Shoe Inspired Nails #1: Christian Louboutin Manicure & Tutorial

Hey Dolls, 

I don't know about you but I am a sucker for shoes, especially when it comes to Christian Louboutin! His shoes are by far to die for.. okay not literally but they are amazing! And as you all should know by now.. I am obsessed with nails. So what's better than combining your two loves? Whoever came up with this concept is a complete genius! For a while now I have been seeing Louboutin inspired nails everywhere! They were first seen by Adele at the Grammy's and now they are all over my Instagram!

I have been dying to try this look, but my nails were not long enough.. But now they are, Woo!.. So, yesterday I was super excited to try these beauts out! For today's post I'm going to explain how I done the Louboutin manicure, step by step because everyone needs to try it! I also ran into a problem, so I hope that if any of you have tried or are going to try this manicure out (which I highly recommend ) and u run into the same problem, that this will help you! I based my Christian Louboutin nails on the classic Bianca Patent Black shoes. 

What you will need:

1. A base coat

2. A good opaque, black nail polish

3. A good opaque white nail polish

4. A deep yet bright red nail polish
5. A super glossy top coat
6. Cotton Bud/Brush/Cocktail Stick
7. Nail Polish Remover

Why the white?

When I did these the first time, I painted the red polish on the inside of my nails first, with two coats and then applied the black as normal to my nails. This didn't work for me as the black darkened the red on the other side.. which then obviously didn't resemble the famous red sole as it was incredibly dark. There are two ways in which you can avoid this happening. You can either buy or use a red which is two to three shades lighter than the sole, in which case the black will darken it so it will become a similar shade to the shoe. However, I presume it would be difficult to estimate a red three shades lighter. So, you can do what I did and coat the back of your nails white first, this will give you a good base to work on and will not allow the black to affect the red.

The colours I used:

Black Nail Polish: OPI, Onyx 

My all time favourite black. It's not messy like other black, it's opaque even with one coat and is super glossy!

White Nail Polish: Ciate, Snow Virgin 

I love this brand so much! They always have the most amazing products- I literally want ALL of them!

Red Nail Polish: Kiko, 238 Matha Red 

I also love this brand. When you walk into the Kiko Cosmetics store, it's like a kid in a candy store! They literally stock every product in every colour! Also, they are super cheap! What's not to love?!

The red is the most crucial part for this look, if the red you have chosen does not resemble the sole of the shoes, then the whole manicure will not be as effective. If you want an exact match, rumor has it that Christian Louboutin himself based his trademark sole on the nail lacquer Revlon, Red. I did want to go buy Revlon, Red however I couldn't wait any longer! So I chose a red I already had from my nail collection, which actually is a pretty close match.

The Tutorial 

1. Prep your nails - remove any nail lacquer, buff and file them to your desired shape. I prefer to have oval to pointy nails for this particular look, but if you prefer square nails than opt for that instead.

2. Apply your base coat to all nails, including the backs of your nails. When painting the back, you want to make sure you have as little nail polish on the brush as possible and keep all layers very thin.

3. Start to paint the backs of your nails white, apply two coats if necessary. You want to make sure that the white is opaque enough so the black will not show through, yet you need to be sure that the layers are thin.  I like to start with the backs of the nails, as this is the messiest part and you don't have to wait for them dry in order to paint the front.

4. Once the whites are completely dry, paint the backs of your nails in red. Again using little paint as possible on your brush. Wait for this to completely dry and add a second coat if needed.

5. Painting the backs of your nails can become very messy. So use either a cotton bud or synthetic brush soaked in nail varnish remover and carefully remove any excess paint. I used a combination of both a cotton bud and a brush. If you don't have a brush and the cotton bud is too thick, try using a cocktail stick for a more precise tool.

6. Paint the fronts of your nails in black. Wait to dry, and then apply a second coat as normal. 

7. Apply top coat to all your nails, including the red backs.

And voila! You are finished and have beautiful Christian Louboutin inspired nails! The only downside of this manicure is that it can be very messy. Saying that, I absolutely love this whole concept and can not wait to try it out with other colours and effects. I really want to try nude nails with a really sparkly glitter on the insides of the nails - that would look amazing! 

What do you think of the Louboutin manicure?

What colours do you think would look good?

Reema, xoxo