Initially I was wearing China Glaze Below Deck, a muted sort of brownish greyish purple, and I wanted to turn it into a gradient mani. This is sometimes also called fading.
To achieve this look you need:
- Any colour of your choice for the base, obviously in my case it was Below Deck
- White polish
- A shallow dish of some sort
- A toothpick/bobby pin
- A make up sponge
- Top coat
- A brush and acetone for clean up
Step 1.
Paint your nails with the base colour and allow to dry completely. I like doing this on a mani that's already a couple of days old.
Step 2.
Drop some of the coloured polish into the dish along with about 2-3 drops of white. You don't want the shade to be too far off just yet. Mix it up thoroughly.
Step 3.
Use your make up sponge to dab some of the mixture onto your nail, starting at the tip (just in case the sponge is too saturated) and work your way to about 3/4 down. Do this to the nails on both hands so you don't have to re-mix your polish and risk not getting the same colour results.
Step 4.
Add 2-3 more drops of white to your dish and stir it up until it's well blended. Once again you're going to use your sponge to go over every nail but you'll only be going 2/3 of the way down your nail this time around since you want to leave some of the new layer exposed.
Repeat this step two or three more times, adding more white to the mixture at the end of each round and covering less of your nail as you go along.
Step 5:
Apply your clear top coat. This is important because this sponge makes the polish look rough and bumpy, not a good look!
Step 6:
Use your brush and acetone to clean up the edges and voila! Beautiful gradient mani.
If these instructions are in any way unclear or if you want photos of the step-by-step (or even want to see it in a different colour) please let me know.
Later in the week I'll be trying a new formula to achieve the gradient look, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.
