Nail Tutorial: How to Do a Dotticure with a Bobby Pin
I’ve been wanting to join in on the nail art fun for a while now. Two things have held me back: 1) I’m clumsy as hell and always mess up my nails immediately after doing them and 2) I didn’t want to invest in the tools in case I ended up being terrible at it. I’ve heard others recommend using bobby pins for nail art on the fly, and since they come in packs of 100 for 99 cents, I thought I’d give it a go with the most basic design: a dotticure!
For this mani, I used Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel in Lady Luck for the base color, and Revlon Brilliant Strength Nail Enamel in Provoke for the dots.
I stretched open my bobby pin as much as I could without breaking it, which made it a lot easier to isolate one of the ends (which is apparently called a quickle, but I’m not sure how credible my source is).
Watch my full tutorial below:
So easy, right? I finished it off with a layer of top coat and it looked great. I see a lot of dotticures in my future! Right after filming this, I tried my hand (no pun intended) at a flower design on my thumb, but failed… miserably. Practice makes perfect, though! Hopefully I can bring you another nail tutorial sans nail tools soon.
Have you ever MacGyvered your own beauty tools?
Love the color combo
Very subtle dotticure. Cute!
super cute – i use bobby pins too!
That is seriously the best idea… never would’ve thought bobby pin! You saved me $$$!
Cute mani!! Shame on me and blame the ever shaky hands, I suck even at the simplest dotticure.
I used to do this with my manicures!
Great tip. I love the shades you used
I love it ! I had use that technique before then went on to purchase a set of dotting but then lost it.
Gorgeous combo! And yes – Bobby pins work in a pinch!
I love the color combination! I love dotting tools. And I still use the occasional bobby pin.
I love the color combo. 🙂 I have a dotting tool – but when I first started with nails I used my bobby pins. 🙂
Love that color combo. I don’t have any bobby pins anymore so I either use Q-tips with pointed and rounded ends or my cheap essence dotting tool that works great. Cute tutorial
I get too frustrated with Q tips because the little fibers stick to my polish and ruin the finish 🙁
My favorite color combo’s!! I love the bobby pin trick I’ve be using it forever 🙂
Gorgeous. I love orange and pink together
I love polka dots! I might be able to do this. Love that you are just as clumsy as I am. I cannot do nail art at all!
LOL I’m clumsy just doing one color on my nails!
Very cute! I love dotticures!
Cute colors and design.
Great tutorial, simple and easy!
With practice I’m hoping to get some more easy but cute nail art up here soon! I’m such a noob at it!
Super easy and fun! Dotticures are the way to go.
Definitely fool proof!
Very clever!
I totally do this when I can’t find my dotting tool. It’s such a great alternative!
I hacked a dotting tool with a pin stuck in the eraser end of a pencil… but I did eventually break down and buy dotting tools, because I like the feel of them better. Even though I have several in different sizes, I find that one double-sided one can make pretty much all the dots I need – though I do also use a super-tiny one for delicate nail art. Great hack! Dots are awesome.
I used to do this before I bought a set of nail art tools 🙂 So easy!
I never would have though to use a bobby pin. I have used the top of a q-tip after you cute the cotton off and it worked well. but this for sure if a better idea. Great idea and tutorial!!
So simple and easy! Love it!
Genuis! never thought to use a bobby pin!
Well done. 🙂 Another way to make a dotting tool is to use a glass headed dressmaker’s pin pushed into the erasure of a pencil. You can use different pin head sizes for different sized dots.
Oooh that’s a great idea! I think I have some of those lying around my sewing kit
That is a great idea!
I love this idea. For nails, I am usually a one color type of gal but I would totally try the dots 🙂