A Great Gradient Friday..

The long weekend is almost here!!  Yay!!  I have a gradient mani to show you today.  Gradients are popping up everywhere so that same group of ladies from my past group posts and I decided to do out next group post all about gradients!!  :)  I've only done a few, and although they're quite easy (I used this tutorial by The Nailasaurus), this one didn't really turn out quite like I wanted, but this week has been hectic, so I decided to just go with it..

Group Gradient:

Oooh, pink and red..my favorite combo! :)  I started with a base of Orly Basket Case, then sponged on the gradient using Basket Case, Deborah Lippmann It's Raining Men, and China Glaze City Siren.  I've seen many gals use holos for their gradients and I love them.. I will definitely try that next time!!

**Happy Memorial Day Weekend to my American Readers!!**

Reverse Gradient using OPI and Dollish Polish

Happy Weekend Kids!!

Today I have a quick post of a Reverse Gradient I wore earlier this week.  I used OPI Red Lights Ahead..Where? for the red base and then sponged on Dollish Polish Welcome to Rapture..

Reverse Gradient:

My pinky and index finger have a bit too much Welcome to Rapture at the base of my nail, but overall I enjoyed this mani.  A few coats of China Glaze Fast Forward smoothed the grittiness of the glitter and I really love this tomato-y red.. Red Lights Ahead... Where??  I haven't worn much red lately, so this was a nice change.  :)

We're having people over tonight for my husband's birthday.  My nails are currently naked... What should I do with them??  I'm thinking I'll try one of the new Spiderman Colors I finally got my hands on... hmmm?

A Silver Glitter Gradient with Zoya Kotori..

I've been throwing around some ideas for a New Year's Eve Mani and this is one of them.  I just got my hands on Zoya Kotori during one of the promos they ran recently on Facebook.

Here is Kotori alone:

Zoya describes Kotori as: "A dense bright blue shimmer superimposed over a sheer black base."  Kotori is beautiful.  Although it's sheer, full opacity was still reached with two generous coats.  Worn over a black polish, Kotori would look great, too... more rocker-like :)  Yet another Zoya I love... they're all wonderful!!

Here is OPI's Crown Me Already! sponged over Kotori:

Crown Me Already! over Kotori

Crown Me  Already! over Kotori

Crown Me Already! over Kotori

Crown Me Already! over Kotori

I like these two together..Crown Me Already! is easy to work with and can be worn with almost anything.  I don't think I'll still be wearing this New Year's Eve, but it's pretty.... (I'm still hating that damn hot pink camera of mine... ugh.. you can see it's reflection in the glitter! LOL)

Have you decided what you're wearing for your New Year's Eve Mani yet??  It's tomorrow already!!

A Gradient Leopard.. (my 1st!)

I've had this Konad Stamping kit for a while.  Back in the summer I attempted to stamp and it was a total mess.  Since then, I've kinda pushed my stamping kit to the back of my helmer assuming I'd just never "get it."  I came across a beautiful Gradient Leopard Manicure on Rebecca Likes Nails the other day.  Rebecca posted an awesome tutorial, so I decided to give it a go one more time...

Here's what I used:

One Coat of Essie First Base Basecoat

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Bubblegum Pink

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue Me Away!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Deep Purple

Konad's Black Polish for stamping

Konad Plate M-57

OPI RapiDry TopCoat

Here's the first coat of Bubblegum Pink:

I sponged on Blue Me Away (just on 3/4 of nail):

After that dried, I sponged Deep Purple on the tips:

After all three colors were completely dry, I stamped on m-57:

Not too bad if I do say so myself.  I should have waited a little longer to apply the top coat as the black smeared a bit.  Maybe I'll order more plates and practice stamping.  This was fun :)

My first attempt at Gradient Nails...

Yesterday, I looked at some tutorials on youtube and on other blogs about "Gradient Nails".  It seems each tutorial was different.  "Gradient" is defined as: A rate of inclination or declination of a slope.  The colors you use are supposed to get either lighter or darker as you apply each polish...  


Let's see how I did:

I chose Yachty Yadda by Color Club as my base color... so far, so good..

... and here's where is goes slightly wrong.  Yes, my second color (OPI's Pink Flamenco) is darker than YY, but it's too dark.  I should have picked a lighter pink. (By the way, Yachty Yadda is the only color I painted on, the rest I did with a make-up sponge)  Originally, I picked Essie's Mod Square as the second color, but I was afraid it wasn't that much darker than YY...  Oh well, I'm not going to stop now..

Next, I applied butter LONDON's Queen Vic.  I like this color, but it's a jelly (or close to it), so it didn't show up as well as I would have liked... maybe I should have sponged on a second coat..

The last color I sponged on was Julep's Gayle.  This was a good choice.  Gayle has an awesome formula.

Lastly, I sponged on Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Strobe Light glitter.  I tried to apply the glitter a little more thick at the tips of my nails.


There you have it.. my first Gradient.  Yes, it qualifies as a Gradient Manicure... next one will just be a tad more subtle.  Have you tried a Gradient Manicure yet?  What colors did you choose?


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Bye for now.. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!!