Stripping tape mani using China Glaze "Blue years eve" and "Icicle"

Hey hey guys,

So how is everyone doing? For those of us celebrating the holiday season, are you getting ready? I put up my tree this week which is early for me. Usually doesn't go up until a week before Christmas.  My shopping on the other hand, has not even started and I wont say I will soon because I know I wont. I am the worst procrastinator  I was actually shopping on the 24th the last 2 years in a row....... But I have been seeing a lot of gorgeous Christmas manis around and I am horrible at freehand drawing and wanted to do something christmas-y but not all out there. Will be doing that this week perhaps. So, I still had never tried my stripping tape to do cool designs like I had seen others do and wanted to try that. So, I have for you, albeit not the best and messy, my first stripping tape mani. TO be a little Christmas y I used 2 China glaze polishes "Icicle" and "Blue year's eve".

The silver one is "icicle" , a silver foil polish. It is not too unique but sure is Christmas-y. I love the foil look of it:)
"Blue years eve" is a gorgeous dark  deep blue with glass flecks. It has a sheer blue base packed with different color shimmers. I love it:)
 Now, if you have never done a stripping tape mani, it really is not hard to do! Just paint your nails with a color (or 2 or 3, go wild. If its your first time, to get the trick, try one color and go from there) and let it dry. Once they are dry, take you tape and start making any design you want on your nail. Meaning  make horizontal or vertical lines. You can overlap the tape with other pieces (just remember what order you put them on) and try to make star shapes. Its time to get creative. Once all the tape is on (I did all the tape work first. You could do it by nail) choose which color you want on top. So remember, the color you put underneath is the one that will be popping out. Most likely the one you will see less. So apply the polish and then WHILE WET (this is very important. I didn't believe it myself when I read it and looked up a few more to make sure, but yes) remove the tape. if they are overlapping each other, take them off with the last one you applied first. This will now give you a cool design. When  you apply the top polish, I suggest doing one nail at a time because you don't want the polish to dry. You want to remove it wet. So, let's have a look at mine:)

Must add that these were done a few days ago and I didn't add a top coat so there's a lot of chipping . And it was my first time so these are , well I will just say it, A MESS!!!! But I wanted to show them because it was fun and if they didn't have all the chips and scrapes and such, they would look great. So please see the potential, not just what I am showing....lmao:) Also, in spots where the polish looks smushed, particularly my index finger on my left hand (picture below) its just part of taking off the tape when the polish is still wet. Its a learning process. You have to be careful because , like me, you can make a mess....

I just did a bunch of different designs on each finger and changed the base on two fingers:) You can do whatever it is you think of:)

Here's my other hand. I was going to add a glitter top coat but once I saw what it looked like, I decided against it. But that's what's on my pinky...

and just to highlight some of the different designs I did, here are some individual fingers:) Again, sorry about the no clean-up.

Not to sure why it looks so scratched up but...

SO there you have it. I hope you were able to see the potential. I will be doing these again:) You can also do it with normal tape and scissors or with scissors taht have different designs. I got my stripping tape on ebay for quite cheap. It can also be used to make these designs with the tape only.

Have any of you done these type of manis? Whats your favourite design to do? Did you have a hard time such as I did. I have since done it on some other nails as accent nails and it turned out much better. So like most things, practice makes better. Hope you guys enjoyed my post and love to hear all opinions from you guys. Till next time.....

                                   XXOXOO

Essie "Butler please" and "Where's my chauffeur" with China Glaze "Its a trap-eze" accent nails.

