Neon Gradient Tribal Print Nail Art Tutorial for Summer

Hey! Happy new year everybody! Actually, I don't know if it's the new year everywhere in the wide, wide world, but it is in Australia anyway! It's summer right now, so I thought what better nails for summer than a super duper bright neon gradient! The neon polishes I used are both really strong and brigh (the pink is Polyester Girl by Face of Australia and orange is Neon Coral by American Apparel) , and I really love the way they look with the silver foil polish (Diamonds are Forever by Revlon).

You may notice that my pink and middle fingers and pointer and ring finger  look slightly different. Well, that's coz the pointer and ring fingers aere painted silver with a gradient done on top of the pattern and the middle and pinky finger are a gradient with silver done on top of the pattern. First I will take you over the methodology of my pointer and ring fingers.

Ok! So to start, lay a piece of striping tape across the middle of the nail. This is done as a way of keeping the pattern symmetrical. An easy way to apply striping tape to the nail is to carefully lift it using a pair of cuticle nippers. These act like a pair of tweezers and give you more precision in your placement of the striping tape. Remember to be careful not to put much pressure on the handles, or you'll cut your tape in two!

Next cut two large pieces of striping tape and apply them across the nail using the middle piece of tape as a guide.

Now, carefully slide the middle piece off of the nail.

Take a small piece of striping tape and across one of the cross sections. Applying these teeny tiny bits of striping tape can be frustrating and fiddly in the beginning, but trust me, it gets much easier as you progress, so don't give up!

Place another small piece so it connects to the other one.

Continue this process for each section.

Take a latex free cosmetics sponge and apply your two colours to it so that they touch. Then,apply the gradient by dabbing the sponge onto the nail. Wait about a minute for the first layer of gradient to dry, then add more of your colours to your sponge and apply it to the nail so it is fully opaque.

Now, as quickly as you can, peel the striping tape off of the nail. I like to use my cuticle nippers to do this. Don't sweat it if you make a mistake! Like if something doesn't peel off properly. Simply take a nail art brush and fill it in with the appropriate colour, and nobody will notice! Don't forget to clean your cuticles with a nail art brush dipped in some acetone! So, that's one method, now here is the other!

Paint your nails with weither one coat of a black, light silver or white base coat and once that it dry, apply your gradient to the nail using the method written above.

Apply striping tape as written above.

Now, apply a coat of silver nail polish over the striping tape. This method can be a bit of a double edged sword, because you want to get the colour opaque, but if you add too much polish it can run when you peel the striping tape off and cover up your design, so be careful! 

Finally, don't forget to peel off your striping tape to reveal your beautiful tribal print design.

There we have it guys! How do you like these nails, fun right! They did take me a while, mostly because when I was doing the gradient over the striping tape on my pointer finger I did one coat of sponging and then started on another nail and completely forgot about it! After I realised my mistake, I did another layer of the gradient and then tried to peel off the striping tape, only for the design to be completely ruined! I must be more careful next time. Anywho, what do you guys think of this design? Do you like neon polish? Have you tried an intricate design using striping tape before? Let me know in the comments, and please share your delightful designs with me using the #goodnails on instagram and pinterest!
May you nail, and new year be good!

Gabby