After seeing a few gorgeous tape manicures online over the past few weeks I thought I would give it a go. My nails were already painted Julep Robin from the previous day so completely dry. I got out my a few of my newest Julep shades, some electrical tape, small scissors, and got to work.
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| The Supplies: (Right to Left) Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat, Julep Nail Therapy Basecoat, Julep Kate, Robin, Parker, Natalie, Courteney, Renee, Electrical Tape and Scissors |
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| First, I cut out random strips of the tape and stuck them down paying close attention to securing them at the edges of my nails. |
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| I kept going and used the different colors of polish at random, as well as the sizes of tape. |
Since this was my first time trying this type of manicure I just learned from my mistakes as I went. The first thing I found out the hard way is that I am too impatient. Haha, I already knew this, but thought I was being good waiting for the polish to dry...no such luck. Some of my stripes got jagged and uneven due to me pulling up the tape too soon. The nails I let dry for quite a while before peeling up the tape turned out much better.
I also learned to make sure I was painting all the way to the edge of my nails- this was tricky on the narrow stripes. Third, I realized not to layer on the polish too thick or it might get pulled up with the tape some as well. The electrical tape was great and didn't stick to the polish like scotch tape seems to do.
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| The painting and tape peeling process |
I just used q-tips and nail polish remover to attempt to clean up the messy edges. If I were to do this manicure again I would also be careful to use thinner layers of polish to avoid such a mess haha. I also would paint each nail a different color to begin with.
Even though it is still a bit messy I am pleased with my first attempt. I love the colorful Julep polishes all together and the variety of stripes. Julep still has their penny box promo going on if you want to try them- just click the Julep icon to the right of my post if you're interested!
I can see myself doing this again in the future, and hopefully getting better!! It is a pretty simple process so I would suggest anyone to try it! Being so new to nail art if I can do it anyone can haha. I am sure patient people would love their results ;)
I know it is a little sloppy, but as I mentioned before I am new at this! I hope you like this diy manicure :) Please leave me some feedback below. I would love to hear your thoughts and am for sure open to any pointers!! :)
A few weeks ago I also wrote that I bought my first nail stamps. Going back to my newbie nail enthusiatist status, I decided just to try out some cheap ones I found at Target for $9.99- Sally Hansen Nail Art Kit so sorry for the mistake, it is actually called Salon Express Nail Stamping Kit (as seen on tv by maybe some of you but sadly not me lol- I am a sucker for infomericals). Last night I painted my toes in my new Julep Daisy shade, and used the star nail plate with Julep Robin. With each nail I got a little better at the placement of the stamp. I was so happy that this kit actually worked!! I will post more nail stamp art in the future.
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| Here is what my kit looks like- it include the double ended stamper, scraper, and six nail plates |
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| Close up with flash so you can hopefully see the little stars :) |
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| No Flash |
Once again please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading :)
This is neat! I bet if ou had a friend help you it would be better!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the read, and the suggestion!! I will have to have my sisters help me out next time :)
DeleteGreat job Lauren! I love Julep SO much! I just got Daisy too - what do you think of her?
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see that the Julep polish worked for stamping for you - maybe I will take this on and try them with my next stamping project :D I just think that it's such a "waste" of any polish when it comes to stamping because you scrape so much off :(
I like your tape mani too - I have been wanting to try a tape mani recently, after seeing so many beautiful designs out there! It's interesting to see that you used electrical tape - I never would have thought of that! :) I have read that if you use scotch tape to stick it to your hand a couple times so that it doesn't adhere to the polish you stick it to. Also, I think that painters tape (the green or blue stuff) would work great too :) I have also read that you should pull the tape off immediately after painting to get a clean edge/line. I haven't tried it though so I don't know if this works for sure. I'm impatient when it comes to nail painting - I want results right away .. lol! But then I'm OCD enough that if I knick a nail it drives me absolutely crazy until I take it off, lmao!
P.S. - just a note - one of your tape mani pictures is in behind another one of your pictures.
Erica, thank you as always!! I really like Daisy though she is thin, and with three coats she was still quite light. I have a newfound love of yellow though, so am excited to have one in my collection :) I share your pain of scraping off so much polish on the nail plates- it was making me cringe so I didn't use that heavy of a layer which probably would have made my pedicure darker/ brighter. I just couldn't deal with wasting though!
DeleteI am sure your attempt at either of these would be gorgeous! Your posts look like the manicures were professionally done! I hope to get better!! I will have to try the scotch tape trick next time, and peeling it off right away- thanks!! Also which one of my pictures is behind another one/ how can you tell- yikes lol!
I love this manicure even though it was your first time. i love the idea of using electrical tape. I personally use scotch tape and yeah it definitely pulls the polish up sometimes. I think it varies with the polish brand too though. I would like to try the nail stamper set you found at target. I have been wanting to try stamping for a long time but I want something inexpensive to begin. I checked Target for your product but I can't seem to find it. Could u maybe post a picture of your kit and the packaging? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the feedback Haylee! :) I am going to have to give scotch tape another go sometime soon. I am SO sorry I put the wrong name for the nail stamp kit in my post. It is actually called the Salon Express Nail Stamp Kit- as seen on tv. I put a picture of it up in my post too! I should have thought to do that before!! You will have to let me know if you do purchase it what you think please :)
DeleteTry peeling the tape off when the polish is still a bit wet. it can help smooth the edges as the polish will still level, in my experience! It's a lovely mani, great job! :D
ReplyDeleteI will have to try that, thank you! I love, and need suggestions :)
DeleteI like it, very summery. my tips would be to use scotch tape, and to pull it off right after you are done doing the lines, while the stripe polish is still wet so pieces don't come off. Love the toe stamps! I hate doing my toes so I just do them with gel soak off polish.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Samantha! I will have to try that next time. It probably got all funky because I for some reason thought it was better to wait until it was more dry lol. I have never heard of soak off polish?? That sounds like my kind of product lol.
DeleteI like your thumb! The purple and white go well with the blue. I saw your reply about stamping. I don't use my Julep polishes for stamping because I don't want to waste them. :) I've heard Sally Hansen Instra Dry (the sort of triangle bottle) is good. But any thick polish will do. The ones you've had longest will probably work well. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great suggestions, and kind words!! I wasn't sure if my old polishes would work as well, so that is awesome to know. I really hate wasting my Julep ones. I think I might even have some of the insta dry ones around here somewhere :) I appreciate your help!
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