Hey guys!
This week, I decided I wanted to do a manicure that was very spring-like and fun, considering spring starts next week! I wanted to do a sunset with palm trees, but wanted to do something I don't normally do, which is....
Gradients.
I love gradients as is, but on nails, I have had a pretty nasty track record. This go, however, I felt was cute!
To start, you will need:
- A light blue polish
- A pastel pink polish (a less opaque polish is best)
- A pink glitter polish, or a clear polish with glitter in it (to help blend the colors)
- Q-Tips
- Nail polish remover (to clean up if you go overboard)
So we would want to start with the light blue polish. I used one of my favorite polishes, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics in "Pool Boy". It's a perfect robins egg blue! Paint the entire nail in this color, 2 coats for opacity.
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| See, it's so bright! |
You'd want to let that sit until it's mostly dry. If it's still wet, the cotton on the Q-Tip will get stuck to your nail, and create a huge mess. Once it's dry enough, grab your pastel pink polish. I'm using this random pink polish I had (I seriously took out like 7-8 different pinks to find a combo I liked)
I don't have pics of the actual process, but it's easy. You take a Q-Tip and rub the cotton part on the brush with the paint on it, so it transfers to the Q-Tip. Then stamp it on your nail softly, from the free edge of the nail (the nail tip), to about halfway up the nail. You don't want to press too hard at first, because all the color will end up in one spot and you'll have dots. You'd want to lightly tap onto the nail to make it look speckled. Do that on all nails, grabbing more polish as needed til you have all 10 done. Then wait a bit for it to dry.
Once it's dry, you'd want to do the same thing again, except concentrate on tapping on the free edge of the nail. This is where you'd want to start building color up, as in making it more pink than blue. Continue on all 10 again. There's no formula as to how much or how little you tap, you need to eyeball it which also helps with making the manicure your own. Wait again for it to dry.
Almost done, most of your nail should be dry. One last time, focus on the very bottom of the nail, and go over it one more time if it needs it (if you pressed hard on the last pass, you might not need it). As I said, eyeball it!
Next to last step, take your glitter polish and tap it all over the pink part of the nail. I'm using OPI's "Princesses Rule!" (this is a pink shimmery color, not necessarily glitter)
We use the glitter as an added touch and it helps to complete the gradient. Once all of that is dry (phew) hit it with your top coat and you're done. Clean up with nail polish remover if necessary, like if you hit your cuticle instead of the nail a few times.
You should get something like this, before I put cuticle oil on
(I never clean them. I'm a loner Dottie, a rebel...):
Maybe it's not a true gradient, but in person it looks like one. It takes a bit of practice to get the pressure right and the look down. This is perfect for princesses, unicorns, ponies, and fairies! It also reminds me of Katy Perry's album Teenage Dream.
That's it for this week's mani, stay tuned for next week!
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