Stripes by the Sea

Hi guys! I'm still in Santa Cruz having a blast at the beach! I've been boogie boarding twice daily and I tried surfing for the first time! I think I had beginner's luck because I caught the first few but then couldn't catch a single one after that. We also went to the Boardwalk! Sadly, this is my last day here, but I do have one more mani inspired by the sea for you.

This mani was created using the colors of the beach- the turquoise ocean, the blue sky, and the white foam of the waves crashing towards the sand.

(Please excuse the redness of my hand in the picture above; I had just

 gotten out of the water and my hands were extremely cold.)

I really like wearing this mani. It's fun, but not too busy. And it was fairly easy with the right tools!

This is how I did it:

1. Paint 3 coats of Essie Turquoise and Caicos.
2. Using a striper brush (I used It's So Easy Stripe Rite in white), paint 6 white stripes horizontally across your nail.
3. Using a dotting tool, paint blue dots (I used Essie Avenue Maintain) between the white lines. There should be 3 rows of dots. 
4. Add a topcoat (I used Seche Vite) and you're done!

P.S. Thank you Seche Vite for letting me go to the beach and not having my mani chip! Best topcoat    ever!

And here is the swatch of Essie's Turquoise and Caicos. It is pretty sheer, I needed 3 coats for full coverage. It is a nice vibrant turquoise, but it looks more blue on the nails than in the bottle. I really liked this polish, except the 3 coats was a hassle. It was probably one of the worse Essies that I got.

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