How To Crystallize Your Nails with Swarovski Elements

As Wednesday's newsletter said "Well - we are always about instant glam, and long slow glam that takes weeks to make, and every kind of glam in-between!" Just how far can we take the glam? From the top of our head, to the tips of our toes - and spreading outwards from our fingertips.

Nail art is very trendy right, and crystallized nails are so hot they are icy! You sometimes see Dwyn's perfectly manicured nails in product shots with a funky black or deep burgundy nail polish on. This week, she's rocking a French Manicure. I think she should let me do her nails, but it would probably be too distracting in the online product pictures!

I've been at the Creativ Festival this week and weekend teaching classes and doing demo in the Crystal Rock Pavillion for Swarovski. One of my demos today was How To Crystallize Your Nails. I thought I would share that information with you today. Here I am demoing. Thanks to Lisa Pavelka for taking the picture.

Here are some samples I prepared prior to the demo.

I used SS7 Crystal in Crystal and Jet as well as some larger one is Crystal AB. There are many different shapes and colours of rhinestones available. Here is the link to BeadFX's Swarovski Rhinestones: CLICK HERE



Pick up crystals using the Magical Rhinestone Pick. (Product S24397)


Put the crystals in the Magical Tray. As it says, a simple shake is all it takes to flip stones right side up. It's true!! (Product S24396)

The key to crystallizing your nails, is to be slow and steady, try not to shake, and have a friend do your dominant hand. (lol)

I like to use OPI Nail Polish. It is very high quality and comes in a variety of spectacular colors.

Step 1: Prepare nail by filing and shaping as needed.
Step 2: Wash hands and dry thoroughly.
Step 3: Paint nails with a foundation colour.
Step 4: Using the Magical Pick, pick up a crystal rhinestone, sparkly side up.
Step 5: Gently position the crystal where you want it, and set it in the nail polish. Continuing doing this until a) you're done or b) the crystals won't adhere to the polish anymore.
Step 6: If you want to add more crystals, paint on a layer of clear top coat to "wet" the nail. Continue to add crystal embellishments as desired.
NOTE: Make sure you use a high quality top coat. NO Dollar Store cheapos, please. I use the OPI Top Coat that has a slight purple hue to it. If you use a low quality top coat, it may make the crystals cloudy. We don't want cloudy. We want SPARKLY!
Step 7: Once you have completed your crystal nail design, let your nail dry for about 2 minutes. Then apply a top coat over the entire nail including the crystals. For more security, you can paint on a second layer of top coat.

To remove he nail polish and crystals, use an acetone nail polish remover. You can recycle the crystals for another nail project!

You can find a free project on www.create-your-style.com for embellishing your nails.
CLICK HERE for the PDF.

If you like this project and decide to bling out your nails, please take a picture and send it in an email to info@beadfx.com - with BLING NAILS in the subject line. Your nails may be featured in an upcoming blog post!!

Here are some images to inspire you that I found on Pinterest.