Aussie Christmas Nail Challenge: Candy Cane

To be completely honest, I was dreading this challenge. I knew that there were going to be stripes involved, and they've never been a strong point of mine because I'm a perfectionist. Anyway, this is what I came up with for 'Candy Cane':

Full sunlight

Full sunlight

I've used China Glaze's 'Ruby Pumps' and Essie's 'Blanc'. Great minds must think alike, as Elissa from Lissa's Polish Addiction chose to use 'Ruby Pumps' in her Candy Cane design too. I'm going to admit that I'm not entirely happy with this, the lines aren't clean and on my right hand (the one not photographed) 'Ruby Pumps' smudged all over 'Blanc' when I applied my top coat. Sigh. Anyway here's a tutorial for you.

Step 1: Apply your protective base coat and then apply your red polish.

Step 2: Once your red polish is dry, use tape to mask off the sections that you want to remain red (I suggest cutting your tape to size before you start painting your nails!). Make sure you press the tape down firmly so that the white polish won't leak underneath. I've used 2 widths of tape, generic striping tape that can be found on ebay (search 'striping tape'), and painter's tape which I've cut to size. I choose to use painter's tape as I find it doesn't rip up the polish underneath when I take it off. I bought mine from Bunnings, but any hardware store should stock it.

Step 3: Once you've applied your tape, take your white polish and paint your whole nail.

Step 4: 10 to 20 seconds after you've painted your nail white, gently remove the tape. I found I got the best result when peeling the tape from the end at the tip of the nail towards the end at the base.

Step 5: Use a small brush and your polish to carefully fix any imperfections. Apply your clear top coat and you're finished!

So there you go, very straight forward but placing the tape on your nails can require patience, especially when trying to apply it with your non-dominant hand. I got my boyfriend to help me so a big thank you to him. I'll be back on the 21st for the 'Gold' challenge.