How to: Minimal Triangle Nails

After having been in nail wraps for the past week or so, I decided it was time to give my fingernails a chance to breathe for a while. However, I'm the kind of person who can't leave my nails unpainted for long, mainly because I'm itching to try out some new design on them (thanks, Pinterest!). At the moment I'm really into minimal nail designs; edgy yet still classy at the same time, and when done in a neutral colour will go with everything. Here's my take on minimal nails.

This idea started off by me thinking that I could just paint a half moon at the base of my nails in black. After soon deciding that such a design would be beyond my nail painting abilities, I looked for an easier way to get a similar result. The answer - masking tape. And so the half moons became triangles.

First up, use two pieces of masking tape to create a triangle shape at the base of your nail. Make sure that the tape is stuck down well so that the triangle shape will be neat.

Apply your nail varnish into the triangle area. I'm doing one coat, but for a more intense colour, you could do two. For a monochromatic look, I'm using black, but I think that this would also look great in other colours - how about a lilac? - or even in a metallic varnish. Add an interesting texture to the look by using matt nail varnish.

Carefully remove your masking tape, after leaving your nail varnish to dry for a couple of seconds (but you don't want it to be completely dry).

Leave your nail varnish to dry, before showing off your new manicure. You could add a topcoat, but I quite like the fact that only the triangle area shines.

How are you painting your nails at the moment?

|Soundtrack - Tessellate by Alt-J|