Airbrush nails are another great alternative to your traditional nail designs. In this post, you’ll learn all the items you need and steps on how to do airbrush nails.
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Airbrush Nails Tutorial | A Step-By-Step Guide
Things You Need
To do airbrush nails, you need the following:
- Airbrush gun
- Air compressor
- Cleaner and cleaning supplies
- Stencil
- Topcoat
- Water-based paint
Learning How to Use the Air Brush
Before you apply anything on your nails, it is important to get acquainted with the airbrush first. The entire sequence begins by letting air in when the trigger is pressed. Then, the nozzle releases the paint out into tiny drops when the trigger is pulled backward.
Once the paint lands on a surface, it creates a dot. The size of the dot varies depending on how far you pulled the trigger and how much it has dried before it hits the surface of the nails, for example. More air pressure means smaller paint drops and less air pressure makes larger drops. Also, smaller drops result in a dryer and rougher surface. Larger drops translate to a smoother and wet surface.
The farther the distance between the spray from the surface, the endgame will result in lighter coverage. Try to avoid being too close when spraying since the paint won’t have much to run on.
Remember to practice until you memorize the different results when pulling the trigger. Make it a point to do practice sprays before spraying straight on the nails.
Step 1: Prepare the Air Gun
First of all, be sure that your air gun is compatible with nail crafting. You can opt for a single-action airbrush if you’re a beginner or a dual-action one if you want precise and extensive detailing.
The airbrush gun comes with an air compressor, air stylus, and air hose. Make sure everything is clean and each part is tightly connected with each other.
Step 2: Add the Paint
It is recommended to use water-based paint when doing airbrush nails. Regular nail polish is just too thick and will definitely clog the airbrush gun.
Your airbrush gun might have a cup-shaped hole at the top or a provision for a container at the bottom. 4-6 drops of paint should do.
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Step 3: Spray on the Nails
Before you begin, it is best to do some practice shot on a piece of paper. When you’re ready, keep the brush steady and perpendicular to the nail surface and spray straight on. You can also experiment with different angles for varying effects.
Try making dots and lines on paper. Once you get a good grip on your gun, you can now try layering colors and stencils which should give you plenty of design options.
Finish it off by applying topcoat to make the nail art last longer.
Tips for Cleaning Airbrush
Cleaning the air gun requires great attention to details as irregular and infrequent cleaning may lead to clogging and other problems. There are lots of nooks and crannies for the paint to stick and dry, which will hinder its performance. Frequent dismantling is unnecessary, but washing after use is a must. Without further ado, here are tips on how you can effectively clean your air gun:
- Use cleaning materials like cotton swabs, a wire brush used to clean debris from carbide drill bits, a squeeze top for the cleaner bottle, dental proxy brushes with varying sizes, and a small dish or cup.
- Lastly, don’t soak the entire air gun in cleanser. Only wash the parts of the brush for a brief period of time then brush off the excess paint.
Here are five easy nail art designs you can try using an airbrush courtesy of cutepolish:
Learning to do airbrush nails is a skill that requires great precision and creativity, which can be easily mastered through hours of practice. It edges other traditional nail designs in terms of design flexibility and it also dries quickly, which makes designing less prone to errors.
With just $300-400 worth of investment, you can buy all the equipment you need and perhaps, start your own business at some point in the future!
Do you think doing airbrush nails is better than traditional nail designs? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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