Mint Candy Apple Stripes

White nails are becoming my latest obsession. Before I even decided what I was going to do for today's manicure, I started with two coats of OPI Alpine White. It's really the perfect shade for summer, and at work right now we're putting out our summer issue so my brain is apparently tuned in to that frequency.

To practice my tape techniques more, I decided to try a manicure using my thin striping tape (10 for $3 from China — eBay FTW). My pinky ended up a little clunky, and on my index finger you can actually see a few smudges from where I took too much polish off. Let that be a lesson in patience.

The always-lovely mint color is Annie's favorite, Essie Mint Candy Apple.  This is a fairly straightforward manicure (three pieces of striping tape over a base color and top coat), but my one takeaway for you is this: Don't try to correct your mistake after you pull the tape too soon.

 

My layers were a bit too thick on my index finger, so the polish actually bled into the gap created by the tape. When I tried to go back to correct my mistake, I ended up taking too much polish off because in my rush, I forgot to sponge the excess acetone off the brush.

Moral of the story: Go slowly! Be precise when doing tape manicures, and be sure to use thin layers when polishing so the polish won't bleed.