out line it with the black, and follow the same steps as mentioned above.
I decided to add some gold glitter topcoat to my black nail for some variation, but remember to be creative with these and add your own personal touches. Don’t forget that perfection takes practice!
The first time I tried these nails on our editor-in-chief, Jazmine Mercado, they looked a little bit like a hot mess, so don’t get discouraged if they don’t turn out the way you pictured, and luckily: nail polish isn’t permanent!