As someone who has done their nails hundreds and hundreds of times, I can honestly say that I’ve had so many fails during my arts and crafts on my nails. Everyone has nail fails they are ashamed and embarrassed by, but it should be embraced as a learning experience and a good laugh for everyone to share.
1. Failed candy stripping
We’ve all done this one before. We try to make some cute Christmas candy cane inspired nails and end up with something that even Waldo would be ashamed to be seen in.
2. Failed colored manicures
Sometimes the basic white tipped manicure isn’t enough for some of us nail artists, so we try to make it more fashionable and use some color… and sometimes it fails so intensely.
3. Failed Jack Skellington nails
Having those Halloween nails to outdo everyone at that costume party can be pretty hard when you have to free-hand some Jack Skellington face on your nails. This never ends well.
4. Failed marbling madness
Marbling is really hard, but it is really pretty and that’s why we always try to copy the perfect ones we see online. Except they don’t always turn out beautiful… normally they end up a giant polish mess.
5. Failed indented designs
Those cute little indented nails are usually to die for, but when normal people like us try to do them, they always end up like this…
6. Failed classic paint job
Even something so simplistic, like a classic paint job, can turn into a messy disaster within seconds as you paint accidentally on your cuticles and your skin. Pesky nail polish brushes.
7. Failed sea gradient
Doing a little gradient sounds good in your head, but once you use up your sponge and end up painting your nail and its neighboring skin, the idea seems more revolting that fashionable.
8. Failed polka dotting
Polka dots are simpler than ever if you have a dotting tool, but without one, you’re basically throwing caution to the wind and risking your nails to look like this.
9. Failed layering
The 100 layers of nail polish challenge is very difficult, but either way, it is a fail for all nail artists. These barely-dried nightmares are definitely not something people want on their fingers for very long.
10. Failed Eiffel Tower
Free-handing some awesome monuments to your fingers for your Paris, France look sounds good in theory, but this outcome definitely does not take the cake on perfection here.
11. Failed nail bordering
When professionals try this unique look out, it looks amazing and us commoners become very envious. Although, actually making this bordering come to light doesn’t work too well when the lines are shaky and your finger skin gets in the way.
12. Failed patriotic Britain nails
Showing your patriotism to your homeland is always nice and refreshing, but sometimes making the Britain flag on free-hand on your middle nail can be very annoying. Sometimes it’s better to wait for your nails to grow a bit more for more canvas space.
13. Failed nail vinyl
Nail vinyl is a girl’s go-to if you can’t draw on your nail free-handedly. Although, many people don’t know the mess and the correct way to put them on and remove them. It’s best to not wait for your nail polish to dry before pulling them off, or it will leave disasters on your nails.
14. Failed fruity art
Watermelon nails are really cute and summery… if it is done correctly. Using the right colors is one thing, but also knowing how to make the dots for the seeds round instead of more abstract is a key too.
15. Failed water-marbling
Water-marbling is a difficult nail art technique that not everyone is able to perfect, no matter how hard they try and how much they try.
16. Failed chevron
17. Failed dry brushing
Dry brushing is known to be one of the easiest things for a beginner nail artist to accomplish, but no one ever shows the problematic side of dry brushing that is the mess and streaking that happens.
18. Failed drying
I know I’ve done this a bunch of times, but sometimes when you paint your nails thicker than usual, you expect it to be dry when you go to use your hands to open doors, drive, or put on clothes. Although, more times than not, your nails aren’t dry and end up like this.
19. Failed plaid
In this photograph, we see the common mistake made with trying to create plaid nails, which is using too much color that it overlaps all of the other colors and turns it into a gushy mess of paint and sadness.
20. Failed nail polish removal
Even something like taking your nail polish fails or wins off of your nails can turn into a disaster. It takes forever to get nail polish off the skin once it dries.
If any of these nail-fails remind you of one of your very own, please don't fret. Everyone has these issues with nail art, and it is always a good laugh.
