Credit

Colorblocking! It's such a trend right now, it's not even funny. I know, my recreation is nothing like the model's. I didn't want to get too creative, and wanted to keep the design simple for this tutorial. It is time consuming, but is really worth it when the whole look it put together. The last image are a few design and color combination ideas that I came up with. If you think three is too much, you can always stick with two. Remember, this is your look, do what you want with it! Here are some color blocking pairs that I thought of earlier this year: -Click!-

Step 1: Prep and Prime
Prep nails with your favorite basecoat, which helps polish adhere longer and prevents your nail beds from being discolored by dark lacquers.

Step 2: Pick Your Polish and the First Coat
Select a few complementary polish colors. For the best visual impact, choose one light or pastel polish, one dark or neon polish, and one metallic. The more opaque they are, the better. Then start with the lightest color and paint one coat over all ten nails. (Since you’re layering polishes, it’s easier to cover light with dark than the other way around.) If your lightest color is sheer, paint two coats. Let the polish dry completely.

Step 3: Grab a Roll of Scotch Tape and the Second Coat
The secret to the sharp lines of this manicure is Scotch tape. Grab a roll and tear off a few nail bed-sized pieces of tape. Before applying them to the nail, take each piece and press it against your palm several times to remove most of the stickiness. Then, once the first coat is dry, place a de-stickified piece of tape at a diagonal angle across each nail. Next, grab the dark color and paint each nail again. You’ll be painting partially over the nail and partially over the tape. When you’re done, gently remove the pieces of tape and let the polish dry. (Make sure to remove the tape before the polish dries so it doesn’t take any polish with it.)

Step 4: Tape and Repeat
Once the second polish is dry, de-stickify ten new pieces of tape and place them across your nails at new angles. You can use one, or even two different pieces of tape to reach the desired pattern. Cutting shapes out of the tape is also a good trick to try.

Step 5: Final Layer
Once the second polish is dry, de-stickify a bunch of new pieces of tape and place them across your nails at new angles. Follow with your darkest polish, and remove the tape before it dries.

Step 6: Wait and Seal
Once the final coat is dry, seal the look with your favorite topcoat to protect the polish and make it shine.

Final Thoughts: Get Creative
Once you’ve mastered the basic technique of using the tape to create clean lines, experiment with other fun shapes, or try a manicure with four or more colors. You can place the tape at the same angle to create a uniform pattern, or mix it up to make every nail unique.

Colors Used

Tutorial

Zoya Minka

OPI I Vant to be A-Lone Star

OPI Brisbane Bronze

Example A

Zoya Minka

Zoya Mia

Julep Maria

Example B

Essie Mint Candy Apple

China Glaze Peachy Keen

China Glaze Wicked Style

Example C

OPI I Vant to be A-Lone Star

OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI

China Glaze Poetic

First image provided by abullseyeview.com. Tutorial created by abullseyeview.com (I love Target). Original tutorial sent to me with minor edits done by myself. This is not a sponsored post.

What do you think? Would you try this look out?

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Dots and such

I really wanted to use this color combination, but I didn't really want to put them on different nails. I decided to play with dots. Like me, you don't need to go out and buy an expensive dotting tool, use what you have at home. I use dull pencils. This on is a Ticonderoga, you know one of those big ones? The smaller the pencil, the smaller the dot, BUT you can kind of control the size of the dot with the big one, as you can see with my pinky. Light taps is all it takes.

Here is how I did it:

1. I put 3 coats of OPI What's With the Cattitude? on all my fingers
2. Then I poured a glob of China Glaze Peachy Keen onto a piece of paper
3. Take a pencil, and carefully started dotting
4. Wait about 5 minutes for the dots to dry before adding a top coat so they don't smear.

I wanted the design to be different, so I took my time to figure out what I wanted to do. I tested a few on a nail wheel to double check thickness of the dots. This is what I came up with:

The pinky is so small, I didn't want a lot of dots, so I went with a subtle tip design.

That's my manicure for the weekend! Toodles =)

Spring Bows

Easter Design - Layering

 I got this idea from Julep's blog. They call it "Color Blocking", I just call it layering. I used China Glaze Go Go Pink and Julep Renee on Essie Mint Candy Apple, which I applied yesterday. I tested these two colors on my nail wheel to see which looked the best. The pink on top looked weird. Hopefully this will stay on for Easter. It's super cute and fun. I may try other combinations later today and upload them, just to give an idea of some other easter color combinations that work.

Brights and Dots

I saw a design similar to this on Julep's Facebook page. I loved the idea! I looked at all of my bright colors and chose the ones below. I then tried different dot designs before choosing the single straight line as my favorite. Then I chose the colors! My dotter was a dull pencil.

Julep Helena, Julep Anne, OPI What's With the Cattitude, Sally Hanson CSM Model Behavior, Essie Cute As a Button, Mark. Fuschia-istic, Essie Play Date, Mark. Ibiza Sol Tango.