Nail art made easy: OPI Color paints

You guys seemed to love my Christmas nails when I posted them on Instagram, but I can’t take credit for being some sort of secret nail art wizard. Instead, it’s all down to OPI’s Color Paints, which are ridiculously simple to use but give the most amazing effect. And you need them in your life. Promise.

The Color Paints are semi-sheer polishes that layer up over a silver chrome base to create a stained glass effect on the nails. You can buy full-size bottles if you really want to invest in them, but I’d recommend going for the much cheaper, more flexible minis kit as it gives you access to the chrome base coat and five of the Color Paint shades.

Give your nails a reasonably thick coat of the chrome – it doesn’t need to be perfect as you’ll be adding colours on top – and wait for it to dry. Then add your chosen shades in splodges or rough stripes, allowing each colour to dry before adding the next. Add a top coat for a glossy finish and you’re all set!

They work best when you remove most of the product off of the brush before applying. This helps to keep each shade sheer and stop the polish being too thick. Ideally you’ll end up with small areas that have two or three shades that meet – this gives that lovely stained glass effect and really adds to the finished look.

I like to use plenty of the yellow shade when I do mine as it helps stop the nails looking too dark, but there are hundreds of combinations you can run with. Each nail will look slightly different, so it’s not one to try if you have to have a totally uniform finish to your nails, but it’s very eye catching and looks so much harder than it is!

OPI Color Paints cost £16.95 for the minis set and can be found at Nail Polish Direct.