-

1. Apply a sheer pink gel-polish. I used 1 coat of Ugly Duckling Gel Polish #131. Cure.

 -

2. Using a white art gel, begin painting the back part of the large flowers. Keep balance in mind: if I paint one large flower in the top right section of the nail, I typically will paint the other in the bottom left section of the nail. To paint the petals: Begin in the middle for the first petal, and paint an upside down tear drop. On the left and the right of the center petal, paint bracket-like shapes with the bottom of the "brackets" pulling into the bottom of the middle petal. Paint a  small, rough oval shape under the center of the petals to mimic the top of the stem, then pull a fine line out toward the edge of the nail. Repeat these steps for each large flower. Cure.

 -

3. With very little white art gel on your brush, draw simple leaf shapes in different sizes to begin filling open space. By using very little gel to paint the leaves, they will remain soft and sheer. I like to paint these in groups of three typically. With the existing product on the brush, pull some gel from the leaf gently to create the stems of the leaves. Cure.

 -

4. Using a smaller brush (I used my favorite Detailer II brush from Ugly Duckling), paint small "buds", in groups of three. Pull gel from the buds to create the stems. Cure.

 -

5. Seal the nail with a base gel (I used Base/Top from Ugly Duckling) and cure. This step is key to creating the dimension between the petals in the background and the foreground.

 -
 -
 -

6. Begin painting the foreground (front) petals of the large flowers. Start by painting the outer petals (Step 6 - Pt.1), and cure. Continue by painting two more petals (Step 6 - Pt.2) beside the outer petals painted in Step 6 - Pt.1, and cure. Paint the middle and final petal of the large flower (Step 6 - Pt.3), and cure. I suggest curing in between each set of petals to keep them from self-leveling too much, helping keep definition between each petal. It adds more to the overall look when you can see the brush strokes in the petals. Paint more leaves and buds over the ones painted in the background. Cure.

 -

7. Apply a thin layer of base gel and cure. At this point, if there are any major bumps, gently buff the surface.

 -

8. Seal with a matte top coat (I used Ugly Duckling Matte) and cure. Cleanse the inhibition layer and your bridal floral nail is complete.

Follow Natasha Harton on Instagram @natashaharton. 

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.