Spring Gradient

  Hey guys!  Here is are some gradient nails that I did that I think look really pretty for spring!

I used two Essie colors, but I don't know the name of them because the labels are missing. I do think that the pink/coral one close to my cuticles is California Coral, though.  I did this gradient starting with two coats of the color that I think is called California Coral and then I used a damp makeup sponge to dab the other color about halfway down each nail.

And I don't know if you can tell, but I changed my lighting set up around a little bit before I took these pictures and they came out looking really good besides the fact that the light made my hands look so white! haha

Girly Glitter Gradient

 Girly Glitter Gradient, say that three times fast.

 This week I needed a short break from all of the holiday themed nail designs, so I did this very girly glitter gradient.  My next posts will definitely be holiday nails.

 For this I used more Ciaté colors from my Mini Mani Month Calendar. The pink is called Cutie Pie and it's a weird one. The formula is almost a hybrid of jelly and creme and the formula is very build able. Here I used three coats. Again, the formula and drying time on this was awesome. The purple pink glitter is called Magic Carpet and this was one of the exclusives to the Mini Mani Month set.

Gradients 4 Lyfe

    This started out as something totally different that I ended up hating. Luckily, I'm really happy with this unplanned result! Gradient/Ombre nails are probably one of my favorite things to do, they are so easy and messy and fun. If you're into nail art and haven't done a gradient, I recommend that you do one right now! You really just need two colors (or more) and a makeup sponge.

    The colors I used for this are Essence Colour and Go You Belong To Me and Essie Blanc. I started with Blanc (the white) as the base and, with my makeup sponge, I dabbed You Belong To Me about halfway down all of my nails. I always looks pretty crappy before cleanup and top coat, so I cleaned up the polish that got on my skin with a q-tip and then added a nice thick coat of Seche Vite!

Silver Leaf

     
      A leaf gradient! I haven't done one of these in a while! This time I used the silver leaf that I have instead of the normal gold that I use. I just used the imitation silver leaf foil that I got from dollarnailart.com. They call it "Foil Nugget Silver" But it's really just faux thin foil leaf. I'm pretty sure you could find it at any craft store. The blue that I used for this is Essence Colour & Go Walk On Air.

Girl's Gotta Eat

     Here is another Serum No.5 nail polish that I purchased. Girl's Gotta Eat is a beautiful glitter nail polish that consists of mostly gold glitter along with silver/platinum colored hex glitter. It's also in a gold shimmer base and I can tell you that this nail polish is amazing. I honestly don't think I've seen anything like it. I love the name too "Girl's Gotta Eat" isn't that a quote from Dark Knight Rises? I'm pretty sure Catwoman says that. That makes me like it even more than I already did.

     Anyway, I did a glitter gradient type thing with this over Essence Black is Black and my ring finger is three coats of Girl's Gotta Eat over Essence Gold Rush.

Nudey Neon

      This is the second time I've done this mani and I still love it. The last time I did it I had pointy nails, I think it looks good on both pointy and square.

     For this I used

• Essie Topless & Barefoot
• Black Poppy Nail Color

 

The color has no name, but this is what it looks like.

      To do this, I just painted half of my nails with Topless&Barefoot. Then, with damp makeup sponge I dabbed on the pink color. Finish with Seche Vite.

Just Because

      I did this a few weeks ago and forgot to post it. Just a green and purple gradient with a tribal accent. I'm really not sure how I feel about that accent. I kinda wish I would've made it white or something.

      The green is Illamasqua Nomad and the purple is some no name color from forever 21. It glows under a black light. That's pretty cool, but I don't have a black light so I cant show its awesomeness.

Studded

       Hey guys! I have been eying those tiny square studs for quite some time now. I finally caved and bought some and I'm so happy that I did.

      Studs are a huge trend right now on everything from shorts, shirts, and even nails! I made a pretty big purchase from dollarnailart.com about two weeks ago and made sure to buy some square studs along with a ton of other stuff. I'll definitely be making a post about all of the goodies I got very soon.

      Along with the studs, I also got some gold leaf/nugget foily stuff.

    
     To do these nails, I polished all of my nails black. I used Essence Black is Back. I took some of the gold nugget stuff and crumpled it up using an orange wood stick and the end of a nail brush. It's super delicate and light so it was really easy to rip apart, but you have to be careful not to breath or blow in the wrong direction because it could go flying everywhere. I learned that the hard way.

       I did a thin coat of a clear polish that I had and, with a stick, I picked up some of the gold nugget and just pressed it onto my nail where I wanted it. I wanted it to be like a gradient, so I tried to concentrate the gold more near the tip.
      
      Then, I just put the studs where I wanted them, added a coat of top coat and I was done.

Pink Poppy

Glitter! Flowers!

     
       Another dried flower gradient. I really love doing these and the yellow looks awesome with this polish color.

      For this I used Essence You Belong To Me. This is my favorite blue that I own. I actually bought a backup because I'm so afraid that I'll run out of this! The glitter is MAC 3D silver with one coat of spectra flair top coat. The flowers are just yellow dried flowers that I got from Sally Beauty Supply, but I'm sure they are sold on eBay and Amazon for much cheaper.

Flower Power

           Hey everyone! I hope you had an awesome week! Here are some nails I did using some dried flowers that I got from Sally Beauty Supply forever ago and totally forgot about until the other day we I thought "A dried flower gradient would be awesome!!" 

 

          The jade color I used is Illamasqua Nomad. I am loving this color so hard right now. Its not a green or a blue. It's the perfect in-between. So to do this I just crushed up the little dried flowers and stuck them on. I know that's really all I did! Super simple. Then, I added two coats of top coat because I didn't want it to feel extra bumpy.

Orange and Yellow Skittles

My First Post!

     Hey everyone! Wow my first post on my new blog! So I've decided that I'm going to start posting all of my nail art here and I'll start with this one I did about a month ago. This is a gradient I did using Essence A Lovely Secret and Essence You Belong To Me with MAC 3D silver on my ring finger.

     I did this by using one of the triangle makeup sponges that you can buy almost anywhere. I always wet the sponge first and then squeeze out most of the water, leaving it slightly damp. Then I put the color that I want closer to my cuticle on just like I normally would do my nails but I stop in the middle and finish with the blue on my tips. they after I've done that to all of my fingers, I paint some of the blue onto the sponge and try to dab the colors together. If I need more purple, I dab more purple. Then I finish with a top coat and let it dry. :)