I'm starting with a base of Cult Nails Let's Get Dirty on the pinky and ring and Bettina Flame on the index and middle. 2 coats of each.

After those were semi dry I did some freeform stars and dots on the red based nails and getting back to the stripes portion of the mani/tutorial, i freehand painted half of the nude polished nails with a dark blue, Cult Nails Time Traveler. Quick dry top coat and let dry for like 30 minutes.

So now we go back in after the nail is dry and we tape it with some striping tape horizontally. Make sure and dig the tape down into the side of your nail bed so they don't stand a chance of lifting up.

Now paint over the tape, paint the opposite colors as the bottom. So over the blue side, paint nude, and over the nude side, paint blue. Thick coats or one coat polishes are essential for this.

Painting the blue top coat here.

And then quickly peel that tape up! Voila! You could also go in with tape along the vertical edge to get cleaner lines, but no one is ever upthisclose to my nails in person to see the little goofs of an imperfect matchup.

And then I applied Julep Freedom Top Coat and a coat of Out the Door over that for a smoothed out glass finish.

So what do you think of this non-traditional Patriotic Mani?!