Nail Art Brushes and Tools: Which to Choose, How to Use and Clean Them

Nail art brushes come in a handful of shapes, each designed for a different kind of stroke. To start, you need only three: a short liner for lines, a detail brush for small motifs and an angled brush for tidying edges. Add a dotting tool and you can paint most beginner designs.

If you were given a nail art kit for Christmas, this guide explains what each tool does, how to use it with gel and how to care for your brushes.

Types of nail art brushes and what each one is for

For gel, choose synthetic brushes, which keep their shape and wipe clean easily. Whatever the price, a good one comes to a sharp point and springs back after each stroke. Give each new brush a gentle tug, since one that sheds now will leave hairs cured into your nails. Sizes vary between makers, so treat the bristle lengths below as a general guide.

Liner brush and striper

Long, thin bristles that taper to a fine point make the liner brush the tool for stripes, outlines, French smile lines and marble veins. Beginners usually find a short liner, with bristles of about 5 to 9 millimetres, easiest to control, as it bends less under pressure. It holds little gel, though, so reload it for each line.

Stripers, or long liners, have bristles of roughly 15 to 25 millimetres. They hold enough gel for one stroke from cuticle to tip, and their length smooths out small tremors in your hand. Stripes, tartan and geometric designs suit them best, as they're hard to steer round tight curves.

Detail brush

The detail brush is the shortest in most sets, with a needle-fine point. Use it for petals, the point of a heart, a tiny initial or the broken outlines of leopard print nails. It also fills small gaps between lines, where a liner would spill over the edges.

Flat and angled brushes for clean-up and French tips

Flat brushes have a straight edge and angled brushes a slanted one, and both paint the tip of a French manicure. Lay the edge along the smile line and sweep from one corner to the centre, then from the other, so the sides meet at the same point.

Keep a small angled brush for clean-up only, narrow enough to fit the corners of your smallest nail. Its pointed corner reaches into the sidewalls and along the cuticle, where gel most often touches the skin.

Fan brush

A fan brush is mostly used for glitter fades: dab a little glitter gel along the free edge, then more lightly towards the cuticle, and cure before sealing it under top coat. Swept lightly across the join between two uncured colours, it also softens an ombre.

Other nail art tools you'll need

Brush sets rarely include the supplies that keep nail art clean: foil for a drop of gel, lint-free wipes and gel cleanser. Place the foil away from the lamp and sunny windows, where gel starts to set, and avoid cotton pads, which leave fibres in the gel.

Dotting tool

A double-ended dotting tool with a small and a medium ball covers polka dots, daisy petals and hearts. Switch to the larger ball for a bigger dot, since pressing harder only squashes it.

Dip the ball once for every dot so the dots match, and wipe it every few dots before built-up gel makes them grow. Hold the tool upright, touch the nail and lift straight off. For graduated dots, step down a ball size with each dot, still dipping once per dot. A short row from a single dip also works, as each dot takes a little less gel than the last.

Make-up sponge

A small wedge of make-up sponge makes gradients, from ombre nails to the nude-to-white baby boomer fade. Dab the gel on in two or three thin layers, curing each. Sponging gets gel on the skin, so paint a peel-off barrier around the nail first, then peel it away and clean off any stray gel before curing.

Nail art brushes for beginners: which ones to start with

From a new kit, take out the short liner, detail brush, small angled brush and dotting tool, and put the rest away. These four cover the lines, dots, hearts and French tips behind most of our 30 gel nail art ideas.

Practise on clear tips or a practice wheel first, so you learn how much gel each tool needs without redoing a manicure. Give the tips two thin, cured coats of 021 Cloud, a sheer milky white, then fill them with lines, curves and dots in 001 Black, an opaque black. Black on a pale base shows up every wobble.

Once your lines are steady, try a first set over your usual prep and base. Paint eight nails with two coats of Cloud and pull one fine black stripe down each, slightly off-centre so a small drift doesn't show. Make the ring fingers solid gold accent nails in B030 Or Solaire, a golden builder gel. Like any builder gel, it suits solid colour rather than line work and is removed by filing. Seal every nail with Diamond Top Coat, a no-wipe, high-shine top coat, capping the free edge.

