Indigenous Australian Art Inspired Nails – Tutorial

This year’s Australia Day nail art is a tribute to Indigenous Australian culture. There are a lot of things to love and celebrate about Australia: beautiful beaches, sunshine, cute native animals like koalas, the Great Barrier Reef and so on. But there is also a dark, sad side to the history of our country, namely the way Indigenous Australians were treated during colonisation. Even though things are different now and Indigenous Australians are treated with respect and supported by the government, some things are too late to change. But one of the great legacies of Aboriginal culture, it’s art, has survived for tens of thousands years.

So on Australia Day, I’ll be celebrating the rich history of this young, and at the same time ancient country and what it took to build what we have now. This year’s Australia Day nail art represent that symbiosis of the ancient culture, i.e. the traditional Aboriginal Art pattern, and modern society, i.e. the bright blue base that resembles the Australian flag colour.

As for the nail art itself, it’s time consuming but pretty easy to do. It’s even easier if you have a set of dotting tools, creating various size dots is just a matter of picking the right size dotting tool. Also, as with any dotticure, it’s better not to rush when creating the pattern. Take it slowly and focus on your pattern, so the dots come out nice and tidy making your dotticure look like a piece of art.

Ok, without further ado, here’s the how-to!

HOW TO:

1. Apply 2 coats of bright blue nail polish on all nails.
2. With white nail polish using middle size dotting tool create pattern on middle, little and thumb nails as pictured.
3. With black nail polish using the same middle size dotting tool add black dots inside the white pattern on middle, little and thumb nails as pictured. With white polish and using the largest dotting tool add two big dots on pointer and ring fingers.
4. With white nail polish using the smallest size dotting tool add white dots around the big white dots, also add tiny blue dots inside the big white dots as pictured.
5. With light blue nail polish using the middle size dotting tool create a circle dotted pattern around the tiny white dots as pictured.
6. With dark light blue nail polish using the same middle size dotting tool add dots around the light blue dots as pictured.
7. Using the largest and the smallest dotting tools create small dotted circles at the base of your middle, small and thumb nails.
8. Allow 15 minute for your design to dry, then apply 2 coats of clear top coat to seal and smooth the design.

Used:  Set of 5 Dotting Tools, Orly Bonder base coat, Sally Hansen Diamond Flash top coat, all polishes Sea Siren – Ultramarine (base), Sea Daze (dark light blue), Sea Mist (light blue), Midnight Moves (black) and Leucosia (white). By the way, Sea Siren are having a massive sale right now ;)

What do you think about these Indigenous Australian Art nails? If you create a nail art inspired by this tutorial, make sure you show us! Tweet or Instagram us a photo with the tag #sonailicious we’d love to see your work!

Will you be celebrating Australia Day? What have you planned for your manicure?

– Maria, xx