The Trend
When it comes to nail art tools, there has been no other as
helpful and versatile as striping tape. This glorious tape I speak of is less than a millimetre in
width and is available in a vast array of colours. Striping tape is used by all
types of nail fanatics to create flawless lines and straight edged shapes.
Endless designs are possible with this tool but it's combination with triangles is what I will
be focusing on today.
The Look
This is the design that can be achieved with the two
tutorials below. I know what you might be thinking right
now. “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” This is certainly one of the most used
phrases that people comment on my nail art work but as you can see, it is sure worth the effort!
These nails were 100% inspired by two amazing nail artists
on Instagram @pixiedustz and @cassgooner (links and information at the bottom
of this post).
The Technique
The items I have used for this look are OPI ‘Alpine Snow,’
‘Mod About You,’ ‘Pink Friday,’ ‘Elephantastic Pink,’ ‘You’re a Pisa Work’ and
Seche Vite top coat. I used a nail art brush in the size 3/0 which you can
purchase at craft stores or something similar here. You will also need scissors and
striping tape that you can purchase here.
The first tutorial is for the design I have done as an
accent on the ring finger. It may seem quite complex but when broken down into
steps, it is actually quite straightforward!
1)
Paint a coat or two of white until it is opaque.
While you wait for this to dry, you are going to want to cut
out several strips of striping tape as I have in the picture above. You can use
any colour because we will be peeling the tape off in this manicure.
You want to ensure that your nail is completely dried before
proceeding with the next step. I used a coat of Seche Vite fast dry top coat to
assist in this process.
2)
Place a strip of striping tape across your nail
in a horizontal manner.
3)
Place strips parallel to the previous strip. The
space you leave between the strips will determine how big your triangles will
be.
4)
Place a few strips at a diagonal to the
horizontal strips.
5)
Place a few strips at a diagonal to the
horizontal strips but in the other direction. This should leave you with a
series of tessellated triangles.
6)
Imagine the triangles are in vertical columns.
Paint the lightest colour in every second triangle of every second column with
the nail art brush.
7)
Paint the third lightest colour to fill in the same columns.
8)
Paint the second lightest colour to fill in
every second triangle of the remaining columns.
9)
Fill in the remaining triangles with the darkest
colour.
10) Peel off
the strips in the reverse order that you placed them on!
In order to get your lines perfectly straight and not messy,
you need to do steps 6-10 in quick succession so the polish is still wet when
you peel off the tape. If the polish has dried already, go over the triangles
again quickly!
Here is a pen and paper representation of the triangle formation I did. However, if you found steps 6-9 too troublesome, feel free to paint the triangles randomly with any colours you wish
At the end of reading all this, you are most definitely
thinking, “ain’t nobody got time for that.” However, if you can manage to do
this once on each hand, it makes a great accent nail (as can be seen above).
Part 2
The design I have done on the remaining nails can
be achieved with the tutorial below. This design is a lot more simple but also
very outstanding.
1)
Paint a coat or two of white until it is opaque.
2)
Place two strips of striping tape vertically
aligned in the centre of the nail.
3)
Cut small strips of tape to form a zig zag
formation between the two previous strips.
4)
Fill in the triangles with a small nail art
brush with the second lightest to darkest colours.
5)
Paint the rest of the nail with the lightest
colour.
6)
Peel off the striping tape while the polish is
still wet.
An important point to make is that the small strips you make
in step 3 should touch the two vertical strips. This is to ensure the whole
ladder comes off as a whole when you peel the tape. It should look something
like the picture above. If any small strips do not peel off together with the
ladder, use tweezers to pull it off.
Once all the
nails are complete, top it all off with a good top coat. I hope that
with the steps above you are able to achieve the look!
If I have
inspired you to do a nail art design, I would love to see them in the comments
below or tag #inspiredbynailsbynikkih on Instagram.
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Inspiration and Suggestions
Suggestion #1: Do the full triangle design on all your nails
for a sophisticated and amazing look!
These nails
are by @pixiedustz on Instagram. You can find her on www.instagram.com/pixiedustz.
Her nails were half the inspiration to the nails I have done.
Suggestion #2: Pair the single line triangle design with
various shapes and patterns for a unique look.
These nails
are by @cassgooner on Instagram. You can find her on www.instagram.com/cassgooner.
Her nails were the other half of the inspiration to the nails I have done!