How to use nail art brushes with gel polish

How to use a liner brush

Gel stays liquid until it's cured, so an overloaded line keeps spreading.

1. Load the brush lightly. Draw it through the edge of a drop of gel, rolling the handle to form a point. Wipe both sides on the foil until no bead hangs at the tip.
2. Anchor your hands. Rest your elbows on the table and the little finger of your painting hand against your other hand.
3. Turn the nail to suit the line. Rotate the hand you're painting so each line runs towards you. On a curve, hold the brush still and roll the finger under it.
4. Pull the brush towards you. Touch the brush down where the line starts and pull it in one steady stroke, with the bristles trailing behind the handle. Pushing it the other way makes them buckle and the line stutter.
5. Set the width with pressure. The tip alone gives a hairline, and lowering more of the bristles widens the line.
6. Cure each line before the next. Uncured lines that touch run together, and a line left waiting begins to spread. Cure for the time given in your gel's instructions.

How to tidy edges with a clean-up brush

Clean up each nail before curing, while the gel can still be moved. Dip the angled brush in gel cleanser and blot it until just damp, since a dripping brush floods the colour. Run it along the edge you want to sharpen, wiping it after each stroke. The same move gives beginners an easy French: paint the tip roughly, then carve the smile line with the brush.

Lift any gel that touches the skin the same way, as uncured gel on skin is the main cause of gel allergy. If redness, itching, swelling or blisters appear around your nails, stop using the product and see a doctor.

How to clean nail art brushes used with gel

Any gel left in a brush hardens in daylight and under the lamp, and a stiff brush rarely recovers. Clean every brush between colours and after each session.

1. Wipe out the gel. Fold a lint-free wipe moistened with gel cleanser over the bristles and pull from the metal collar to the tip. Move to a clean patch for each pass until no colour comes off.
2. Reshape the brush. Draw liners to a point and flat brushes to a straight edge through the wipe, which keeps gel off your fingers.
3. Cap and store in the dark. Slide the cap on gently, then lay the brushes flat in a closed box or drawer, away from daylight and your lamp.

Never rinse gel brushes in water, which doesn't dissolve gel and leaves moisture to mix into your next coat, and use acetone only if the maker allows it. Use a separate liner for pale shades, since black pigment lingers in the bristles and turns white grey.

What to use if you don't have a nail art brush

Dots, taped lines and gradients need only household items, as our simple nail designs for beginners show. Long, fine lines are harder to fake, so a short liner is the first brush worth buying.

• Toothpick. Its point makes tiny dots and drags two dots into a heart. Use a fresh one for each colour.
• Hairgrip (bobby pin). The rounded tips make medium dots for polka dots and daisy petals.
• Tape. Thin strips of striping or masking tape give straight edges for stripes and colour blocks. Press them onto a cured layer, paint over them and peel them away before curing.

Frequently asked questions

What brushes are best for nail art?

The best nail art brushes for gel have synthetic bristles that hold a sharp point and don't shed. Three shapes cover most designs: a short liner, a detail brush and a small angled brush for clean-up.

Can I use any brush for nail art?

Any fine synthetic brush that keeps its point and doesn't shed will work, including artist's brushes from an art shop. Dedicate them to gel, so no paint or water ends up in your manicure. Make-up brushes are too soft for lines, though a small angled eyeliner brush makes a good clean-up brush.

Can you clean nail art brushes with acetone?

Only if the brush maker says it can take acetone, which can otherwise damage the bristles and the glue that holds them. For gel, a lint-free wipe with cleanser is enough.

Why has my nail art brush gone hard?

Gel left in the bristles has cured, usually because the brush was left uncapped near a lamp or window or wasn't wiped thoroughly. If the gel is only tacky, a wipe with cleanser may free it, but a brush that has fully set needs replacing.

A black and a milky white from our gel polish collection are all you need to start practising.