Polishes Used:
OPI - Don't Pretzel My Buttons
OPI - Dim Sum Plum
China Glaze - First Mate
China Glaze - Sea Spray
Can you believe I've been blogging for what 3 years now and I've never used striping tape before?!
This mani was originally intended as a recreation of this mani by Chelsea Queen. It didn't work out that well though. I had trouble staying within my thin striping tape lines, especially since I was painting with my bad hand. This was particularly hard with Dim Sum Plum because of the wide OPI brush. I probably should have used a nail art brush instead of the brush in the bottle but oh well... next time.
Also can you believe I have over 200 polishes but somehow don't have a single off white cream color?! Any recommendations? :)
Then while I was pulling the striping tape off of my right thumb, the polish that was on the tape got alll over my left thumb and index nail lol. This was before I figured out you're supposed to use tweezers. Newbie mistake. Anyway so I decided to change up the shapes so that I could strategically paint over the accidental pink splotch.
(Btw if you're wondering... the pink that is on my thumb and index nail is a different polish... Color Club Overboard... I was experimenting with it on my thumb since I thought the brush would work better than the OPI one. Wasn't happy with the way color looked vs. Dim Sum Plum though.)
So after playing around with the striping tape this is what I ended up with. I added Sea Spray since I ended up with 3 areas to fill in on my index and just continued on with it. It's actually a fluke that I ended up using Sea Spray. It was the only other polish I had out (I was experimenting with it for Monday Blues... which I actually skipped this week oops). All my other polishes were in my Helmer next to the bed and I didn't want to wake up my boyfriend. I think it works quite well with the other colors though :)
In terms of shapes I think my pinky nail is my favorite. Ring finger nail is my second favorite.
I'm not very happy with the execution of this mani. I still went over the striping tape lines a bit. I also got a crazy amount of shrinking from using Seche Vite. I almost never use it anymore... only for manis like this where I don't want to take a chance with smearing. But I think I'll have to find something else if it's going to shrink THIS much. These pictures were only taken about half an hour after applying SV :/ It is at the halfway point though... I guess maybe with some Seche Restore it would be better?
Welcome to the world of striping tape! Your going to love all the designs you can create with it. This didn't turn out too bad. I still like it a lot and might try it out. My favorite is the ring nail one.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa! I can't wait to try a reciprocal gradient again now that I have proper striping tape! :) I like the ring finger a lot too!
DeleteI like the pinkie the best. I haven't seen a nail like that one before. I never have problems with shrinkage. I wonder what causes that? I use Seche all the time. Have you tried Deborah Lippmann's Gel Lab? I just started using it and its good. I don't wear a lot of cream colors because I think they match my skin too much. I like the one you used.
ReplyDeleteThanks Micki! I think maybe it's because my Seche is getting so thick now? It wasn't so bad before... also I put the polish on pretty thick because I didn't want to do two coats with the tape or I wouldn't get a clean line... I haven't tried the Deborah Lippmann maybe I'll look into it but her stuff is pretty expensive! :(
DeleteI think this came out pretty good! I like each of the nails :D Aw I know what you mean about Seche. Seche Restore helps, but Seche is so much better when when you first start using a fresh bottle
ReplyDeletethanks traci! I actually have never used Seche Restore... I've just been adding regular nail polish thinner. I didn't realize that Seche Restore doesn't actually fix it 100%... might just try another top coat then :(
DeleteThis looks pretty cool. :D I have 10 of those striping tapes laying here and I rarely use them. haha. I know what you mean about Seche. When it got all gooey, I used my Seche restore. It saved my Seche Vite. I also found out that it's a bit of meticulous to use. It's better to use it with no AC or fan. You must only use ample amount. Too much product on the brush can cause bubbles. :( As for the shrinking, I tried putting the top coat until under my nail (I hope that makes sense). Sometimes, it's such a hassle to use. I also heard of HK Glisten and Glow top coat. Have you tried that? :)
ReplyDeleteOh ya... putting a bit of top coat under the nail? I've heard of it before too it's called "wrapping the tips" but I honestly don't do it very often haha I always end up getting it on my skin when I do that. I have tried it before with Seche to try to help with the shrinking but I found that it would shrink away from my cuticle instead and look like it grew out :( I've been hearing really good things about the hk top coat but I haven't tried it yet... I think I might order some soon!
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