12 NAILS OF CHRISTMAS: Crisp White Cable Knit Sweater Nails

by - December 06, 2019


I recently finally got a gel lamp and I've been super excited to try out some stuff that I've never been able to do before. Probably the number one thing that I wanted to try, though, was cable knit sweater nails. Stamped sweater nails are some of my favorites, but I was really, really excited to give this technique a go and it's the first one I tried when I finally got a lamp. I really, really like doing white on white nail art, but it's almost impossible since... well, white is white and it's hard to get any definition in a look using only white. I decided, though, that a really crisp white cable knit sweater design would have that sharpness of the white on white look, but also have definition from the design. 

But for now, keep reading to check out these Crisp White Cable Knit Sweater Nails!


I started with two coats of ASP Gel Polish in White Hot, curing each coat for 30 seconds in my lamp. Once the base was fully opaque, I applied a layer of Essie Matte About You Top Coat. If I had it on hand, I'd have used a matte gel base coat, but since I don't I reached for this top coat after seeing Natasha Lee use it in the tutorial that I referenced to do this look I knew it would work. I let that matte top coat completely dry before moving onto the next step.

For the cable knit pattern, I added a little bit of the same gel polish to a yogurt lid (makes a perfect palette) and then went in with my NailStuff.ca Nail Art Liner Brush* to start applying the design down the center of the nail. This did take some patience and a few touchups with my angled brush and some alcohol, but it actually went pretty quickly and I was happy with the results. Next, without curing, I added a line down each side of the design down the center before going in with a dotting tool to add some dots along the edge of each nail. 

To get the sort of textured finish on the design, I've seen people use acrylic powder or really fine glitter, but I decided to go with what I had on hand - the Orly Nail Repair Kit Powder, which really is just acrylic powder. You could also use dip powder for this step, which I probably would have tried if I had one in white. Anyway, I scooped the powder onto the nail and made sure to coat the whole thing, tipped my nail so that the excess powder would fall back into the tub, and then gave my finger a few taps to get off any more loose excess before curing for 1 minute. Once it was cured, I went in with a fluffy brush to remove any more loose powder and voila!


All Products Used
Unt Ready For Take Off Peel Off Base Coat
ASP Gel Polish in White Hot
Essie Matte About You Top Coat
Orly Nail Repair Kit Powder
NailStuff.ca Nail Art Liner Brush*
NailStuff.ca Nail Art Angled Brush*
NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool*
Dulcii 54W UV/LED Lamp


Honestly, I'm really surprised at how this came together and just how much I like this white mani. I don't tend to do a lot of white based nail art (specifically because I find most white polish a nightmare to work with) but this turned out exactly the way I was expecting and I feel like it gives a really sophisticated look to the nails. Perfect for someone who wants impact, but also wants something subtle and not blingy. You can also do this look with regular nail polish and if you're interested in that, I highly recommend checking out the tutorial I linked to above!

If you're interested in picking up the brushes that I used, you can get 10% your order at NailStuff.ca if you use my affiliate code TRYSH

Keep an eye out for more holiday nail art looks to come every couple of days leading up to Christmas for my #12NailsOfChristmas!

Thanks for reading!


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