Adventures in Polishland

I remember back in high school when my mom bought me my first french manicure kit. Complete with stickers that were supposed to help me create the perfect french nails, this kit turned out to be a flop. Maybe it was my impatience, but after a few tries, I chucked that kit in the trash and never looked back. Thanks to Pinterest and this post from Birchbox, I’m no longer afraid to mix colors. All you need to create a funky, geometric look is scotch tape! 

Last night I painted my nails with Don’t Be Cheesy, a bright orange from the new line Spoiled by Wet n Wild. I let this color dry overnight as Birchbox suggested, since putting scotch tape on wet nails is a no-no. Today I chose one of my favorite nail colors, Check Me Out by L’oreal Paris, and got to work with the tape. I loosely followed Birchbox’s ideas and cut the tape in all different shapes, some small strips and others larger, and placed them on my nails in varying patterns. Once the tape is secure, just paint your nails with the color you have chosen, and carefully peel off the tape while the polish is still wet. Here’s where my main advice comes in: it is important to smooth out the tape so that there are no air bubbles, but make sure you don’t crease it too much. My main problem occurred in peeling off the tape. Since I had pressed it down so much, it broke while I was trying to take it off! Luckily I was able to salvage most of my hard work, but I do have some mistakes (hey, I’m only human). I’m still proud of my new geometric nails, though. Check out the photos below.  

Pretty cool, huh? Just make sure that once the polish is completely dry you use a top coat. Don’t put it on too soon or the colors will smudge. You can also get more adventurous than I did, and paint your nails all different colors. Or, if you want to add a special touch, put clear glitter over the finished product! You’ll soon come to learn that I am a bit obsessed with glitter, but more on that later.