Whenever I have done gradient nails before I’ve always chosen really bold colours. I wanted more a subtle manicure today. Unfortunately my camera has made it look so subtle it is almost hard to see the gradient!
I have tried a coral gradient manicure before but tonight I tried to use three colours rather than just two. The effect isn’t as great as I wanted. The sponge I have used has left an unsmooth finish so I think I need to change the type of sponge that I do this with.
The weather has taken a bit of a nosedive this week. Gone are the glorious sunny days where you can sunbathe in your garden. The cold and wet weather has arrived with a big where I live. I wanted to do another gradient manicure and was going to go with another summery feel. However, with the weather a bit murky and grey I thought I would make a rain gradient effect.
Base & Top: Barry M Nail Hardener 3 in one top and base coat
I bought this light blue colour yesterday and it is called Barry M Blue Moon and I painted two thin coats. You can see that you would probably need three coats of this to wear it on it’s own as it is very pale.
Next I changed the way I did this gradient. Last time I followed a tutorial by Sammy at Nailosauras but today I used a method shown by PollyPolish. For this method instead of painting onto a plastic sheet you paint directly onto the sponge. The three colours I chose were: Barry M Cobalt Blue, Cyan Blue, Blue Moon.
Using three colours gave quite a good gradient to the nails. Last time when I used two the darker colour really overpowered my nails [plus it was my first time doing it]. I painted onto the sponge and dabbed onto one hand. I painted onto the sponge again and painted my other hand. I painted the sponge a final time and dabbed any nails that looked like they hadn’t got enough colour on.
I found that painting onto the sponge I was able to restrict how much area of the sponge got used and compared to last time the excess on my fingers was a lot less. The picture above shows my nails before I cleared away the extra polish and it is a lot less than my previous gradient attempt.
I finished by adding a sparkly blue glitter polish as my top coat. This is by Barry M but the bottom of the bottle says 044 and no name. I think I got this polish in a goodybag from The Clothes Show a couple of years ago and I can’t see it in their current polishes. The unusual thing about it is that the glitter is actually silver and not blue and it is the liquid that is the blue colour.
Base: Barry M Nail Hardener 3 in one top and base coat
Base Colour: Barry M Peach Melba
Gradient Colour: Barry M Coral
Top coat: Nails Inc Caviar Top Coat
Today is gorgeous and sunny and after a bit of gardening this morning I was inspired to paint my nails using some of the colours that are similar to the flowers in my garden. I wanted to achieve an orangey coral gradient and I had my first try at doing this.
I picked Peach Melba as my base colour. This is a Barry M nail polish that I find hard to apply, it goes on differently to their other colours and I can never get it as smooth and perfect looking.
I followed this nail tutorial which is so clear and easy to follow. Using a sponge I sponged on the mixed up colour. I did this two to three times allowing my nails to dry slightly between. I cut up a washing up sponge. I guess you can get a different effect using different types of sponge.
I tidied up my nails and then rather than applying a clear top coat I decided to use a top coat that I have never used before. It is a mini sized Nails Inc top coat called Caviar. It has a subtle multi coloured glitter effect. This picture is just with one coat of this. I think if you apply more coats then the glitter will be more obvious.
The pictures are all of my left hand. My right hand ended up with a slightly lighter gradient but I think I prefer this darker one. I really love it and really want to try it with other colours too.
