Scotch Tape Nails with Upside-Down Triangles

1st Day Bottom Coat

A glance at the process in-action

My first attempt at Scotch Tape Nails went pretty well! I have to say that the photos are less forgiving than what the naked eye could see- I swear all the mistakes weren't nearly as visible in person as in some of these photos. I know the process of scotch tape nails may seem difficult but I promise that it was surprisingly easy and really didn't take much time at all.

First, I painted my nails with Re-Fresh Mint by China Glaze. I waited until the next day to paint the scotch tape design. I had heard that by waiting a day, you'll be able to use the scotch tape without removing any of the original nail polish color accidentally. For my Day Two design, I used Black Satin by Rimmel London and #49 by King Maxim Nails.

Scotch Tape Step 1: apply scotch tape to nails

To begin the scotch tape process, I just used small pieces of tape. I placed each piece down one at a time. By using two pieces of tape, I aimed to make a triangular shape. Every "triangle" wasn't exactly the same- the angles can be different, therefore making different triangles. I tried to make them pretty similar though.

Scotch Tape Step 2: paint 2nd polish color over tape

Scotch Tape Step 3: remove scotch tape from nail

Once the scotch tape was in place, I rubbed the tape to secure it to my nail. Then, I painted the nail polish over my nail, overlapping with the tape to make sure the triangle shape was filled to the lines with polish. I lifted the scotch tape off my nail almost immediately after painting on the new polish.

Within painting each triangle, I did the taping process one nail at a time. This way, there wasn't enough time for the new paint to dry onto the scotch tape and get stuck. Once I lifted the scotch tape off my nail, I placed in onto a paper towel so that I wouldn't make a mess. After every nail was done, I let them dry for a very long time before placing a clear top coat over the finished product.

Cool, right?


Final Results of Scotch Tape Nails with Upside-Down Triangles:

Blue Water Marbled Nails

Water Marbled Nails! I can't tell you excited I was to try this trick out. I've been Pinning water marbling obsessively. It seemed so hard, but I gave it my first attempt and I swear it's not that hard. Clearly, my photos don't compare to most out there, but it was fun and looks cool!

Like suggested by most instructions, I set up all my supplies ahead of time so that everything was handy. Once everything was set up, I painted my nails a base coat of a chosen color.

Supplies:

2, 3, or 4 nail polish colors

paper/plastic cups

paper towels

nail polish remover

Q-Tips

toothpicks

big cup of water

vaseline

Supplies

Base color coat

I then filled 6 paper cups with water and let them adjust to room temperature. I had read that this helps the nail polish to spread easily, but who knows if that's true. (I had 6 cups out so I wouldn't have to keep waiting for each fresh cup of water to become room temperature).

Next, I prepared my finger by slathering vaseline over the cuticles, knuckle area, and underneath. This helped the polish to not stick to my skin. I did this one, or two fingers at a time. I did come out cleaner when I only did one at a time.

Now for the polish! I used China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, Sinful Colors Verbena, and Sinful Colors Savage. I unscrewed each nail polish bottle so it'd be ready to work quickly. Then, I flung a drop of color into the water cup. Take each color you are using and flung another paint drop into the center of the circle within your cup (so as each dot expands, you put another color in the center). If ever the paint did not spread, I just shook the cup slightly to help things along.

Once you feel you've put enough layers of nail polish into the cup, take your toothpick and draw lines through the circles to create your own design. I found that making simple lines made a better design, rather than getting too creative.

I also found that light colors like pink did not work, so you'll see I had to add another color into the mix.

The 'clear' color here was the pink polish... so I had to replace it with another color.

Results once I added purple polish and used my toothpick to create a design.

Now, I was ready to dip! I took my prepped finger and stuck it into the cup. I sort of curled my finger as I placed it into the water so that my nail was almost flat on top of the water's surface as the nail dipped further into the water. Then, I removed my finger and saw a very messy area of skin.

Dipped finger.

 I took my dipped finger and wiped off the excess polish with my paper towel. The towel removed most of the mess and then I used a Q-Tip with nail polish remover to clean up the rest.

Once all the nails were dipped and cleaned, I did notice some bubbles and mess on my cuticles. Here's a first look:

Left pointer.

Middle finger

After one day, the bubbles went away and my cuticle areas cleaned up. I also put a top coat of clear polish to finish things up. Here is my first attempt, final result of Water Marbled Nails!

Best one?

Full hands:

Water Marbled Nails

Right hand

Left hand

After thoughts:

I found that the less amount of polish layers I put in the cup, the better. It seemed when I placed too many that it limited the designs and made things too cluttered. I thought putting about 4 layers or polish drops total was better.

I suggest keeping an extra option or two out for additional nail colors. I found that pink didn't show up at all, but I had no way of knowing until I was in the process. Luckily, I just added in another color to take it's place.

I also think that next time I'd like to place my nail deliberately on a specific point of design, instead of just dipping my nail in. Although, it was fun to just wait and see what surprise would come out on my nail, next time I may go for a more planned looked!