Striping Tape Peace Signs

It’s TAPE MANI day in the April Nail Art Challenge.  Striping tape always amazes me!  Every time I use it I’m like WOW- this stuff is great!  It peels off your nail without a problem and what an easy way to get some crisp clean nail art!

I started with a few base coats of my neon green polish by Cynthia Rowley. It’s so bright and green that it really reminded me of Earth Day from earlier in the week.  I taped my nails with some inexpensive striping tape from amazon and it surprisingly didn’t take very long.  Then I topped it off with an awesome teal holo!    This scattered holo is called Teal Dimension from L.A. Girl.  I’ve swatched other holos from that collection here and here. I can’t get enough of this stuff!   Then when I peeled the tape off the neon-it was like POW against the teal!  The whole color combo and the peace sign remind me of Earth, Mother Nature, peace and love.  I hope you like it cuz it was fun for me to wear! Peace! xx

Ruffian Manicure

Day 13 of the Nail Challenge is Ruffian !  I freakin love Ruffian manis!    I also love that it makes me wanna speak with a Jamaican accent.  Not sure why… maybe because it reminds me of the word Ragamuffin which makes me think of Reggae music and stuff IDK?  RRRUFFIAN MON! 

This mani was pretty simple- here’s what I did:  I started with a black base of Ebony Hates Chris by wet n wild.  Then I taped my nails off with some french manicure nail guide stickers and applied my contrasting 2nd polish called Sweet Pea Dream by AVON.  I peeled the nail guide stickers off slowly to reveal the ruffian.  A topcoat smoothed it all out and bam-  a sexy ruffian!

Even though the technique is pretty simple- I actually did this mani over the course of two days.  See, I’ll admit that I’m very impatient when it comes to waiting for nails to dry.  When I start painting, I wanna paint all the way through to the end without stopping.  And since I planned to do my ruffian with tape, that means that my black base needs to be completely dry before I apply the nail guide stickers.  The thought of waiting for my black to dry and hoping I don’t mess up my tape job due to still-tacky paint causes me undue stress.  So to avoid all the anxiety and sitting around waiting….I painted my nails black, slapped some quick-drying seche vite on top and called it a day.  I rocked the black nail polish by itself for a day and got some compliments on it so that’s cool!  The next day I applied my nail guide stickers and then painted my 2nd color to finish my ruffian.  This process worked well for me since it eliminated the risk of screwing up my tape job and it allowed me to wear two different manis over the course of two days.  Win, win!

This look is so fresh- it’s like a rebellious french mani!  Classy and wild all at the same time.  I’m in love.

Yellow Sponged Tape Mani

Day 3 of the Nail Challenge is today… and the theme is yellow.  I had to brainstorm a lot for this design, mostly because the majority of my yellow polishes suck!!  They are not very opaque and do not work well for nail art.  Why does yellow always have to be like that??

I decided on a white base coat of NYC Nail Enamel in French White Tip.  Then I taped some random criss crosses onto my nails using striping tape.  Then I sponged some different shades of yellow on top using little pieces of a cut-up makeup sponge.  I like cutting my makeup sponges into much smaller pieces because it’s less messy and easier to apply that way.  After I peeled the tape off I was left with this cool white and yellow cross hatch design.

I was inspired to do this mani by viewing this: Wacky Laki- Striping Tape and Gradient.   If you are into tutorials then you will love this page of hers… it’s chock-full of pretty stuff!

Here’s the yellow polishes I used:

China Glaze ♥ Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Wet n wild ♥ The Wonder Yellows

Sally Hansen ♥ Mellow Yellow

Nicole by OPI ♥ My Favorite Gold

View the other participants designs here! 

Butler Please

I was recently at Sephora hovering around the nail polish display and I discovered the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen- Illamasqua Cameo.  I tested it out and I fell in love with it, but I could not justify spending $14.00 on one bottle of polish!  Craftynail is way too thrifty for that!  So I hit up the nearest beauty supply store to find myself a cheaper dupe.  I came across Essie Butler Please and I think I paid less than $4.00 for it with my coupon!  After getting home and applying it I realized it’s not at all a dupe for the pricey Illamasqua!  The Essie is much darker and dried to a blotchy semi-matte finish.  The two coats did dry quick though (which is always a bonus)… so then I taped my tips off with painters tape and added some Sephora by OPI topcoat called Only Gold For Me.  Even though the Essie formula was not my fave, there’s nothing that some sparkles and a healthy topcoat of Seche Vite can’t fix!   I really love the regal look of this gold and royal blue together!   Apparently so does my mom- she came over tonight and asked me to paint her nails this color too… so now we are nail twinny twins!

Sparkling Leg-Warmers

Sephora by OPI – Sparkling Personality from the Betsey Johnson collection

I love waking up to find snow on the ground!  Now it really feels like the holiday season in NY !  That inspired me to do a wintery design. I’m calling this mani SPARKLING LEG-WARMERS!  I used two Sephora by OPI polishes- Sparkling Personality and Break A Leg-Warmer. (It’s kinda fun to name your manicures, don’t ya think?)

Sephora by OPI – Break A Leg-Warmer

I taped off my nail using little pieces of blue painters tape.  It worked pretty well!  If you’ve never tried it before- you should experiment with some!  Its really easy to work with and peels off like a dream.

I’m groovin on the color combo- I like how the grey base color really showcases the different pigments of the glitter.

Now that I’m done beautifying myself- I might go outside and shovel.  What would a mani be without a few well-earned dents and smooshes?!

naughty and nice french mani w/ scotch tape!

Naughty~ my tips are painted with an oxblood shade of Orly called Naughty.

Nice~ my pink topcoat is a pretty little bottle of Zoya flakies called Chloe.

NAUGHTY- Orly Naughty on tips

I used the scotch tape technique for this mani. Why have I not tried transparent tape til today??  I applied it on my bare nails and it was fool-proof!  The taping process took just seconds…

NICE- Zoya Chloe pink flakies

I just tore off a piece (maybe an inch long) and then placed it near my nail line.  Before I pressed down hard to secure the tape… I tugged up a lil bit on the sides of the tape to make a slight curve to the line.  Once my tape was pressed down nice and tight, I painted a base coat on the tips and then two coats of Naughty.  I was nervous when I peeled the tape off but I got a beautiful clean line! Scotch tape- I LOVE YOU. So much easier than those tiny nail guide stickers!  Then to finish it off I applied a single topcoat of Zoya Chloe.

in the shade

FYI~I ran out of Scotch brand tape and had to switch to Rite Aid invisible tape in the middle of my manicure.  What a difference!  The Scotch worked way better than the store brand! Who woulda thunkit?