Sunday, September 16, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 10 - Gradients

Hey all!

Apparently, my last post was my 100th! I didn't really notice but I like the number 101 better, so let's celebrate with one of my fave manis from this challenge (so far).

This could get a little long, so I'm hiding it under the jump, MWAHAHAH! Here's a collage to whet your appetite before you click 'read more'.





For this gradient I started with 3 coats of Orly Green With Envy, a jelly-ish teal which I hope to god doesn't stain. When that was dry, I applied some striping tape and, because I wanted a sheer look, I used Spoiled Checkin' Into Rehab. Somewhere, I realized I was an idiot for deciding to work with 2 jelly-sheer polishes but I kept on going. To build the purple to opacity, I just brushed the color on 1/3 of my nail, waited until that was semi-dry, and sponged as normal to blur the line and fade both colors into each other. This step wasn't really necessary (and I'll show you why in a minute).



After that, I added Spoiled My Saturn Broke Down, topcoated and called it a day.




This mani is actually inspired by this amazingness from Jeanette over at The Swatchaholic who was also inspired by Mimi at Makeup Withdrawal. I about died when I saw Jeanette's post and I'm so happy to have kinda sorta re-created it.

Here is a macro shot of my test nail (my ring finger on my right hand). For this nail I just brushed the second color on, starting closer to the cuticle, then a little further down, then just brushed it on my tips. You can see it really works to create gradients with sheer polishes. For a better explanation, check this post at Rebecca Likes Nails.


I'm so in love with how this turned out, I'm still wearing it and it's been like 4 days :D.

For more gradient madness, check the links to the other ladies' blogs!

25 comments:

  1. This is absolutely gorgeous!! LoveloveLOVE it!!

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  2. What a great idea! I love it!

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  3. Love it! I came very close to doing something very similar (also inspired by the swatchaholic!)! GMTA? I went with something different since my colors were not very blendy.

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    1. Lol, we've had a couple of instances of GMTA! The Swatchaholic just has too many amazeballs ideas :D

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  4. This is beyond pretty! I need to learn how to do this myself!

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    1. It's very simple! Just a matter of a tiny bit of patience and striping tape :)

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  5. Congrats on 100 posts! What a cool mani, especially love how the glitter looks over it!

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    1. Thank you! It's the only type of glitter I get a lot of use from :)

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  6. Beautiful! The glitter is the perfect final touch.

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    1. Thank you! The original mani had bigger more iridescent glitter, but this works :P

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  7. Kat - that's sooooo pretty. The striping tape is an unexpected and jazzy touch. Dreamy, dreamy mani.

    Lovely!

    Lisa

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  8. These look amazing!! I can't even describe how much I like these :)

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    1. Thank you very much! I was really happy to recreate it since I loved the look so much! If you decide to try it, let me know :)

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  9. This is one of my favorite gradients I have ever seen! Love the Zig Zag!

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  10. This is absolutely gorgeous... i'm drooling over here!
    I loved your blog, you're very talented... hope to get as good as you.
    Became a follower and huge fan!
    Congrats!

    Best regards,
    Giovanna

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  11. Replies
    1. I approve of this message and your choice of words :D. Thank you!

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