NAIL ART: Muted & Minimalist Cottagecore Nails

by - March 29, 2021


I will fully admit that I'm pushing it this week when it comes to our #CBBxManiMonday green theme - I'm just had no green inspiration left and my mind is fully immersed in thoughts of spring - but I did manage to get a little bit of green in there. I didn't actually intend to sit down and do a "cottagecore" but it just sort of evolved that way and when I was about halfway through doing it, I was just like, "Huh, this seems... like cottagecore to me!" So I rolled with it... as you do. 

Anyway, keep reading for a closer look!


When I'm doing a sheer mani, I always like to add a coat of a sheer base polish to help even and camouflage any imperfections visible on my nails. For this one, I started with a thin, even coat of Cutex BB Nail Concealer, which is a beige leaning sheer polish that really does help to give a more perfected look to the natural nails.

I knew I wanted to go for my (at this point, sort of signature) dry brush abstract mani, but I wanted to have almost a deconstructed gradient vibe to it - with the colours moving across my nails. The four colours I went for are all sort of ashy, desaturated shades that I think really work for spring and the cottagecore sort of vibe. Using a drybrush technique, I just swiped each polish in a diagonal direction from the corner towards the center of each nail. To keep everything soft, I didn't combine the colours at all and instead applied two colours to each nail, carrying one of the shades over to the next nail to get that gradient vibe.


Once I was happy with the drybrushing, I decided I wanted to add a little bit of texture, so I grabbed some rose gold metallic shards that I've had in my collection and applied a few little bits to each nail on the opposite corners from where I applied the dry brushing. Next, I decided to grab the Uberchic Beauty Woodland Chic 2 palette and apply these sort of botanical drawing images that I think fit perfectly with the theme. Normally, I would go for black for this type of stamping, but I wanted to keep it soft so instead I reached for this really pretty milk chocolate brown shade. 

To finish, I first sealed in my design with a water based top coat and then followed with a generous layer of quick dry glossy top coat for shine and volume. And voila!


All Products Used
Cutex BB Nail Concealer
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Racing Rose
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Thyme Is Money
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Show Steel-er
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Buff & Tumble
Whats Up Nails - You Mocha Me Happy
Maniology - Smudge Free Top Coat
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Clearly Quick
Metallic Rose Gold Flakes
Uberchic Beauty - Woodland Chic 2
Whats Up Nails Magnified Clear Stamper


I'm so smitten, I swear. I don't know what's happening in my brain lately that my usual draw towards high contrast nail art has sort of been overshadowed by this really soft, low contrast sort of look, but I'm loving how it's turning out. If you're interested in trying out a mani like this but aren't comfortable with the sheer base (I know the feeling, I've only recently gotten comfortable with it myself) I would recommend starting with an opaque nude cream shade that really matches the colour of your nail bed and building on top of that.

As always, be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In PINK to check out Jayne and Renee's nails for this week's #CBBxManiMonday!

Thanks for reading!

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