Originally, I had intended to paint my nails the gay (men) and lesbian flags for GLO, in September this year. However – as these things usually are – I ran out of time before the event. I’ve painted my nails pride flag colours before, including the progress pride flag across both hands, and the trans flag. Now that I finally had an opportunity to paint – I suddenly had the thought, why not do something a bit more interesting?
This is where Stefanie / PolishedYogi’s Pride nails tutorial compilation video came in, which I had watched previously in June and which had been inspiration for the trans-flag coloured hearts. (However, in that case, I had a lot of staining on my nails, so I had to put down a beige creme layer first before I could proceed – which made that one a real struggle for me, since I find cremes difficult.)
This time, again I turned to Stefanie for inspiration (and to make sure I was painting the stripes on the right way) and picked the design I thought I might be able to pull off the best – as pretty much an absolute beginner.
I was so nervous about mucking up the whole hand, I just did the thumbs and then stopped while I was ahead – since they had already come out better than I expected. Next time I might try to pain the whole hand, if I have more time to work with. Unfortunately, I am always starting nail painting late in the evening; which means I end up painting late into the night and getting more and more exhausted…
The rest of the fingers were just basically themed “tiny trash” where I dumped as much glitter and holo as possible in a similar colour scheme.
The reason I decided to paint my nails pride flag colours is that I plan to go to Newcastle Pride Fair on 25 October 2025. I have never really, truly been to Newcastle before, so I’m really quite nervous about the whoel thing. However, I think it’ll be good to get out of my comfort zone for a bit.
Polishes used
I still only have a limited colour selection, but I did my best with the colours I had on hand. They don’t all really go together as they are a mix of different effects/finishes – I also just really don’t like working with cremes or looking at cremes, which can complicate things.
Left hand
Gay Flag: HT Teal With It, HT Moon Lagoon, HT Glazed Over, HT Vitamin Glow, HT Midnight Spark
Other nails: HT Precious Cargo (base), HT Lunar Unicorn Skin (topper), HT Sonic Unicorn Skin (topper)
Right hand
Lesbian Flag: HT I’m Rover It, Canmake N100 Friendship Bracelet, HT Glazed Over, HT What A Catch, Canmake N101 Chunky Mules
Other nails: HT Precious Cargo (base), HT Fallen Flake Taco (topper), HT Solar Unicorn Skin (topper)
Instagram Post: Showcase Post