Nails - One Stroke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stroke of genius
Your kit
As the saying goes, ‘a bad workman always blames his tools’, but as with any nail artistry technique, without the right kit it’s difficult to excel.
“The best advice I can give is to use quality tools and products, this makes such a difference,” says Helen Green, Independent Educator for NSI.
The staple of your kit should be great quality, highly pigmented acrylic paints.
Hazel Dixon, multi-award-winning nail artist and educator, agrees: “Your paints should be highly pigmented and the consistency of sour cream. If the paints are too thin you won’t be able to see the design properly and if they’re too thick you won’t be able to paint smoothly enough.”
She adds: “Always do two layers of colour to ensure colour evenness. To keep your one stroke design looking crisp and sharp, make sure when doing the second coat you follow the first layer precisely.”
“Try mixing paints rather than using them straight from the tube,” says nail art competitor Jo Whittle, whilst Zsuzsanna Varga, Educator at Susan's Nails, adds: “Practice designs on black paper first to get some confidence.”
In addition to good acrylic paints, your choice of brushes is fundamental. You need a flat brush with a sharp chisel-like edge and pointed tip. At first you may need to start working with a standard sized brush, but as you become more advanced you could move to a finer, smaller brush for more detailed designs.
“You can use a flat brush or angled brush. Personally speaking I prefer to use a flat brush but try both of them and work with whichever works better for you,” explains Zsuzsanna.
“Hold your brush upright and put pressure on the bristles rather than moving your whole hand, twiddle the brush around between your finger and thumb. The more pressure you apply the bigger shapes you will paint,” Hazel explains.
Zsuzsanna adds: “Cleaning and caring for your brushes will not only make them last
60
longer, but will make them perform as they should.”
As well as a flat brush, arm your toolkit with a striper brush, a dotting tool and a fan brush.
Crystal Nails’ One Stroke Jewel Brush III (
www.crystalnailsireland.com) has been designed specifically for One Stroke with special hair and a unique flat blade straight end. In addition, their Renewed One Stroke Brush IV has a slanted end, and its small brush head makes it ideal for space filling or more precise work for small pattern on small nails.
Astonishing Nails (
www.asunailandbeauty.ie) offers a Design Brush Set, suitable for use with acrylic paint. The compact set has a double-sided customizable unit on which seven different brush heads fit. The heads are interchangeable and can be screwed into place.
The bristles are 100% Kolinsky which allows for optimal absorption of acrylic paints. The brushes can also be used with Gel.
In addition, Astonishing Nails’ Nail Art Paints are suitable for an enormous variety of painting techniques. The paints are highly pigmented, which results in excellent coverage and colour impact, and dry to a flexible strong opaque layer. They are water-based and feature highly concentrated pigments, offering excellent coverage and drying quickly.
Crystal Nails’ One Move Acrylic Paint is available in over 50 shades and ideal for detailed painting techniques, offering great coverage (
www.crystalnailsireland.com).
Alternatively, Oumaxi 3D Acrylic Paints, available from NSI (
www.nailandbeauty.ie) and Asu Nail & Beauty, come in a set of 12 paints or can be purchased individually. This paint can be used on artificial as well as natural nails.
Train & practice
A technique such as One Stroke is not something you are likely to be able to perfect instantly. “Training is key to understanding how to use and angle the brushes correctly... and then practice practice, practice!” says Helen.
Whilst watching demonstrations and ‘how to’ videos from sites such as YouTube is certainly going to inspire you, there can be no substitute for practical hands-on training with an expert.
“One Stroke is a challenging art form and it is essential that your educator is skilled and qualified to teach this technique to you,” says Kerry Moores, Crystal Nails UK Educator. “Having the right explanation and someone there to correct you is vital.”
Crystal Nails Ireland (
www.crystalnailsireland.com) offer a number of Nail Art courses including One Stroke or One Move nail art. Their level 3 course is their most advanced One Move nail art course and recommended for nail technicians who are already familiar with the basic One Stroke painting but want to learn it on a more advanced level. This course, taking place on Sunday 16th February at the Crystal Nails Training Centre in Phibsboro, Dublin 7, is hosted by world renowned nail artist Krisztina Ujvari.
Asu Nail & Beauty (
www.asunailandbeauty.ie) and N&BSI (
www.nailandbeauty.ie) also offer One Stroke courses suitable for beginners and advanced artists.
Alternatively, Hazel Dixon’s Purely Nailz Training (
www.purelynailz.co.uk) runs a One Stroke Beginner and Advanced course. The Level 1 Beginners’ course covers blending and shading, flowers, leaves and stripes, whilst the Level 2 Advanced course will teach you how to layer flowers, closed effect leaves, butterflies and shadowing and more. Course costs include training, manual and certificate of attendance.
Zsuzsanna Varga also holds One Stroke courses to Level 1 and Level 2 standard at Susan’s Nails (
www.susansnails.co.uk). These courses are fully accredited, and offer you full practical nail art training sessions with a certificate at the end of the day.
We asked a number of nail art experts to share their designs, which you’ll see can be applied to nails of any length or shape to stunning effect. Enjoy!
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