DIY Nails: Let's Get Geometric

I've just discovered something quite wonderful. Maybe I'm a bit behind the curve, so forgive me if you've seen this before. While everyone online is going nuts over newsprint nails (which, admittedly, are pretty awesome), I've just discovered tape.

CHECK IT:

These are a few days old, so don't mind my crappy cuticles.

RIGHT? So basic, but the results are so ballin'. I just used the scotch tape I had kicking around the house, but painter's tape would probably work better. Here's how:

1. Do your clear base coat, then two coats of your base colour. Here I used a polish of Laura's from Urban Outfitters that looks like concrete (can't find the bottle, sorry dudes).

2. Let it dry completely. This is important because if it's not, the tape will pull up your base polish. I just did the triangles the next day.

3. Take two pieces of tape about an inch long. Stick them together to create a 90 degree angle (or whatever angle you'd like! You can certainly make pointier acute angles or really fat obtuse ones. I'm not judging). Make as many of these as you have nails to fancify. I did every other nail.

4. Stick them on your nails. I suspect this might be easier with opaque tapes like masking or painters, if only because you'll be able to see the angle much more clearly than I could with clear scotch tape. Smooth it out, because any bubbles along the edge of your tape will leak on the base below.

5. Paint your taped tips your accent colour. I'd recommend doing a colour that's darker or thicker than your base, because you're only doing one coat. The pink I'm using is using Sinful Colors Professional in 920 (also Laura's!). I'd ALSO recommend doing one hand at a time because the tape can make it tricky to paint and to...

6. Remove the tape. You want to do this before the polish dries, because otherwise you won't have a nice clean edge. I tried to pull up the bottom pieces of tape so I got both at the same time, but I don't think it really matters.

7. Let it dry, then give it a shellac of top coat.

Voila! Now you too can have sexy 80s secretary nails!

I thought of a few other ways this could be cool, like with a few layers of staggered polish so you have a rainbow of precise triangle lines, or you could just paint along the lines with a finer nail art brush if you're not worried about it being a little messy. You could do every nail a different colour and make your nails look like a bunting if you want to get cutesy, or you could not do triangles at all and tape really straight lines down the centre or diagonally. I don't know! Have fun! Do whatever you want! I'm sure it'll look rad, no matter what you choose.

Oh love my nails, I love them so!