Ariel & Eric from Disney’s The Little Mermaid

Choose three blue gel polish shades of various intensities, and paint the lightest one over the entire nail. Cure, then choose the slightly darker shade and use a fine liner brush to paint wavy lines from the cuticle area towards the centre of the nail. Cure, then repeat with the darkest blue shade and cure again.

Use a dark grey gel polish with a fine liner brush to paint the outlines of Ariel and Eric.

I chose a nude gel polish shade for the skin tones, a dark brown for Eric’s hair, a warm red for Ariel’s hair and a light blue for their clothing. Paint within the lines, curing between each colour application to prevent the colours from bleeding.

Using a white gel paint and nail art brush, create eye and mouth shapes on each character and cure.

Apply your chosen eye colour (I used blue) and cure, before outlining the facial features using a dark grey or black gel polish and fine liner brush. Cure.

Add highlights to the characters using a white gel paint. I envisaged the light being above the characters, so added highlights to their hair. Smooth out harsh lines using a shading brush. Cure, then apply top coat and cure to finish.