Sean McWard

Apply a thin layer of cover gel. Choose one that’s suitable for extreme sculpting (e.g. UN Jelly Gel). Use a soft oval brush for application & sculpt the outlines of the shape you’ve drawn on one side only; do not cover the nail bed at this stage, sculpt from the free edge. Then sculpt the first big triangle on the second side following your drawn design.

Repeat in several layers. Cure each layer very well. With the last layer, also cover the nail bed. Now, carefully remove the artificial nail & the nail form from the natural nail, making sure not to hurt or damage it.

Use a spatula to remove the nail from the form.

Fill up the open area with UV/LED gel to create a tidy, complete nail. Do this in several thin layers & add any product to the surface if necessary, then cure.

Remove excess product with an e-file.

Start filing the nail with a 150-grit half-moon file on all sides. Use a buffer as a cushion to stabilize it while filing.

File the sidewalls straight.

File the entire side of the nail absolutely flat. Then file the upper arch line perfectly flat from the apex to the tip. File the upper side lines at an angle of 45-degrees.

Remove the edges by filing in an upward motion from left to right & from right to left, from the apex to the tip. Adjust the side lines & file the nail perfectly thin. Control the straightness of the upper arch with a file. Repeat all filing steps with a 240-grit file, then buff the nail with a 180/100-grit buffer, moving to a 220/240-grit & buff to a high shine.

Draw the outline of the shape of the nail using a document-proof pen & a ruler. Draw onto the nail itself to get clean straight lines.

Use a square 180-grit file to remove the edges until the pen marks are no longer visible.

File perfect corners with a small extreme file. File the middle parts straight.

Cut a strip of an hygienic file to make it fit onto the edge of a plastic hand piece of a file, adhere it well & file delicately yet firmly.

Repeat the previous file steps until the edges & corners of the nail shape are perfectly sharp.

Pre-determine the decoration. Mark the placement of the crystals in order to cut the triangles of the upper side line out just deep enough for correct fitting & crystal placement.

Cut out the nail shape (side view) by using a nail form as a stencil to mark the triangles that have to be cut out of the upper arch line.

With an e-file carve out the triangles of the upper arch.

File with a square 180-grit file & check the angles using a protractor as you file to shape. Measure to check that all lines are equally wide.

File each triangle using a small extreme file & cut in sharp edges using a small metal file.

The result after all filing is complete. Now it’s time to repeat all the previous file steps with a soft file & then a shiner.

Glue some plasticine onto a thin wooden stick & adhere it to the underside of the nail.

Take an airbrush gun & get your airbrush paints in the colors silver & white.

Spray the nail in a thin layer of white & then cover in silver.

Cover the nail with UV/LED matte top coat & cure.

Mark the triangles of the design onto the side of the nail using a pencil & a ruler.

With a soft oval #4 brush, apply a non-sticky UV/LED color gel. The color used here is UN Pro& Go in NW29 turquoise. Use a liner brush to correct the outline of the triangle & cure for 60 seconds under an LED lamp.

Apply chrome powder. The chrome used here is applied using the UN chrome pen UN NA17 in a matching turquoise shade. Next apply a glossy top coat. Correct the side lines with a liner brush & cure. Repeat previous steps to create triangles on the other side of the nail.

Use a liner brush to paint on the white decorative elements. Then change to a small dotting tool to finish the design.

Use crystals, bullion, gears/cogs & other elements for decoration. Place them in a rhinestone dish in order to access & pick them up easily & quickly.

Outline the triangles with dark blue liner UV/LED gel using a liner brush.

With a silver UV/LED No-Fix color gel polish (UN Pro&Go NW18), paint the nail bed silver & use a long liner brush to mark the side lines. Next, using a small soft oval brush, apply the gel polish over the body of the nail.

Glue a crystal into the center of a silver gear/cog.

Apply decoration to the nail with a liner brush, a waxing tool & gem glue gel. Cure when complete.

Repeat on both sides & continue to build up the design using all your chosen art media.

Apply nail polish to the natural nail in several layers & let it dry entirely. Next, apply UV/LED No-Fix Glossy Top Coat & cure, follow that with UV/LED No-Fix Matte Top Coat & cure

Apply a layer of UV/LED Rubber Base Gel & stick the extreme nail onto the natural nail. Hold it in place & cure while holding it straight.

Design, sculpt, file & decorate all 5 nails in the same manner & voilà, get a stunning end result, which is then brought together with the help of your team; a hand model, experienced make-up artist & photographer.