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!

Painting your nails is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

I find that one of the most common questions I receive are something like the following,  “How do I paint my nails so they are neat?” or, “How do you not get polish on the side of your nails?” or, some other variation of this question. While I am flattered that I receive compliments on my nails, I think that everyone should know that I am far from perfect with regards to the subject. If I am in a hurry or just lazy my nails will look horrible; so instead of rushing through the process I try to plan out the time when I do my nails so that nothing will interrupt me and I won’t feel rushed. In addition to taking precautions to ensure that I have the time, and won’t be interrupted a little trick or two couldn’t hurt.

Whenever I paint my nails I try to use the “3 stroke” method. I first heard this phrase coined on the Makeup Alley Nail Board and haven’t looked back since. It does still take time and practice to implement it in your regular nail routine but, after a while you will find yourself naturally leaning towards this method.

The goal is to avoid your cuticles by creating a barrier between where you apply polish and your cuticle. This picture demonstrates exactly what I mean:

I made a video specifically to address this issue. I hope you enjoy!