Dusty chevrons

Hi everyone!


Quick post for a manicure that was anything but quick, but that I'm really proud of. There are some techniques in nail art that I can't get the hang of so I don't use them very often. Striping tape is one of them. But since I don't have fancy stamping plates that contain straight lines and my vinyl collection is pathetic doesn't contain any chevrons or straight lines, I decided to face my nemesis again and grabbed the striping tape from the back of my drawer. It took the better part of the afternoon but I think the end result is worth it:

I started out by painting my thumb, index and middle finger with three thin coats of Cirque Colors Astra, a dusty pink speckled-egg polish with gray flakies that applies like a dream. My pinky was done in two coats of Cirque Colors Central Park After Dark, a lovely army green creme, and my ring finger with two thin coats of Cirque Colors Reflektor, a polish that I thought was silver but I've read the (true) silver flakies can become a bit tarnished and show up more golden in that case... so tarnished silver it is ;)

When all that had dried completely I started by cutting two small pieces of tape, fitted them together to form a corner of 90 degrees and stuck it on my middle finger, close to my cuticle. Some liquid latex around my cuticle to make sure I wouldn't create too big of a mess and I was ready to fill the lowest part of my nail with Reflektor. Immediately after that I removed the tape and waited for the new polish to dry. And after that it was a repetition of cutting pieces of tape, fitting them together, sticking them to my nail in the right spot, painting the space between two "corners" of tape with the color I picked for it and removing the tape. I could have used a quick drying top coat to speed things up but I wasn't in a hurry and I didn't want a thick layer of polish so I just waited 30-45 minutes before I continued. From cuticle to tip I used Reflektor, Memento Mori (the black one coat wonder by Cirque Colors), Central Park After Dark and Memento Mori again. I finished with a coat of Seche Vite.

Or rather, I THOUGHT I was finished after applying Seche Vite! When looking at my nails I felt something was missing. I didn't want to add more to my middle finger but still... something needed to be added. I decided to stamp some roses from B. loves plates B.02 Flower Power on my ring finger using Memento Mori, followed by another coat of Seche Vite and that was it, finished for real this time :)


These are the polishes I used:

Cirque Colors Astra, Cirque Colors Central Park After Dark, Cirque Colors Reflektor, Cirque Colors Memento Mori

Striping tape probably won't become my favorite technique but I'm definitely proud of the result of an afternoon playing with it. And to be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Doesn't mean I intend to do it every other manicure though but it's nice to add another technique to my ever growing arsenal. I hope you like my manicure too :)

Also, the colors were inspired by a picture that I saw while browsing Pinterest a while ago... but unfortunately I didn't pin it myself and I haven't been able to find the picture again so I can't give any credit. Should you be the original creator, please let me know!

All polishes used in this manicure were bought from Pretty Polish (psstttt: Petra offers international shipping and GREAT service)