i’m feeling the two-tone nails at the moment, have you noticed? it’s the perfect solution when you just can’t decide on a colour. with summer finally here, i was in the mood for something light and fresh, and what’s cute than nautical white and blue?

add stripes to the equation, and you have yourself some seriously dainty nails.

i picked up this little trick for creating perfect, thin stripes a while back from a brilliant blog called the beauty department.

it is far easier to cut a straight line than draw one, and messy nail art with shakey hands is not chic. this method achieves perfect, clean lines – by using sticky tape!

start with two coats of your base colour, in my case a pure, clean white. paint a piece of sticky tape with your complementing colour – i chose a pretty sky blue – and allow to dry completely so you can handle it.

carefully cut strips, as thin as you like (i wanted 1mm narrow stripes, which is easier to achieve with nail scissors than your standard kitchen ones) and place on your nail however you like. 

i combined simple off-centre stripes with some cute criss-crosses. snip the excess off with scissors and file the edge for a clean finish.

finish with a top coat to secure the tape and prevent it from peeling. i won’t lie, it is so much easier if you have a friend handy to help you place the tape on your nail. i had a good few wonky attempts before i managed to get them straight one-handed.

et voila! stripey goodness, and no fussing about with messy nail pens and shakey hands.

grab a friend, and choose your favourite colour combo. if you want to go advanced, try lots of stripes, or criss-cross the whole nail to create a patchwork. once you’ve mastered stripes, get crazy with some cut-out shapes … and send us pictures of your results!