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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Tutorial Tuesday: Double Sided Manicure

I love the new trend of the double sided manicures. The most common are Louboutin manicures with a red underside, inspired by the red soles of Louboutin shoes. More recently OPI created the Bonded Look with the underside in gold, as seen in the new Skyfall movie. I think this can be fun in any color combination to make a statement or just have a little hidden treat for yourself.

Each time I do create of these manicures I get questions about cleaning under the nail after painting or people tell me that they are afraid to try and make a mess. I thought I would put together this tutorial to show how I tape off my nails to avoid the mess and make painting the underside of the nail a little easier. I hope you find it useful and give this double sided look a try...

Supplies:
  • Two polishes of choice. I'm using Zoya Dovima on top and OPI You Only Live Twice underneath.
  • Tape (clear tape, masking tape, painters tape, etc...)

Steps:

Instructions:
  1. Start out with clean dry nails
  2. Slip a piece of tape between the nail and the finger to run along the nail line
  3. Fold the tape down over the finger
  4. Fold the sides down along the finger, avoid covering the front of the nail
  5. Fold the two flaps down, one over the other, to keep them out of the way
  6. This is what it will look like from the side, a little tape hat for the finger.
    The front of the nail is not covered and the back of the nail is taped off and held away from the nail
  7. Paint the underside of the nail in chosen color. Repeat for a desired number of coats
  8. Paint the top of the nails in the desired color as usual
  9. Allow everything to dry and remove the tape. 
Enjoy your mess free double sided manicure!

Here are some examples of what I have done in the past. Click on the images to go directly to the post...

 

Let me know what you think of this and don't hesitate to ask questions if something is not clear!

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

18 comments:

  1. It looks very cool, buty I keep my nails way too short to be able to do that.

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  2. Very nice tutorial! I think this looks lovely on medium length nails. :)

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  3. So awesome!!! Thanks for the awesome tutorial! Too bad I had to file my nails to nubs a little while ago because I broke one *sob* :( LOL But when they grow out I am totally trying these!! :D

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  4. Interesting! I might have to try this!

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  5. It looks clean! But I am too lazy to remove polish from both sides of my nails... Anyhow, I might do an exception for New Year's eve and such!

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  6. thanks for the tutorial! I need to try it sometime.

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  7. Thank you so much for this tutorial! I guess it's time to grow out my nails so that I can do this for the holidays!

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  8. Great tutorial! It's a pitty that my nails are so short now... :-)

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  9. such a fun mani! thanks for the tutorial, you make it sound super easy :)

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  10. thank you! i couldn't figure out for the life of me how this could be executed without making a total mess!

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  11. Thank you so much ladies! I'm glad to hear this was useful and you might give it a try! Let me know if you do because I'd love to see it :)

    Keep growing those gorgeous nails out ;)

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  12. Quick question - is there a way of removing it without making a mess, too? :D

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  13. @brijitsdigits, I added a new tutorial for removal! I hope it answers your questions, but let me know if you need more info :)

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  14. @Anutka ! Thanks - you make it look so easy, I might just be brave enough to try it now :D

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  15. I'm so glad I could help! I hope you do give it a try! Removing it is not as scary as it seems :D

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  16. Do you have any recommendations for someone who has strong but apparently bizarrely flexible nails? I keep trying various polishes and even acrylic top coats and they crack and flake off within days, sometimes within hours. I want to be able to have nice looking nails, but can't!

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