ND1: Half and Half Purple

My favorite nail art design! This is the easiest nail art you will ever do, and it always gets the most complements. I usually choose to layer a deep, dark color over a bright, bold color, because it stands out more.

For this design you will need tape - I prefer painter's tape, so this is where the blue tape comes in! - but scotch tape or something similar will work. (Note: I use Painter's Tape/Blue Tape because it was made to be used for painting, so when you lift it off a surface, the surface won't come up with the tape.)




Now the name of this design, Half and Half, may bring to mind the following image...

Image from bonappetit.com

...But rather than a cream for coffee or baking, this design is simply laying one color over half your nail, thereby covering half of the original color put down before it.

The colors I chose to use for this manicure were OPI DS Mystery and Sinful Colors Dream On. The Sinful Colors shade is a bright, neon purple, and the OPI is a deep blackish-purple with tiny gold flakes.



Here's the simple 3 step process:


After applying a base coat, I painted two coats of Sinful Colors Dream On. With this type of manicure where you'll be layering colors, it's always best to go from lightest to darkest, so the Sinful polish went on first.



The other nice thing about using a neon as a base color is that they tend to dry matte, so you can tell when your nails are dry and you can start the next step. Though, if you are ever impatient or in a rush, you can use your favorite fast-dry top coat, just remember that each layer of top coat adds a layer of polish to your nails, and you don't want there to be too many layers in the end, otherwise the manicure becomes thick and is less likely to dry as quickly.



And here's where the magical blue tape comes in.




For this nail design, you don't have to cut each piece of tape the same length and width, you just want each piece to be able to cover the full length of your nail. So the longer the nails, the longer the piece of tape needs to be. This step should be done when the first polish put down is completely dry. You then press each strip down, making sure there are no gaps between the nail and the tape, where the second color might try to slide under when painting.



Step 3 is a follow up of step 2. After you have removed the tape (which is best done when the second color is still fresh and wet, so as not to get drag or pull), layer on the top coat, and you'll have a shiny, beautiful manicure!




Look (below) at those straight lines! My ring finger (the second finger from the right), came out with the straightest line, and you can see the reason painter's tape plays such a large roll in this manicure. You can't imagine how many people will ask you about your nails, how you got such straight lines, and if they're your real nails! (I had at least 10 people ask me about my nails while wearing this manicure.) Behold the magic of the painter's tape:





So, I hope you've enjoyed this short, simple, and sweet Nail Design.

Thanks for looking. Bye for now.