By Jennifer M. Marimon

The history of the Great Wall of China is said to begun from the spring and autumn seasons when seven powerful states appeared at the same location. In order to defend themselves, they all built walls… to help keep invaders away. To give tribute to the amazing ingenuity of the Chinese, we bring you Great Walls nail design. Our Great Walls nail art design also features an artistic plaid look.

Plaid toenail polish is a fun way to get into the swing of things for back to school. The plaid nail art can match your school uniform or it can just be a fun fall look for you. Remember, you can alter the colors to suit your own personal style.

Materials for Great Walls Plaid Toenail Art:

To create your own Great Walls plaid toenail art, you need to gather the following materials:

- Mocha Frap nail polish for basecoat
- Black Widow nail polish
- Colorless nail polish for topcoat
- Nylon thread and Scotch tape (optional)

Steps in Creating Your Own Great Walls Plaid Nail Designs:
To create your own Great Walls plaid nail art designs, follow these simple steps:

1. Paint your nails with the color you desire. In this design, we used Mocha Frap nail polish as the basecoat. Mocha frap polish gives a golden effect when highlighted as the Great Wall of China looks somewhat gold when sun is up.

2. Paint two coats of the basecoat color for a balanced and vivid background for your nail art. Allow your nails to dry.

3. Once all nails are dry, paint the other half of your nails with Black Widow nail polish. If you wish to paint your nails perfectly, paste a piece of transparent tape vertically covering half of each nail. Black polish adds a brick colored effect for your imaginary Great Walls design.

4. After that, you may start making medium to thin vertical lines on each of your toenails. Using opposite color for each portion of the nail (use Mocha Frap nail polish to draw thin lines over the black side of the nail and then Black Widow polish over the Mocha side).

5. Take time to allow nails to dry completely before repeating the procedure in step 4 but this time create a horizontal lines. Alternate the two colors of nail polish to make a plaid design. The plaid nail art gives a brick wall effect for your design.

6. When everything is dry, use transparent polish as topcoat so your design will stay intact a bit longer, appearing more glossy.

If you want to do your own plaid pedicure or plaid toenails without the Great Wall nail effect, simply choose different nail polish colors and follow the steps above. You can make plaid toenail designs to match your school uniform, your favorite rugby team, or your favorite colors. Enjoy!

Photography by Jennifer M. Marimon.
Nail art by Juliet C. Janete.