On Wednesdays We Wear Pink: Tape Mani

Hiiiiii everybody! It's Wednesday once again, and you know what that means: it's OWWWP time! 

Lately I'm obsessing over tape manis ever since I decided to recreate this mani by Nicole of the Young Wild and Polished blog. I've been following her on Instagram and she's holding a contest of a recreation of her mani. But, sad thing is I needed to also have a YouTube account (which I don't have) so I can't join. I still decided to draw inspiration from her and since then, I'm hooked on tape manis!


I used two pinks for this mani: Orly Artifical Sweetener and Sinful Colors Folly.

I used the Orly for the base and the Sinful Colors for the secondary color.

In hindsight, I should've taken the opportunity to do a tutorial for you guys, but I'm just going to save that for sometime. (Hmm... I'm getting an idea... Tutorial Tuesdays, anyone?)


I used striping tape to make the thin lines. If you're wondering what striping tape looks like, it looks like this:

I bought my striping tape from eBay (the name of the seller escapes me right now) and they're pretty cheap. If you're ordering from a seller from China, it's like a dollar or so for about eight to ten rolls, but shipping can take anywhere from one to four weeks. I ordered mine from a US seller; it's about $3 (with free shipping) but it came in less than a week. I got eight rolls.

Here is the end result of my OWWWP tape mani:

Don't you just hate it when the color doesn't translate well on camera? Folly (the bright pink) is less red and a more darker pink in person. It pretty much looks like a neon. It's very shiny though, which explains the crazy glare.

I tried taking a picture outside in sunlight just to see if the camera will pick up the color better, and here is how it looks like:

It still looks pretty much the same to me. Gahhh I hate when I can't capture the true color!

I really enjoyed doing this mani, even though it's a bit time-consuming and painstaking to place the tape just right. I do have a tip, and that's to remove the tape as soon as you can, because if you take too long to remove it, the polish will start to get stringy and stick to the tape. Also, make sure the base coat is completely dry to avoid it getting pulled by the tape.

I hope you enjoyed today's post, and I hope to see you again on the next OWWWP post!

*I bought these polishes with my own money. Orly can be found at beauty supply stores, Sally Beauty, and you can check their website and enter your zip code to find a salon near you. Sinful Colors can be found at most drugstores and at Target and Walmart.*

*Disclaimer: Due to variations in screen displays and resolutions, polishes may appear different to each reader. I try my best to capture colors as accurately as I can, and if I can't, then I try to describe the color/s to the best of my ability.*

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink: Watermarble

Hi everyone! I have a new theme going on for the blog! It's called On Wednesdays We Wear Pink, and I'm going to use pink polishes to either swatch or do nail art with. I think you all know the reference ;) and if you don't, well, you're missing out! Haha. It's from the movie Mean Girls, which is one of the most quotable movies, hands down. If I remember correctly, this quote was said by Karen (Amanda Syfried.) 

Anyway, I decided to take another stab at watermarbling for the inaugural post of OWWWP. Either I'm brave or just stupid, not really sure, haha. For those of you that don't know what watermarbling is, it's a technique where you put some water in a small bowl, place some drops of polishes til they form a bulls-eye effect, then use a toothpick or any thin stick to drag the polishes and form shapes. You then dip your finger (painted with a base, preferably white to make the colors pop) into a portion with the design you like, then drag the remaining polish away from your finger, lift your finger and ta-dah! You should have apretty little design on your finger. It all sounds so easy at first until you actually start doing it! You can search for tutorials on YouTube, and they all make it look so easy! It all takes practice and patience, and soon you'll get the hang of it.

For this watermarble attempt, I used Julep Joy (a dusty pinkish mauve,) Orly Two-Hour Lunch (crelly bubblegum pink) and Revlon ColorStay Rich Raspberry (purplish magenta creme.)

I can't really do a full flower pattern, so I only get about halfway around the circle. I did the pattern by dragging from the outermost circle to the center. You can achieve different designs by dragging the polish in different directions.

I tape around my fingers to minimize the mess. I still have to do cleanup around the cuticles and the skin around the sides, though.

And the finished product:

I'm pretty satisfied with the way this turned out. I still managed to have tiny air bubbles, but for the most part, it looks decent enough. This is probably my most successful watermarble to date!

Here are more pics, just because I want to showcase them in different hand poses :P

Watermarbling is trying at first, but once you get the hang of things, it's a really cool way to do your nails! While I may not be the expert in this technique, I do have some tips that I've learned from other people, and from my experience:

-Use filtered water. People have always stressed this, and it's true. There's just something about tap water that prevents the polishes from spreading well.
-Also, check the temperature of the water. If it's too cold, the polish won't spread. If it's too warm, it still won't work. It just has to be room temperature. You'll know it is if the polish spreads. Although, you should really:
-Test each polishes beforehand. One polish from a brand might spread well, while another polish from the same brand might not. So test your polishes individually to see if they work. Your water might be the right temperature, but if the polish won't spread no matter what you do, then choose another one to work with.
-Some people skip the tape around the fingers, but I find that it helps lessen the cleanup significantly.
-Be patient. Sometimes it won't work right the first time. Just be patient and don't get discouraged. You'll find what works and what doesn't; all you have to do is keep trying.

And that's all for the first On Wednesdays We Wear Pink post! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope you'll join me again next time! :)


*Disclaimer: Due to variations in screen displays and resolutions, polishes may appear different to each reader. I try my best to capture colors as accurately as I can, and if I can't, then I try to describe the color/s to the best of my ability.*