Tutorial: Double lightning bolt tape mani

Hi everyone, welcome to my fourth tutorial! Making the double lightning bolt is actually not that different from making the single one; what you need to do is actually just repeat the steps from the regular lightning bolt tutorial. But because the double version received so many enthusiastic reactions I decided it deserved its own tutorial :) One tip: for this particular design transparant tape is quite useful!

Let's get started!

First make the regular lightning bolt on your nails as described in the tutorial, except that you don't have to add topcoat yet.

While you're cutting all the tape strips for the first lightning bolt, cut one extra for each piece because you'll do the whole taping process twice. So in total you'll need two strips and two triangles for each nail.
Let your nails dry completely, if necessary with the help of a fastdrying topcoat.

After you've finished the first step and everything is dry, take a tape strip and apply it on the design, covering up a bit of the tip color as shown in the picture. This is the part where transparant tape is really going to help you.

Then apply a triangle on the design, also covering up part of the tip color.

Now make sure all the pieces of tape are completely stuck to the nail, if not use your finger or a tweezer to push them down and if needed reattach them. Then apply a pigmented top color with a thin coat and carefully peel off the pieces of tape right away. Let the design dry for a while.

At last apply your topcoat, clean up and you're done!

To add another color, just repeat the steps 2, 3 and 4 until you've reached the desired look (or till your nails are out of space :P).

Finally some useful tips:

• For my tape manis, all I use is regular stationery tape. But you might prefer something else, so just experiment with different sorts of tape to figure out what works best for you.
• For your base color you can use any polish you like, however one-coaters will allow you to place the tape much sooner because those are usually fast drying. Of course you can also quicken the drying of polishes that require several coats to cover, by applying a fast drying topcoat. (I use Seche Vite). 
• Your layering color(s) can be either a one- or two-coater. Because you've already applied a base color, most polishes that usually take two coats to cover now will do with one.
• Though I mention cutting the tape strips as step 2, I admit it is safer to cut before applying the base color. However, if you've learned how to cut the tape without having it touch your polished nails, it can save you a lot of time.
• You might want to leave the cut strips somewhere else than the edge of your desk/table, to prevent them from getting stuck to the surface while you're busy. You do not want to have to peel them off with your freshly painted claws!
• Apply your top color in one thin (but opaque) coat, this will create crisper lines.
• When you're removing the tape strips, try to remove them individually, if you can, because most of the time your design will come out neater this way
• Using tweezers to remove the tape strips can prevent your freshly painted nails from getting smudged.
• It's not always necessary to start all over if you've messed up your design, often a little touch-up with a nailart brush can solve the problem.
• If you want to use a matt topcoat, use a regular one underneath. My experience with matt topcoats is that they smudge the design very easily, even when it's completely dry. Applying a normal topcoat first will prevent that.
• Moisterize your cuticles afterwards, because the tape can really dry out your skin!
• You can practice this tutorial on your old mani that you applied a day (or more) before. If you succeed, you've got yourself a fresh mani, otherwise you were going to remove it anyway!
• If you feel like this design is too time-consuming for a full mani, you can also use it for an accent nail (or two).
• Have fun and practice makes perfect ;)

I would absolutely love to see your attempt on my design, so feel free to leave a link to your creation in the comment section!

Polishes I used in this post are OPI Funky Dunkey, China Glaze Millenium and Essence Trust In Fashion.