Nail Trend: The Ombrè Manicure

The next design is something that I had wanted to try for a while. It first graced the runways last autumn (or winter) and was publicized as the next "it" trend by both InStyle and Seventeen Magazines. The Ombrè manicure is an interesting concept and to describe it, without a picture is difficult; my best description is: a gradient manicure which is not confined to one finger but rather, incorporates the entire hand. Don’t worry, I do indeed have plenty of pictures!

This design involves a lot of color frankening (or mixing) to create a new color. There are many techniques for this manicure and I’ve adapted them to make my own. Please be aware that this technique that I have used is best suited for mid-tone cream colors. For bright colors I would recommend All Lacquered Up’s tutorial. For dark, rich colors I would recommend this video by Seventeen. Please keep in mind that what I do isn’t the set in stone and you should be adaptive and use your creativity to help you through!

I’ve actually attempted this manicure a few times but only have pictures of my current, and it’s previous attempts. The main color I used for the purple Ombrè was ‘Spontaneous’ from China Glaze and the main color for the green Ombrè was ‘Dirty, Sexy, Money’ from Misa.

(Above: Swatch of Misa's 'Dirty, Sexy, Money')

To create the design you will need a main color, a black polish, a white polish, something to mix on (I used Post It’s) and something to mix with. You will also need a clean polish brush, I recommend using the brush from a cheap clear coat.

Here are the basic steps:
1. Paint your middle fingers with your main color
2. Mix your main color with 2-3 drops of white (on your scrap paper) and apply that shade to your index      finger. This shade should be 2-3 shades lighter that your middle finger.
3. Mix mainly white with 2-3 drops of your main color and apply to your thumb. This shade should be 2-3 lighter than your index finger.
4. For your ring and pinky fingers you will need to repeat the process using black, instead of white polish.

Here is the finished look:

Check out the video below for more tips and tricks!

Gradient Nails Take 2!

If you've folowed my blog since the beginning then you would know that one of my first nail art designs (if that is what you'd call it) was gradient nails. Meaing the color faded from clear to another color, in my case teal. This was a big moment for me and I made sure to take my time and practice it long before I ever filmed it. Well, today I am sitting here with my nails in that exact same design except this time it didn't take me an hour to do; it only took about 15 minutes from beginning to end. The effect is still very much the same, in fact they are almost identical--I am very excited to share with you the easy way to create a gradient effect!

To refresh your memory, here is the original (my nails were crazy long!):

And my re-creation:

The colors I used were the same in both:
OPI Teal the Cows Come Home
China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway
China Glaze Fairy Dust














The first method involved careful placement and blending and the second a sponge! I hope you enjoy this easy way to create this fun effect!
Here's how I created them: