White/Gold Striping Tape Mani Tutorial

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been slightly overwhelmed with boring old uni stuff lately, but I did manage to get this pretty and simple design up. I LOVE the white and gold combo, and the accent nail design would look just as fab on all your nails if you had the time or the patience for it. All you need for this design is a white polish, a gold polish, scissors and striping tape (which you can get really cheaply from Trademe, ebay, or bornprettystore) As always, read on for a quick tutorial :)

What I Used:

- OPI Nail Envy Base Coat
- Essie Blanc
- Revlon Catty
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
- Striping tape
- Scissors
- Tweezers (optional)
- Acetone and cleanup brush 

1. Cut up your striping tape into a number of strips. You'll need longer pieces for the 'X' in the centre, and lots of shorter pieces for the sides. I stuck them all along the edge of my desk, ready to use and easy to grab. 

2. Apply a base coat to protect your natural nails from stains and create a smooth base for polish.

3. Next apply two coats of a gold polish and allow to dry to completely (this is very important; the tape will ruin your mani if not applied to totally dry nails) Adding a fast-drying top coat will speed up the process. 

4. Using tweezers or your fingers, place two longer strips of tape in an 'X' shape across the centre of your nail, reaching all the way to the edges and onto the skin. It's important to press down on the edges of the nail so polish doesn't leak underneath and ruin your lines.

5. Using the smaller strips, make four 'V' shapes at the top, bottom and both sides of your X, evenly spaced. Again, be sure to press down on the edges and smooth them out.

6. Once all your tape is in place, apply a fairly thick coat of white right over the top, covering up all the gold space. Then immediately remove the tape, while the white polish is still very wet, in the opposite order you applied them (so the ones on the top are removed first). Tweezers might make this easier. 

7. When all the tape is removed, you should be left with smooth, clean gold lines. Allow to dry before applying a top coat, being careful not to smudge your design. 

8. Clean up any mess with a cottonbud or brush dipped in polish remover/acetone. 

Ta da! Your simple yet classy mani is complete! I hope you liked this design, let me know your thoughts or suggestions in the comments below, and I'll see ya next time!

Lisa xx