Showing posts with label gradient. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gradient. Show all posts

Friday, December 9, 2011

Glitter Gradient in Festive Green

Hello everyone! Sorry about the sporadic updates; as is typical for many of us, life gets pretty busy this time of year!

Here's a manicure that I did using the quick and easy no sponge glitter gradient method. (The how-to is in this post here.) I was partly inspired by this manicure by Sharon at Polish Infatuated. I wanted to create a festive manicure that isn't too over the top, but still has a holiday feel.

I used two coats of OPI Jade Is The New Black for the base color. It's a lovely true green with smooth, easy application. Next I added Zoya Ivanka to the bottom part of the nail, trying to fade it out at the middle of the nail. Finally I topped it off with a layer of Wet n Wild The Gold & The Beautiful for a little extra golden sparkle.


Hopefully I'll have a chance to invent some more festive holiday manicures to show you this season!

Friday, November 11, 2011

How To Do A Simple Glitter Gradient Manicure — No Sponges Necessary!

Lately I've really gotten into browsing Pinterest. It's a cool way to discover beautiful, interesting things. There are plenty of fellow nail fanatics on there, and I'm having fun finding them and following their pin boards. This manicure was inspired by all the glittery manicures people have been pinning up on Pinterest.



This is a manicure that looks fancy but is super easy to do:

 — Paint the base color. (After your base coat, of course!)
Use any color you like. I painted my nails with four coats of OPI I'll Take The Cake. It's a sheer pink with very fine multicolor shimmer. Four coats seems like a lot, but this polish goes on so smoothly it was no trouble.

— Let it dry.
It doesn't need to be completely dry, just let it dry for a few minutes. You want the base color to stay in place without wrinkling when you add the glitter.

— Add the glitter.
Use any color glitter polish you like. I used Wet n Wild The Gold & The Beautiful. It's glitter in a clear base, which made it perfect for this technique.
- dab a small to medium drop of glitter at the base of the nail.
- wipe the rest of the polish off the brush and back into the bottle.
- lightly drag the drop of glitter outward in small, short strokes.
- fade the glitter by making short strokes starting partway up your nail. This will drag some glitter particles to the middle of your nail, but will not catch too many by taking glitter from the densest part at the base of the nail.

— Finish the manicure.
All you need now is a quick drying topcoat and some cuticle oil!


Here's what I'll Take The Cake looks like on its own, for good measure:


I hope my instructions made sense. Tell me if anything needs clarifying! What color combinations would you try? I want to try taupe with silver glitter, but I have to buy some silver glitter polish first!