Brush It Off: DIY Brushstroke Nail Art Inspired by Something You Totally Did in Middle School

Remember in middle school, when you would paint your nails with a bottle of Wite-Out and flaunt your bright whites around like you were a fly girl. Well, #1) you ARE a fly girl and #2) today’s DIY nail art is inspired by that old school moment. But it’s not what you think…

That little Wite-Out brush that made painting your nails in the back of math class oh-so-easy, is today’s inspiration. Because we used a tiny paintbrush to create this brushstroke nail design.

Curious to see the step by step process? Click through for the full tutorial.

Here’s what you’ll need… Start by choosing 3 to 4 nail colors for your brush stroke design. We used Essie’s Lilacism, French Pink, Butler Please, and In The Cab-ana. Feel free to use as many different colors as you’d like, but I like 3 or 4 to keep it cohesive. You’ll also need nail polish remover with a glass jar or dish to pour it into and a small paint brush. Do not use a plastic container (nail polish remover / acetone eats through some plastics).

Instructions:

1. Prep your nails with a clear base coat and then paint each with your chosen base color, we chose Lilacism for this.
2. Using your paint brush dip it into your next polish color and start painting random brush strokes on each nail. You don’t need many strokes of each color, one or two and no more than three. Once you have finished using that color just swish your paint brush around in the nail polish remover to remove any polish and you are ready to move on to the next color.
3. Continue the process with each of your other chosen nail colors making sure to keep the brush strokes random.
4. Finish off with a clear top coat and you’re done!

Fun, right? What do you think?

Nail design (and hand modeling) by Rachel Brewer
Photography by Amelia Tatnall
Art direction by Brittni Mehlhoff

Think you’ll give this nail art project a try?