Movember Mani – our easy how-to guide!

Us girls may be (thankfully!) unable to support the boys this Movember by growing lush full moustaches of our own, but we can still show some Mo’ Pride by sporting the ‘stache on our nails. This fairly simple nail art doesn’t take a lot of complicated equipment or fancy techniques – you probably have everything you need at home already, and if you can dab some dots in a swooshy line, you can paint yourself a moustache! So here’s my easy how-to guide to DIY your very own Movember Mani!

What you need
Besides your polishes, the only supplies you really need are a paper plate (or something similar) and a dotting tool. You can find actual dotting tools at Sassy fave Cher2, or you can easily make do with simple household items like a toothpick, the end of a bent bobby pin… before I bought my tools, I even used a disposable wooden meat skewer from the grocery store! Moustache nails can also be done quite easily with a nail art striper polish (which can also be found at Cher2) – or with an art brush and polish or acrylic paint – but for these nails I’m going to be dotting.

Instructions

1.  I chose a light blue (Bikini So Teeny by Essie) and black (China Glaze Liquid Leather) for these, but any combination of contrasting colours that you like should work just fine. Once you’ve applied your base coat and polish and let them dry, it’s time to start dotting!

2.  It only takes a few simple steps to make a moustache. First, put a little polish on a paper plate and dip your dotting tool into it (you only need a tiny bit for this first step). Then use that tool to make some small guide dots on your nail as simple reference points for where your moustache is going to go. I’ve made two small dots at the centre of my nail, where the halves of the ‘stache come together, and then two more towards the outside where they come to an end.

3.  After that it’s just a matter of connecting the dots! First dab the basic path you want the moustache to follow…

4.  …then fill it in until you’re satisfied with the shape and size, and that’s one easy moustache down!

It may not look like much all by itself, but keep on going. These ‘staches look better when they’re part of a crowd! (Not to mention, they’re quite a bit smoother when you don’t stop to take snaps along the way…)

5.  A little more on dotting, if you’re new to it…. When you’re dotting polish onto your nails, you don’t have to dot very hard – it’s more of a dabbing motion, touching the polish to the surface of the nail instead of “writing” with it. The amount of polish on your tool makes a big difference; not enough and it’s going to be hard to get it to look smooth, but you don’t want to use too much either. Polish spreads and settles as it dries, and you don’t want to leave a big puddle, plus if you have too much polish on your tool, you might find that you’re leaving little “strings” of polish across your nail. Those strings also result from working with tacky semi-dry polish, so be sure you have enough still-wet polish on your paper plate to make collecting and dotting easy.

If you’re still not quite ready to jump into dotting on your nails yet, some simple practice should reassure you that it’s not so tricky after all. After dabbing a couple of moustaches on your paper plate, you’ll be ready to move on to your nails in no time!

6.  Once you’ve finished dotting, let your new nail art dry before adding a top coat, and then… that’s it! You don’t have to worry about getting these picture-perfect (my edges are a little rough, and I was literally doing them for pictures!); just the basic shape and swoosh of the ‘stache gets your message across, and who in the world is going to be staring at your hand from 3 inches away?

Just have some fun, give it a shot, and enjoy supporting the guys this Movember with your playful moustache mani!

Check out more fab ways get involved with Movember in our article here and don’t forget to pledge your support and donate on http://hk.movember.com/.

A New Orleans native, Elizabeth has been happy to call Hongkers home since 2007. She’s recently developed an addiction to nail polish and all things sparkly, and is rarely happier than when she’s belting out show tunes… Because she’s cool like that.

Check out Elizabeth’s awesome blog, Did My Nails, for more mani inspiration!