✖ Tutorial

Pictured above is my most recent nail art and, never having done one before, I made a tutorial of it in the process! Please click the link for the tutorial!
 

It utilises the following techniques undoubtedly familiar to you:

• Gradient
• Tape-mani

This tutorial can be done in various orders of preference, but I'll go by what I did and after reading you can decide what you think best for you.

First, I polished my nails in Catrice 'C01 - Innocent Toxin' (LE: Revoltaire), pictured on the left. On the right, Teeez 'Big Apple'.
I then moved on to a different step..

This is the fiddly part. Be sure your nails are completely dry before you start or you risk ruining them. (I did this the day after painting the base layer, so there was no risk.)
Take a piece of regular tape, some 2,5 cm (1 inch) and cut it in half - then cut that in half, until you have 20 thin strips.  

Striping tape will not work for this, because it's too thin!

The next step is pretty simple - it's creating a sponge gradient. (I'm a cheapskate, I use the same tiny bit of sponge over and over.)
I intentionally chose colours that wouldn't have a massive contrast, but this - again - is a personal choice.

Now you've got bumpy nails with a visible gradient. Throw some top coat over it to smooth it out.
(Picture on the right has top coat applied.)

For the next step, again, it is of the highest importance your nails are absolutely dry before applying the tape!

Also, one of the most valuable pieces of advice I can give you here is to stick the tape on the side of your hand before you put it on your nails. The oils in your skin will make the tape a bit less sticky and reduce the chances of the tape damaging your polish. Take your time with tape placement and overlaying.

I chose to do a purple-green contrast, and the purple I used was this older Catrice polish, 'C03 - Deep Purple'.
Apply your contrast colour over your nails (you can cover the tape, no problem). I recommend polishing and then removing the tape from the nail before moving on to painting the next.
Remove the pieces of tape one by one - don't yank the x off in one go.

Tada!

(Another layer of top coat and finger clean up - not pictured - and you're done!)

Please let me know what you thought of this tutorial, and if you decide to go for it, show me your creations!