Photo: Courtesy of fablane.com

We already compiled an Independence Day outfit guide, but what about dressing up your nails for the occasion? Festive holidays call for multicolored mani’s, and we’ve got a perfectly patriotic nail art design for the 4th that’s fun and relatively easy to do (no special tools required!). All you need is a toothpick, the three colors of the flag, and a base and top coat to make sure your nails stay fresh and glossy throughout the weekend (because really, who wants to reapply?). Get your stars and stripes on with the steps below! You’ll need: a base coat, red nail polish, white nail polish, blue nail polish, a toothpick, and a top coat.


1. Apply a base coat to protect and strengthen your nails.

Photo: Courtesy of Nails Inc. Nails Inc. A & E base coat, $19. 2. Apply red nail polish to the entire nail. Let it dry for approximately 20 minutes.

Photo: Courtesy of Essie Essie “really red” nail polish, $8.


3. Next, apply a single strip of white nail polish vertically down the center of the nail. Let it dry for 20 minutes.




Photo: Courtesy of Essie Essie “blanc” nail polish, $8.


4. Take the blue nail polish and apply a single strip of nail polish horizontally along the tip of the nail, perpendicular to the white stripe, and covering it a little bit, like in the picture above. Let it dry for 20 minutes.




Photo: Courtesy of Essie Essie “mesmerised” nail polish, $8.


5. Dip the tip of the toothpick into the white nail polish and create your stars by making a dot on the blue strip where you want the star to be. Carefully drag the dot in five directions into a star-like shape. Repeat the process 3-4 times for additional stars, spacing the dots out appropriately. Let the stars dry for 20 minutes. 6. Finish off with a layer of top coat to protect the nail art and make the nails super glossy.

Photo: Courtesy of Sephora Sephora by OPI gelshine top coat, $18.