Nail Art Pen FAQs

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #1 – Are you using Be Creative Paint?

You can use ANY paint with the nail art pen, but the paint has to be thin enough to travel through the small groove in the nib. Too thick and it will not move or flow. Our paint has a very high pigment content and the pigment is fine enough to be used with the nib. If you are trying to use a lesser quality paint and water it down you will get a washed out look. The Be Creative paints are only $6.99.

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #2 – Is your paint thin enough?

Any paint used with the Be Creative Nail Art Pen needs to be watered down to the consistency of full fat milk (there’s a video on our website that shows the perfect consistency). If your paint is too thick you will struggle! If you have bought new paint from us and it is not full, add water to fill it, shake the bottle and this will be the correct consistency. Remember – water evaporates, not colour. Every time your pot is open, the paint will thicken. But the pigment doesn’t evaporate, so watering it down again won’t ruin the paint.

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #3 – Starting the Flow

Dip the nib of your Be Creative Nail Art Pen into water first and then into the paint – this helps with lubrication (although it’s not always necessary). When you have finished with the nib, wash it well, remove the paint and then dip it in dishwashing liquid and leave. When you use it again it will run beautifully.

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #4 – Paper First!

Always start on paper first – even Sam still does this. When you have a client in front of you, dip and then draw a couple of lines on some paper, Make sure you are doing so on a flat, hard surface (not 3 layers of fluffy towels and desk towels), To achieve flow move the pen nib back and forth on the paper to get it going. If you get stuck there are lots of videos on our YouTube Channel.

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #5 – Squeeze the handle of the pen.

Yes it’s wooden and no it’s not full of paint BUT this generates tension in the nib, aiding with the flow without applying too much down pressure. If you push down instead of squeezing the handle you will achieve thicker lines (great if you want to, not so great if you don’t) and can also split the nib (It already has a split but we don’t want the two halves to separate)

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #6 – Are you painting on a rough surface?

If the nail is shiny (e.g. you have added gel top coat) the pen and paint will slip. There are two options – 1) Top Coat and then lightly buff the surface. Paint your design and then re-top coat 2) Apply 2 coats of Gel Polish colour as normal, curing after each layer. Use a dry lint free wipe, or a clean dry brush to wipe away the sticky inhibition layer. Use the nail art pen and then top coat.

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #7 – Are you dipping deep enough?

This is the most common issue people have. Many use the Be Creative Nail Art Pen like a brush or a dotting tool, but this is incorrect. You need to dip the nib all the way up (halfway through the face). This will fill the reservoir and give you loads of application time without re-dipping.

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #8 – It is not a Brush!

This is the easiest tip of the series – It’s not a brush and it never will be. It is a pen and should be used this way. Hold it like a pen, use it on a 45 degree angle, and draw with it like a pen. Once you change the way you think about it, everything comes together.

Nail Art Pen PROTIP #9 – Your Pen is not Broken!

The nib comes in 2 pieces, it is designed to be easily cleaned. There is meant to be a split down the centre of the large nib, this allows the paint to flow onto the nail. There is meant to be a hole in the nib, make sure the smaller nib does not cover this hole. There’s a really great video below that shows exactly how to put it together.

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