A Secret Technique From A Red Carpet Nail Artist

In our glorious age of no beauty rules, you can pretty much have it your way in whichever beauty category you like, from hair colors to piercings to makeup. But having more options does not necessarily make us better at executing them — in fact it often makes things a hell of a lot more confusing.

For instance, you probably have the standard DIY manicure with one color down pat, but want something a little extra — say a shimmer effect or a small detail — and you may think it's time to call in the pros. However, you don’t have to shell out cash for a unique manicure — and honestly, sometimes it's just way more fun to do it yourself anyway, right?

Enter: layering nail polish. The act of applying two polishes may seem like the exact opposite of a secret — we've all coated a basic mani with glitter polish, thankyouverymuch — but there's a lot more to it than that.

Red carpet and editorial nail artists layer lacquers in unexpected ways to create tons of different looks that simply can't be achieved with one bottle. For help on the subject, we consulted Hollywood manicurist Whitney Gibson. She's a celebrity and editorial nail stylist, and is an expert in beyond-average nail art.

For her pro tips on how to layer nail polish (as seen in the glittery, art deco look she created for us here) simply click through our slideshow.