week 4: GRADIENT

Week 4 of the 52 week challenge is here and the theme is Gradient or Ombre nails!! This is good explanation on the difference between Gradient, Ombre, and Skittle techniques (when talking about nails). I decided to conquer gradient nails this week. For months, gradient nails have been my archenemy. For some reason, I just could not get this technique to work. I have tried MULTIPLE times and things just were not working out for me. However, I finally got some results! I tweaked a few things in what I was doing and switched the kind of sponge I was using. Tips for best results are at the bottom of this post. Here was my final look:

Colors I used (from left to right): No Plain Jane by China Glaze (Base Coat), Good as Gold by Essie, and Swing Baby by China Glaze (accent color dabbed on top of the tips)

Tips:

-          Here is a good video (The Polished Mommy) to show the technique I did for Gradient nails.

-          Make sure the sponge is saturated to the max! If it is not super saturated you will get a bubbly texture that looks too spongy. However, in the opposite direction if the polish is not soaked into the sponge (just sitting on top), it will not blend well and you will have a hard line between your colors.

      Here is what my sponge looked like ( the sparkly color on the right is Swing Baby which I dabbed on the tips of my nails for a little sparkle)

-          Keep your polishes open so you can quickly saturate the sponge with your gradient colors in between rolls.

-          If you use a sheer polish make sure it is the same as your base coat. In the video in the first tip, she uses black for a base coat. This only worked because her top/gradient polishes were opaque. The purple I used for this look was very sheer, so I made sure to use the purple as my base coat as well.

-          Layer your “rolls” of the sponge so the line between the colors doesn’t always match up.  This helps you have more of a gradient and less of an immediate change between the colors.

-          If the sponge you’re using isn’t working for you, try a different one. The old brand of sponge I tried was making my look to bumpy and bubbly. These sponges worked out well for me.

-          Cut the sponge in half to conserve sponges!

-          For skin clean up, use a plastic cup cut off filled with polish remover and an eyeliner brush. Dip your brush in the polish remover and wipe on a paper towel in between cleaning of the finger. (after you use an eyeliner brush for polish remover, do not use it for your face again)

 TA DA!!!! I’m so happy it finally turned out good!



Technique: Missoni Gradient

This Technique was inspired by the Missoni Print. Below is a swatch of Missoni pattern for reference. My rendition almost looks a little easter egg-ish, but oh well!

For my base, I started out with thisa yummy yellow-green color (Fiercely Fiona by OPI).

then I did my first zig-zagged line as close to the top as a could. Almost like a zig-zag french! For all the lined detail I used a Nail Art Polish called "Magical Nail" by max Makeup Cherimoya. You can get like 12 of them for $15 on amazon. This one is Lavender.

Next color I used was Miss Sergeant. This one I tried to draw as close to the first line as I could, bit still leaving some space between.

Next, I used Blood Diamond. This one is much more spread out.

And lastly, to make it look more like a gradient, I filled in the yellow triangles on my nail tips with this blue color, Neon Aqua.

Tada! My try at a Missoni Gradient. I think if I do this again, I will try using tan as the base color and try to make the zig-zag more vertical. Then maybe it would look less easter eggy haha.

Technique: Glitter Layered Gradient

I am getting so excited for the Hunger Games movie to come out this weekend! I was so excited I had to buy another Hunger games polish. I think this is my new favorite. . . Luxe and Lush by China Glaze! It’s the glitter polish in the above pic. It looks kind of like broken crystal or quartz. Very Hunger games Capitol style. I just |love it.

 

For the base I used a very pale pink. This one is Step Right Up! By OPI. I used 3 coats because I didn’t want it to be transparent.

Below is only one coat. As you can see the glitter to polish ratio is quite small. So I decided to do a layered gradient!

Below left is the second coat of glitter polish. I started about a third up the nail and did an even layer. Below right is the third coat of glitter polish about two thirds up on my nail.

To apply this glitter polish thicker you have to dab it more than swipe it.  If you swipe to fiercely the glitter comes right off with the brush. If you dab with the brush, the glitter pieces stick to the nail better.

Add a top coat and there you have it! A glittered layered gradient. Only downside it is quite a few coats of polish. Next time I will probably only do 2 coats for the base.

Happy Polishing!

|La