Well hello yet again:) Hope everyone is doing great tonight. I am sitting here having a quiet night so thought I would do a post about the mani I am wearing at the moment. I am in love with it! Exactly a week ago today, however, I was at the red hot chili peppers concert, having the time of my life!!! It was such an amazing show!!!! I wish it was a week ago right now:( Oh well, at least nails make me happy. Thank Goodness.
So, I went to my nail shop this week and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had the new China glaze "Cirque du soleil" line in. Usually we are so behind on new lines, I was very shocked to see it. I picked up "Its a trap-eze" and "whirled away" but will be showing you "Its a trap-eze today" which is the one I was most looking forward to. I also tried color blocking with tape for the first time and was happy with the results:) I used "Butler please" and "where's my chauffeur" from Essie's "Leading lady" collection:) I also picked up my first bottle of "Seche Vite" top coat and must say, it is incredible!! Really makes a difference. SO, on to the polish:)

First of, I will describe "Its a trap-eze" to you guys. Its is a really beauty! As I said, it was the one I was most excited for:)  It is a milky white base filled with lots of colorful glitter. I love these types of polishes. I own quite a few dupes for this but they are all indies. I was quite happy to see a store brand come out with one. Same with the other one I got. For the longest time I was dying for black and white bar glitters. Glad CG has one now. Back to "its a trap-eze" I will let you guys see for yourself how gorgeous it is!

Just look at it! Doesnt it remind you of ice cream or birthday cake and just crave for some sweets?? This is 3 coats with Seche Vite on top. I was never one to really use top coats all the time but I see now that it is a must. Takes away that gritty, harsh look especially with glitters.

and just to quickly show you a comparison of some other polishes I have that are close to this one but not quite. 

on the top wheel, 2 from the left of the colored ones, are Lush Lacquer "Birthday cake"" and Pretty and Polished "Party on my Yacht" . Close but no cigar. Luckily I love these so much that I don't mine. I also have Whimical by Pam "Hatched" which is in a yellow base, same with my 365 days of color "Soak up the sun" and I have one in a pink base also by 365 days of color "Too pink to function". All gorgeous polishes! 

Closer look at them.

And bottle shots. From left, China Glaze "ITs a trap-eze" , Lush Lacquer "Birthday cake" and Pretty and Polished "Party on my yacht" .

Now the reason I only showed you random fingers is because, as I said, I used it for two accents nails on each hands. On the rest of my fingers, I took a shot a color blocking. For this, I used stripping tape. There are many tutorials online that use regular tape for more funky designs but I wanted to keep it simple. I used 2 colors from Essie's "Leading lady" collection. First up is "Butler please" which is just a gorgeous and vivid deep marine blue creme. You know how much I love my blues and this one is definitely one of my new faves. Most blues tend to be on the light side. I love how this one is just dark and rich. First coat, like most Essie's was streaky but all you need to do is add another 1 or 2 depending on the color. I went with 2 since it is so dark. The second color I used was "Where's my chauffeur". Now if you own "Turks and Caicos" by Essie ,you probably think it is the exact same polish and skipped. It is very similar however it is a bit lighter and more on the blue side then the green side. Reminds me of that iconic "Tiffany" blue, just as CG "For Audrey" does as well. IT is a light blue turquoise/aqua creme. It is not too unique, there are a lot of dupes or close to dupes out there but I can never pass up such a beautiful color or an Essie. I do think it is a must have, especially if you don't have a polish that resembles it. I must also say that this collection is quite gorgeous. I was a bit turned off at first because of all the reds but they are all beautiful, rich cremes. There is also two glitters that are just perfect for winter. Anyhow, on to the manicure:)

right hand.

UGH!! I hate showing this hand but wanted to show the different patterns. My pinky got messed up on this one but ended up being a cool pattern:) As I said, I kept it simple. And now, all together..

You can see a bit of a knick on my pinky. That is due to the tape:(

Sadly, when I took pictures, I did not notice that little spot on my thumb:()

Now I know that these colors don't necessarily go with "Its a trap-eze" but I tried to find colors that matched some of the glitter. I was quite happy with how this turned out. I loved this mani and got quite a few compliments on them which always makes my day!!:)

So what do you guys think of it?? Think they go together or is it a complete miss?? Ever match colors that don't necessarily go together but somehow just end up working? Thats what I love about nail polish:) 

What do you think of Essie's "Leading lady" collection? Own any? If not are there any you want? How about from  China Glaze's "Cirque du soleil" collection? I have heard a lot of talk about them/

Well hope you guys enjoyed yet another post. Hope to hear from you guys. Till next time..:)

xxxx