Looking for a fresh summer manicure? Try applying a watermelon nail or two!

I recommend wearing this design on a ring finger, index finger, or both. If I were you I’d refrain from wearing watermelon nails on all your fingers, as when it comes to nail art there’s a fine line between cute and tacky. You know what I am talking about.

You’ll need at least three polishes to create this design. A pink or red, a clear topcoat and a bright-eyed green. I used Sephora by OPI’s “Access 24/7″ as my pink and OPI’s “Greenwich Village” as my healthy green.

While it’s not necessary, it never hurts to start off with a basecoat. A basecoat will help your manicure last longer and will protect your nails from staining. If you do not have a basecoat, you can use any clear topcoat instead.

I used Total Nail Rx’s “Fill Me In.” I like this basecoat because it contains tiny fibers that smooth out the surface of your nail plate.

Apply whatever “watermelon color” you’ve chosen. Pictured above is only two coats of “Access 24/7.” I consider this the ideal polish for watermelon nails, as it’s a “jelly finish.” By that I mean the final result is semi-transparent like a gummy-bear or jelly bean, rather than the opaque finish of a traditional creme polish. Since watermelon slices are semi-transparent, it’s exemplary.

Wait a few moments of drying time before continuing on to the next step.

Swipe a horizontal stripe of green polish across the tip of your nail. Don’t worry about a perfectly straight line, as a future step will cover where pink meets green.

Using a dotting tool or something similar, (a bobby-pin, an uncooked spaghetti noodle, an unbent paperclip, etc.) dip into black acrylic paint or black nail polish.

Dotting with nail polish tends to get gooey very quickly, so it’s a good idea to invest all of 99 cents in a bottle of black acrylic.

Touch your dotting tool against your nail in a randomized pattern to create watermelon seeds. Rinse off the tip of your dotting tool with water in between every few dots to ensure regularity. If you’re using nail polish for your seeds, rinse off your tool with nail polish remover.

Using a liner brush, dip into white acrylic paint. Liner brushes are ideal for creating straight lines or stripes. Trying to draw out a straight line with a short paintbrush or nail polish brush is making this step several times harder than it needs to be.

Drag out a straight line of white where pink meets green. Simply hold your liner brush flat against your nail and slowly pull it along.

Apply a clear topcoat and you’re all done!