First you start with cleaning your nails and applying a base coat. After that it's colour picking time! I like Ruffians with metallic shades, matte shades and contrasting shades but this is really your choice.
I picked China Glaze Millennium as my base, a silver metallic. Let it dry. Metallic shades dry pretty quickly but when you're using a polish that doesn't dries that quickly make sure you wait a few minutes before starting your Ruffian. You don't want to have polish mixing or pick up your base colour with the brush.
Dry? Let's start with step 1.
Like applying nail polish on your entire nail, you place a drop of polish on the center of your nail. Push the drop of polish a little bit down so you can decide where the Ruffian ends. After that you move your brush upwards, creating a vertical line. I use H&M Love at First Sight as my second colour.
Step 2: Start again on the left (or right) side. Pick the brush and swipe the polish upwards along the curve of the nail. Make sure the whole side is covered with nail polish.
Step 3: Repeat step 2 only on the other side.
See how easy it basically is? You create the Ruffian just like you normally paint your nails, you only start on a higher point of your nail. If you are scared to do this freehand you can always use french tip guides. When you do so you must let the base colour dry completely, otherwise you'll pull off all the polish. I'm not a big fan of tip guides because they tend to get all sticky on my nails and they leave me with glue on my nails but if it works for you, why not?!
After that, seal with a top coat and this is the result:
After that, seal with a top coat and this is the result:
Hope this was helpful and don't forget: practice makes perfect!
