Striped Nail Polish (fail)

A few days ago I came across this pin.  

I used to have painted fingernails all the time.  I only had plain nails for a few days and that was just to ensure that they didn't turn yellow.  Then I moved up to Sacramento and for some reason, I just stopped.  

For the past few days I've been wanting to paint my nails, but couldn't decide on a color, so off to Pinterest-land I went.  High and low, to and fro and scrolling back to the top in search for a nail polish design I could easily pull off.  So here I go!





Step 1:  Apply vaseline to the edges of your fingernails. This is so the nailpolish doesn't stick to the skin on your fingers.  I love this trick.

Step 2:  Apply your base color.  I decided to go with pink!

Step 3:  Cut tape into thin strips. I used regular scotch tape and cut it with scissors into strips.  I didn't care if they were perfectly even, obviously.

Step 4:  Apply tape strips to nails.  I like the "searchlight" look.  

Step 5:  Apply top layer of nail polish.

Step 6:  Peel tape. This is where you will reveal your beautiful works of nail art and impress your friends.

  

...or not.

I know that my tape strips were too thick, but I'm not really sure what else went wrong.  Could it be the fact that I use cheap nail polish?  Perhaps I just need to start with something a little simpler.