Texture Obsessed? Fluffy Nail Art to Love!
Winter’s the perfect time to add a little texture to your manicure and experiment with a cozy new style. To be honest, flocked nails are a trend that’s come around again. Their velvety texture is irresistible to the touch and eye-catching, too. It’s almost like having miniature sweaters on your fingertips! Moreover, fluffy nail art is easy for anyone to do. Check out the inspiration below.
What are Fluffy Nails?
Fluffy nails are also known as flocked nails or velvet nails. About a decade ago, someone figured out that craft store flocking powder would create a fun texture for nail art. Moreover, no special tools are needed. All you need is regular nail polish and the textured powder.
How to Do Flocked Nails
If you’d like to try fluffy nails, prep as you would for any other manicure. Once your nails are shaped, buffed, and clean, apply a layer of base coat or the first layer of nail lacquer. Allow that to dry.
Next, apply a second layer of nail polish. While that is still tacky, pour a generous amount of flocking powder over the nail. Gently press it into place and brush off the excess. Then avoid touching it and wait until the polish has completely dried.
Don’t worry about using too much powder. Use more than you think you need because you can save the leftover and use it again.
If the finish looks patchy, it’s better to remove the polish and the powder and start over. If you try to add more polish, it will likely turn out lumpy.
No top coat is required, so the lifetime of this manicure is measured in days instead of weeks.
LDS Nail Lacquer
LDS Gel Nail Polish Duo - 081 Hot Chocolate
LDS Gel Nail Polish Duo - 131 Beige Blush
What’s the Best Polish to Use for Fluffy Nails?
Can you do fluffy nails with gel polish? Technically, yes, but the problem is curing it. The ultraviolet light needs to penetrate to set the polish, and if you’re using a dark colored powder, it may not cure properly. However, flocking powder is compatible with acrylic and lacquer since both air dry.
You can use any color you wish. Depending on the design, you may have parts that aren’t flocked showing through. It’s convenient to have a highly pigmented lacquer that only requires one coat to look good.
We like the LDS Healthy Nail Lacquers that are 9-free, vegan, and cruelty-free. There are more than 170 colors that stay vibrant and shiny for a week or more.
Where Can You Find Flocking Powder for Fluffy Nails?
Sometimes, nail supply stores carry flocking powder among their nail art supplies. It might be shelved with powdered glitter and confetti. Otherwise, check with craft stores like Michaels or sites like Etsy.
If you don’t have access to commercially made flocking powder, don’t despair. If you have fabric ribbons, not plastic ones, you can shred them into tiny pieces to make your own. Basically, anything you can turn into fluff is fair game. Different materials create varied textures, from sugary and grainy to velvety or smooth.
Nail Charms & Nail Beads
What Fluffy Nail Designs Are Trendy?
Here’s where you can have lots of fun re-creating trendy nail art with a touchable texture! This winter, animal prints, geometric designs, tortoiseshell patterns, and bow nails are hot. Can you picture how delightful it would be to have flocked nails in these styles? Or instead of velvet nails done with cat eye polish, it could be actual velvet nails!
If you want to have more than one color, like this cow print, it helps to have matching lacquer colors underneath so that the pattern remains even if the flocking starts to fall off in a few days. Do one color at a time and make sure it has thoroughly dried before adding the next.
Adorable Animal Pawprints
Teddy bears, kitties, and puppies have the cutest little feet. Sculpt the texture with acrylics or poly gel, then add a layer of lacquer with flocking powder for the fur. You’ll create a memorable manicure that people will be talking about for years to come.
Lavis Poly Gel
Fluffy Rug Nails
What if you have gel colors you really want to use for your fluffy nails? No problem! Have you ever chipped a gel manicure and patched the spot with regular lacquer? So, you know you can apply nail lacquer over cured gel polish. Feel free to decorate your nails with any gel shades you prefer. Cure them, then paint over the top with clear nail polish. While it’s tacky, sprinkle on the flocking material. Carefully brush off the excess powder and let the nails dry.
LDS Color Craze - Winter 1 Collection
Super Fluffy Cloud Nails
Can you see how long the fibers are on these fluffy nails? It might not be flocking powder. Instead, the artist may have used fabric to create these cloud nails. Still, we’re not complaining. These are fluffy nails for sure! We would struggle not to touch them all the time.
Football Fan Fluffy Nails
Is the person wearing these fluffy nails a Steelers fan? If you were to do flocked nails for your favorite team, what colors would they be?
It takes a lot of patience to do intricate designs, but that’s really the only requirement besides a precision brush to apply the lacquer. You could even use nail stickers for parts like the stars and simply avoid painting the stickers with lacquer so that the flocking powder wouldn’t stick to them.
Fluffy (Sticker) Nails
If you can’t find flocking powder or don’t have time to do a detailed design, cheat. Use textured stickers instead. We won’t tell anyone. It’s essentially the same as using extensions to lengthen your nails. No one needs to know. We can all just enjoy the end result.
Soft Gel & Nail Tips
Plush Nails
Moreover, you can cover your nails with fabric and nail charms, and they would also be fluffy.
Combination of Textures in Nail Art
Fashion is smiling upon 3D nails right now. It’s the ideal time to experiment with all sorts of textures.
Extra Fluffy Nails
And if you want to go the extra mile, here are some ultra fluffy pom-pom nails.
Conclusion
We hope you have a lot of fun experimenting with fluffy nails! Ward off those winter blues with new and unusual manicure experiences. You’ll thank yourself later.
When you need more supplies, we have sales in our store that will make you smile!
