Technicolor Nails & Tutorial (Pic Heavy)

Hey all!  I did a mani with this design as the accent finger for Polish-aholics' Monday theme mani yesterday.  A lot of people liked it and Janelle from Life. Love. Nailpolish. requested a tutorial so here it is. :)  I wasn't sure what to name this look, but one of the members said it reminded her of a technicolor version of Jem and the Holograms.  In the end I decided to call it a technicolor mani. ^^

 Here's the original look I did for Monday.  The theme was tape nail art. ^^

And now the tutorial. :)  I hope it's clear.  If there are any questions, don't be afraid to ask in the comments.  Here are the polishes I used.

L-R: China Glaze BFF, ChG First Mate, Zoya Charla, Zoya Ivanka, OPI Simply Smashing

Step 1:  Cut a piece of tape off and cut it into thin strips along the longer edge.  A variety of thicknesses will make the design look more interesting, but try to keep them all on the thin side.

Step 2:  This is one tape piece's worth.  I used about two pieces of tape for four nails.  I recommend cutting up all the tape before you start painting.  This way you don't accidentally ruin your nails with the tape.

Step 3:  For my base I used 2 coats of China Glaze BFF.  Wait for the base to dry before placing the tape.  I painted all my nails and waited about 30 mins.  The waiting time may depend on the polish you use.

Step 4:  Before placing each strip of tape down, press it against the back of your hand to get rid of some of the stickiness.  This will prevent the tape from pulling up the base color, but since these strips are thin it shouldn't be a problem.  Try to place the strips in a random design and keep them from overlapping in the same place too many times.

Step 5:  Paint ChG First Mate near the cuticle by dabbing a small amount onto the nail in a rounded shape.  Use enough polish to make the color opaque, but keep it thin or it may lift the base color off with the tape or create messy lines.

Step 6: Sponge on Zoya Charla using a generous amount where it meets First Mate and make it gradually fade out as shown in the picture.

Step 7:  Do the same with Zoya Ivanka, using a generous amount where it meets Charla then fading it out.  And again with OPI Simply Smashing.  The yellow should mix with the green and create a light green color.  As it fades out near the tip, a bit of the pink base may shine through for a hint of orange.

                                                                                                     Step 8:  Now it should look like this.  Gently pull the tape off one by one.  It may be hard to see which tape is on top.  Start by pulling up the tape covered by First Mate as much as you can, since the creme polish dries faster.  Then peel the ones layered near the top off.  Don't worry if not all the lines are crisp, since it's mostly glittery/shimmery it won't be noticeable.

Finally, seal the design with top coat.  I used Seche Vite fast drying top coat.  I originally thought top coat would dull the holo, but for this particular holo it doesn't seem so.  As you can see, the holo base is still very holo.  After repeating the above steps for each nail, the final product should look like this!

It's super sparkly and holo in the sun!  And because I took way too many pics and couldn't decide which to publish, I will now picture spam you. :P  I did cut it down a lot though.

If you love the nail art I do, please support me by voting for my nail art entry *here*!  You can vote once a day (on a 24 hour basis) so if you haven't voted today, please do!  Thank you!

I also just noticed I passed 500 followers while writing this post!!  Thank you everyone for sticking with me for this long and welcome to all my new followers! :)  I will be airing my 500 follower giveaway tomorrow and it will be international, so please drop by then as well!

And here's a pic of Max watching me take pics of my nails from the window.

Thanks for reading!

Liz