Thursday, 27 June 2013

[Tutorial] The Trend: Striping Tape & Triangles

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.

Part 1

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! 

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