I love doing my own nails. I have tons of polishes and different tools for doing them myself. Like most people, however, I am not very good at it. But I hate paying to get my nails done, so I have a figured out a few at home techniques that are almost mistake-proof and do not require a lot of skill or art expertise.
One of my favorite (and one of the easiest) DIY manicures I know how to do is “newspaper nails.” You can transfer print from newspaper to your nails easily. I have done it more than once and my nails always come out looking great and unique.
The first tip to home manicures is to gather everything you need before you begin so you are not hunting for things with wet nails. Mostly everything will be something you already have at home and the hardest thing to find in this day and age will be a physical newspaper. I also, when doing a multi-step nail project, set up a show on Netflix so I will be entertained while my nails are drying and not tempted to do something that will mess them up. You will need:
- White nail polish. You can use any pale color and it will still work. I prefer white because it looks like actual newspaper. Right now, I am using “Purity” by Zoya. Zoya is a brand known for using only natural ingredients, but is quite pricey and doesn’t stay on your nails as long as I would like. Any brand will work. I also sometimes use an off-white for an effect that looks like old or worn newspaper.
- Scissors. For cutting out newspaper.
- A base coat and a top coat. I use a nail strengthening base coat, typically. My favorite top coat is called "Seche Vite." I also recently discovered you can use a Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat even if you didn’t use the miracle gel polish.
- A shallow bowl.
- Isopropyl alcohol. You can actually use any type of alcohol, all though a clear one will work the best. When out of isopropyl alcohol, I have totally used both vodka and gin with success. If you don’t have any alcohol at home, isopropyl is your best bet as it normally only costs $1.
- Newspaper. As someone who hasn’t read a physical newspaper in years, I was lost for a second on where to get one. I ended up grabbing a free copy of my school’s paper because I was planning on doing these nails.
The first step is to lay down your base color. Use your base coat and then whatever color you have chosen. I do not normally put a top coat over the white because I have found when I’ve got a multiple layer nail project on it is thicker and may chip faster. Let your white dry completely. A lot of tutorials will recommend 20 minutes, but I normally go with an hour because I know if I mess up my base and have to redo it I will get frustrated.
Once your white (or otherwise pale-colored) nails are dry, look through your newspaper. Find sections of text that fit your nails and trim them out. What the text actually says doesn’t really matter because the print will transfer as a mirror image and an entire word doesn’t typically fit across the length of your nails. Regardless, chances are that nobody is actually going to try to read the tiny words on your nails. You technically only need to cut out 10 pieces of newspaper (you have 10 nails) but I cut out 12-14 so if I make a mistake or lose a tiny piece of paper I don’t have to stop in the middle of what I am doing to cut out more.
All of my supplies gathered and my nails painted white.
The final item that you want to prepare is your alcohol. Fill a shallow bowl with enough alcohol so that it is deep enough to submerge a piece of newspaper in. I normally do this part of the mani over a towel because I don’t want to drip alcohol everywhere. Now you can start on the fun part!
Work on one nail at a time. Take one of your pieces of newspaper and submerge it in the alcohol just long enough for all of it to have absorbed alcohol and be wet. Then press it (with the print you want on your nail facing down) firmly on a nail for 20 seconds. Make sure you press over the entire area of your nail for the print to transfer. Repeat this for each of your nails while being careful not to dip any finished nails into the alcohol, as it could cause the print to rub off easily.
A top coat is important to ensure that the print doesn’t rub off, but make sure you wait about 10 minutes before applying it. The ink from the newspaper needs to dry on your nails before you put a top coat on or else it will run.
The final step is to enjoy and admire you beautiful, bookish nails!
