I hate to honk my own horn, but I’m sort of a DIY nail guru. It’s not that I’m some great nail artist or anything. I just see a new design, fall in love, and simply must try to recreate the look myself. This past summer I was looking at my sister’s Sally Hansen Salon Effects (the stickers) in a cheetah print and thought, I can totally do that myself. Two bottles of nailpolish and an hour later, I had fabulous cheetah nails. I got stopped so many times about how great they looked and it made me so proud to say I did them myself. I’ve since recreated the look a few times, and I have to say that it’s one of the easiest designs I’ve ever done. Anyone could do this with the right instructions… And that’s what I’m here for.

What You Need:

• Two complementary colors of nail polish (Mine are OPI Gargantuan Green Grape & OPI Cajun Shrimp)
• Clear nail polish
• A toothpick or fine paintbrush
• Sally Hansen Nail Pen in black

If you don’t want to buy the nail pen (although I must say, it’s a great investment), you can use:

• Black nail polish
• An extra toothpick or another fine paintbrush

Step1:

Paint your nails a solid color. I did two coats for best color quality. Allow the color to fully dry.

Step 2:

Use your toothpick or fine paintbrush to paint polka dots on your nails. Leave some space around each dot. Wait for the color to dry.

Step 3:

This is the only hard step. Using the Sally Hansen Nail Pen or black nail polish, you are going to outline the polka dots. Looking at something cheetah print, like a shirt that I have, really helped me on this step. The best ways to outline the polka dots are either to go 3/4 of the way round the circle or to make two lines on opposite sides of the polka dot.

The best part about this step is that cheetah looks more real when it’s messy, so if you’re hands aren’t too steady, it’s okay.

Step 4:

Use your discretion to fill in any overly empty spaces by putting black dots or lines. Again, be a bit messy. You can look at the pictures above to see how I added the black spots. As always, wait for nails to dry before moving on to the next step.

Step 5:

Top your look with a clear coat so your nails remain fierce.

Voilà!

You are officially cheetah-licious and look fabulous. And now that you know how to do cheetah print, you can create your own variations: interesting color combinations, different shapes, a cheetah version of a French-tip. There are so many fun, creative ways to paint your nails but cheetah print is one of my favorites!