I normally use narrow striping tape to create stripes, however this time I wanted a thicker effect. I used 'Magic Tape' (scotch tape) instead, and carefully cut it down to a thickness of about 3mm. My base is 'Mont Blanc', and it had been dry for quite a few hours, so there was no risk of smudges. To make sure the tape wasn't too sticky (sometimes fresh tape can remove even the driest of nail polishes!) I pressed it on the back of my hand a few times, then applied to my thumb nail, middle finger nail and little finger nail.

Next, using 'Chillax' and a fine paint brush, I painted small turquoise hearts on my plain white fingers. To form the hearts I applied two dots and a small triangle on top, then carefully blended the shapes together. Always start off small with hearts, and then you can build them up and neaten as you go.

I loved the turquoise hearts so I added large ones to my stripy nails. I formed these in exactly the same way as the small ones: two blobs, a triangle above, and then gradually linking them together. For all of my hearts I added two coats as I wanted them to really stand out.

I really liked the final effect, but I thought it needed something extra. So I grabbed one of my new e.l.f. glitters, 'Dream Maker', and applied it onto the large turquoise hearts and across all of the small heart nails. I didn't let any large glitters escape onto the small heart nails - it would have been too overpowering. On the large hearts though, I made sure to add quite a few big bits of glitter, which took a little bit of patience!

As always, I topped off my manicure with a good top coat. I like how they're a combination of different styles - they're a little bit romantic, a little bit nautical, a little bit sparkly, and very cute! What do you think?