Not many of us know the one unique thing that can make you the most fashionable girlfriend: you can transform your nails into works of art. Which means that less than $15 can make you the master nail artist and get you an extra 20-25 likes on Instagram. The question then is: how do you make that happen?

To get some tips, POPSUGAR reached out to stylist Nell Toombs, CEO and founder of Dahl’s Nail Designs, who gave us some tips for getting the “selfie nails.”

Nell started her company by growing up on a farm in Oregon, and he loves to take inspiration from nature, rivers, trees, and farming, in order to bring that into his manicures. Her salon’s two locations in major cities like LA and NYC keep on the lookout for natural raw material, plus “access to a good supply of great polish.”

She insists that she is a “sore loser” who is still wearing her high school-style nail colors from back then, so getting those should be done when you go back to school.

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To start, your color should be softer than the plain white you might normally see on runways, like really pastel, pink, and yellow. Nail files can be used to add a bit of shine, but if you want to look fabulous, a base coat is best. “Dewy” nails, with a mineral base coat, should be painted with a great, strong color with really vivid color options like an emerald green, petal pink, or lilac pink. Nail art can be done at home (save the tools!), and you can get up to about five steps, so the design time is roughly five minutes. Just be sure to hold it steady!

If you decide to get the nails done professionally, begin by choosing the colors you want to wear. Find the one color you love best, and then draw on a clear pad in it using the rubber tips. If you’re going to copy the sultry, white biker nails we saw on Joe Jonas, use solid white or a beige.

It’s easiest to create the manicure by starting with a base color, but a neutral red or shimmery green can look nice on a cold day. Once you’ve chosen your main color, move on to creating your base for the cuticle. Depending on the base color you’re going with, you can still use a rougher, rougher cleaner. Nail connoisseurs will tell you to place one of the chalk tools, like the ones in the gallery, and the pen tool at the end is a necessary part of the process. Use the two tools and start drawing on the nail, lightly stroking the surface with your fingers to cover the cuticle. You’ll need a pair of tweezers to get all of the down across the nail. In order to really master the process, there should be no gaps at all in the nail so it can see everything. If you have a lot of imperfection with your nails, try putting on a nail polish to sharpen them a bit.

After about two minutes, gently start drawing the new color in, as you’ll still need to place base color on top. Draw as close to the edge of the nail as you can, and again brush in a very thin layer of the remaining colored. After another few minutes, you should see the color come to life, and it’s almost finished. Now it’s just a matter of putting on the polish and watching it move around. Smooth the nail down and gather it up to get a well-deserved high five.

The only question is, did you score the most likes on your nails? It certainly doesn’t hurt that you’re getting approved nautical, stars and stripes, and beer-soaked choices that your fans can’t help but love!