Reddit Challenge - Week 1: Taping

Hi guys! As some of you may know I am a frequent Redditor. :) Yesterday I found out that the laqueristas on there are hosting a 52 week challenge. That's right, fifty two weeks, each with a different theme. And it seems very doable, even for a nail art noob like myself, so I decided to have a shot at it. I will try my best to come up with a manicure for each week, so hopefully every week I will have a challenge post for you!

The theme for week 1 is taping, which just happens to be my favourite technique for nail art. I often use scotch tape to spice up some manicures, but this time I decided to try out my striping tape. So far I have only used my striping tape as accents on my nails, but this time I used them for masking.

And this is my manicure for the first week! I started out with Essie Turquoise And Caicos as my base coat. Once that was dry I applied a lot of small strips of striping tape on my nails. This was such a hassle to do and it took me quite a long time. Anyway, once I was done applying the tape I went over it with a coat of Essence You Belong To Me and then quickly removed the tape while the polish was still wet.

I personally like the outcome a lot, even if it's sloppy in some places. Overall though, I think I did a good job, especially for a first attempt at using my striping tape like this! I also love the colour combination.

Here's a picture of Turquoise And Caicos by itself. It's a very pretty creme and for me it was opaque in three thin coats. You could probably get away with two coats if you have shorter nails, though.

Pastel and Silver Dotticure

Polka dots are awesome. I'm sure a lot will agree with me. It's also one of my favourite simple nail art methods, because it's extremely easy to do, and it always comes out so cute!

I especially love them combined with pastel colours and that's exactly why I did this dotticure.

Even my camera bag has polka dots!

The pink is Catrice - Sweets For My Sweets, two coats. A very cute pink with a subtle shimmer, it looks brighter in the pictures than it is in real life. The green is Catrice - Sold Out Forever, two coats. It's the original colour that was discontinued earlier this year, and it also has a subtle shimmer. For the dots I used Essence Rock N Roll which is a simple glittery silver.

I really liked the outcome of this manicure, and the idea of the silver dots. It really adds something and makes the overall manicure just a tad more interesting.

Essence - Did Someone Say Nude?

Essence is probably my second favourite brand. It's very affordable and they have a wide range of polishes, although they are really a case of hit or miss.

The polish I'm wearing today is Essence - Did Someone Say Nude? from the Season of Extremes limited edition collection. It's a very cute pastel mint creme... not a nude at all! What's the name all about? Despite that, I like the colour a lot.

I'm personally a big fan of cute pastel colours like these. However, I wasn't very happy with the application of this one. The first coat was extremely streaky and looked terrible, so I was pretty worried about what the outcome was going to look like.

Fortunately it wasn't too bad! The polish evened out fairly well at the second coat, and that is all I needed for my short little nubs. I'm sure you will need three coats to get a nice opaque result on longer nails.

Overall a decent polish with a lovely colour. While the application isn't what I'd like it to be, for such a cheap price, I'm willing to look past that.