Scotch Tape: Checkered Manicure: black and duo-chrome

Here's another fun one! This is called a checkered manicure. It looks hard, but it's more or less just labor intensive. HERE's a great tutorial for it.

The checkered manicure. Never mind the horrible pain smudge on my pinky

I started with two coats of Pure Ice Black Rage and then I got to taping! Be sure you put the tape on the palm of your hand a few times so it's not too sticky. I used Wet N' Wild Fast Dry in Gray's Anatomy--a beautiful duo-chrome (meaning it's purple, or green depending on how you look at it.). Alone it's pretty sheer, so it use it over something and you can really see the color change. This pretty was only $2 at CVS.

Tape, Wet N Wild Fast Dry in Gray's Anatomy and Pure Ice in Black Rage

Inspired By: Holiday Patchwork

I wasn't thrilled with my first Scotch tape patchwork manicure--but I like this one! It LOOKS complicated, but it's not. There are two tricks to working with tape (I just use a no name brand): 1) Always let your layers dry all the way before taping and 2) always stick the tape on the inside of your hand a few times to get rid of the mega-stickiness.

The Holiday Patchwork Manicure

I did two layers of Wet N' Wild Fast Dry in Everybody Loves Redmond. I love this polish! It goes on so well and not a single brush stroke. Once that was dry I taped off and used the fabulous Super Star white by Pure Ice. Last, I did the bottom of my nails using LA Craze silver glitter. Wet N' Wild Fast Dry can be found at almost any CVS, Dollar General or Walmart for about $2. Pure Ice is $2 at Walmart. LA Craze can be purchased at Family Dollar, Dollar General or even Dollar Tree for $1! Fun!

Wet N Wild Fast Dry in Everybody Loves Redmond, LA Color Craze, Pure Ice Super Star and tape!

Scotch Tape: Funky French Mani: Red and Black

This looks is referred to the Funky French. It's a French manicure...almost! I love doing Funky French manicures to cover up any chipped tips a few days after I give myself a manicure. It's a whole new look plus it stretches your old mani a little bit longer. On to the stars of this manicure:

Left: Pure Ice Black rage, Wet & Wild Wild Shine Red Red, cheap tape

I used Wet & Wild Wild Shine in Red Red as my base coat. I'm not crazy for red--but the application of this one is beautiful! No brush strokes, 2 coats and full coverage. Lovely for .69 on sale at CVS. I added the tips in Pure Ice Black Rage. LOVE this black. Full coverage in one swipe most of the time! In case you are new to Scotch Tape manicures, it's very simple--but there are two rules you must follow: ALWAYS put the piece of tape on the palm of your hand a few times to make it less sticky (or else it will totally rip your base coat of polish to shreds) and number two: only work on one finger at at time. It's very tempting to want to tape off all your fingers at once--don't do it! Paint your base coat and let it dry. Add a top coat and make sure it is GOOD and dry. Do not rush this step. In fact, I've been known to do my base polish at night and the next day add my other layers. It's all good. Next, use the tape that you've "de-stickified" and tape off where you want to add your other color. Paint quickly and use a polish that will coat in one coat. Take the tape off as soon as you're done painting...do not wait for it to dry! Voila--the Funky French!

The Funky French. I have the diagonals going the other way on my right hand.

Scotch tape Patchwork Manicure: white/pink/glitter

Have you ever used Scotch tape for a manicure? It's so much fun and easy! There's one trick to keep in mind: always put the tape on the palm of your hand a few times to make it not-so-sticky before placing the tape on your nails. Also, be sure to work one nail at a time and to remove the Scotch tape as soon as you are done applying polish (so, don't wait for it to dry!). Here are the stars of this time-consuming but easy, manicure:

L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer with Hardener in Cotton Candy, Pure Ice Spit Fire and Pure Ice Super Star (and some no name tape)

 First step was to apply a base coat of clear and then 3 layers of L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer with Hardener in Cotton Candy. You can find L.A. Colors Nail Lacquer in just about any Dollar Tree or Dollar General for .99.  They're not great, I'm not going to lie--but they get the job done. Cotton Candy is extremely opaque, more so than I had planed on. Oh well. It would make a good classic French manicure color. Once the pink was dry I got out the tape and went to town! Working one nail at a time, I taped off small patchwork sections of my nails and filled in with Pure Ice Spit Fire. I then applied a clear layer (I used Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri) and waited for that dry very well. Next, I taped off ANOTHER section and filled that in with white. You can see in the photo that a few of the white lines are not so great--the tape wasn't all the way down.  So, in other words, if you're going to attempt this, have some time on your hands! I finished with another layer of Insta-Dri and voila! Not exactly what I was expecting (The white was just too much of a contrast for me), but fun!