How To Marry Your Love For Leopard With Your Love For Nails

Nail artist @mannequin.hands shows us how to paint nails like a pro.

Hey all you cool cats and kittens etc., nail artist Victoria Houllis aka @mannequin.hands on Instagram is here (virtually) to help bring your nails some much-needed love in lockdown. Get ready to flex your creativity and give yourself a fierce manicure with her cute little leopard print mani tutorial below.

What you’ll need:

- A few different colours of nail polish (don’t be afraid to look beyond your traditional leopard print colours)
- Dotting tool or equivalent
- Fine brush or q-tip to clean up
- Top coat
- A steady-ish hand and a whole lot of patience!

Steps, simplified:

1. Apply two coats of your base colour.
2. Clean edges as you go with a brush or q-tip dipped in acetone.
3. Allow each coat to dry thoroughly before you apply another.
4. Use your fine tools and different coloured polish to create your designs.
5. Finish with a clear top coat and keep those cuticles soft and hydrated with oil.

Pro tip:

"The shapes don’t have to be perfect, in fact, the more irregular they are the more natural they look."

Go full cat lady