I recently learned the art of acid wash for nail designs. Everyone should know what an acid wash pair of jeans looks like, all faded, and usually white with parts of jean blue. It was very much in style a few years ago, and I just found out how to do it on one’s nails which is the cooooooolest trick!

Today is the Fourth of July and so a few days ago I wanted to do Patriotic nails for obvious reasons! A few years ago I tried doing the stars and stripes design on my nails which looked let’s just say: hideous. Without striping tape straight lines is really quite challenging. So I wanted to do something that was both artistic as well as tasteful, hence acid wash! Usually, one needs 3-4 colors for acid wash so huzzah: red, which and blue!

Essentially, acid wash is very simple. One just layers nail polish colors on top of each other. Then, you take a Q-tip and light rub away with nail polish remover to see a gradual transition to the bottom more nail polish color. It’s pretty simple, yet takes some time because you have to wait for each layer of polish to dry. And obviously, you MUST be careful with the polish remover.

I used a sparkly blue as the bottom most color, topped with two layers of white polish, and topped with two coats of shiny red. Then I took a Q-tip and rubbed nail polish remover to 2-3 areas on the nail down to the blue pigment. Again, you must be careful to not use too much remover on the Q-tip otherwise you will have a mess.

I’m pretty happy with the design and looks patriotic yet tame and tasteful for a work environment. Remember, you can use any color palette for this. Just make sure your colors are not too transparent otherwise you won’t see the sheer on top of the dark colors.

Let me know if you have any questions! Good Luck!