Gradient Mad

So if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you'll have seen that I've been a little gradient mad this week.  Instead of blogging about each manicure, I thought I'd give you a round up instead, so you can see what I've been up to!

I started last weekend after buying the new Barry M Matte Cancun.  This is a fabulous deep green and really perfect for the summer.  I'm not a huge fan of just plain manicures though, so I spiced it up a little bit by adding Lac Attack's Weasley Wizard Wheezes from her Magical Musings collection.  I wish I'd bought two lots of the polish when I first got them because Lac Attack does not ship abroad any more and this polish has sadly run out! *sad face*  She needs to dominate the world so I can buy her polishes without it costing me and arm and a foot to ship them!

Next I decided I needed a bit of a pink gradient.  Pink is my favourite colour and I recently got a bottle of "Shocked" by Picture Polish so I decided to mix that with Rosehip from Barry M.  I was a bit disappointed with this manicure, I was expecting Shocked to show up a lot more glittery than it did.

So then I decided to venture out and use some colours that I wouldn't neccesarily put together.  I picked out three bottles of Model's Own Pastel colours - Apple Pie, Grape Juice and Strawberry Tart.  This combo got loads of attention, both online and in real life and me and My Mint Nails have decided to use it as inspiration for our BFF Friday this week, so keep your eyes peeled for this Friday's post!  Can you imagine how beautiful this manicure smelt?

The weather has been heating up, but unfortunately I'm stuck in work and in Blighty, so there's no chance of me getting a tan this year.  But I love love love Model's Own Polish for Tans so this weekend I decided to mix these up for a summer hot manicure.  Again, these have been getting loads of attention and they're extra bright for a great summer twist.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Blue Sea Gradient

I was so upset that I couldn't do gradient nails for this week's challenge, as soon as my ombre nails were off - these beauties went on!

I love these - they've been catching my eye and kept me happy for a few days!

I used Sinful Colours Snow White then Barry M Greenberry and Guava Gellys.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Summer gradient

So apparently I neglected to post about these beautiful gradient nails I did a few weeks ago.  That's not like me!

I love these nails because they're fab and summery - they remind me of ice lollys.  They kept on catching my eye and inspired the manicure with striping tape.  I created them using the new Barry M limited editions and a make up sponge!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Challenge Week 22: Gradient Nails

I've been so slack with this challenge recently.  I have attempted a few but they've been rubbish.  I did an amazing one a couple of weeks ago but the photos went missing in cyberspace.  Gutted.

But I'm back for gradient week.

I've had my friends and fellow nailarters Saz (My Mint Nails) and Kathie (Kathie's Famous Fingers) to stay last week and Saz was talking about doing a sideways gradient.  I've seen these before and they look awesome so I thought I'd give it a try (and steal her idea).

I got my mum to pick me 5 colours out of my nail box:

She picked out 5 Gelly's which are my favourites.

The way I do gradients is different to other tutorials I've done.  It needs a bit more work getting the blending sorted but I like it so I thought I'd do a mini tutorial.

First I painted each nail one of the colours (the manicure is messy because I didn't bother tidying up or being careful, knowing I'd have to tidy it up later anyway).

Then, using a makeup sponge for each colour, I dabbed nail varnish onto one half of the nail, moving further across the nail as I went.

I then used the other colour on the same make up sponge to "mix" the polishes and get the gradient effect.  I did this two to three times with each colour until I got a decent blend.

Once I was happy with the blend, I cleaned the manicure up and added two layers of Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.  I'm very happy with this manicure and how it looks and got compliments all the way around Asda this morning.

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