With the resurrection of the Gradient Manicure trend also a little confusion about its naming and definition went alongside with it. I must confess that I am a little lot obsessed about correct naming and start to cringe when I see a Gradient Manicure beeing called an Ombre Manicure or even Skittle Manicure. Both Ombre Nails and Skittle Nails describe a completely different look than Gradient Nails.
Especially on German blogs I have seen the term Ombre Manicure (or translated Ombré Maniküre) quite a few times. While “ombre” most widely could be translated with “gradient” the term Ombre Nails describes a whole different technique in the nail art world than Gradient Nails.
The term Gradient Manicure translated one-on-one in German would sound funny (Verlaufs-Maniküre) so I understand picking a better sounding term. So while it technically isn’t wrong it is confusing because the term Ombre Manicure is already established for a different look.
To clear up the confusion I thought it’s time for a Gradient Nails, Ombre Nails and Skittle Nails breakdown. I hope the following illustrations and explanations will be helpful.
The Illamasqua Pastel Nails collection is a gorgeous collection of pastel nail polishes and – as the brand Illamasqua – very dear to my heart. For my first attempt of the Gradient Manicure I just had to use the four gorgeous nail polishes Blow, Caress, Nudge and Wink. They are easy to apply on their own and also a bliss to use for gradient manicures. They were also the first Illamasqua nail polishes I purchased back in 2010.
So when I thought about picking nail polishes for my first gradient manicure, which not only should be opaque enough but also should go well together, the four Illamasqua Pastel Nails directly came to my mind and I couldn’t have been more happy with the finished manicure.
I am honored that so many of you also liked my Skittle gradient manicure and starting from today till 11.59pm BST on Sunday 27th May 2012 you have the chance to win one entire set of the Pastel Nails thanks to Illamasqua! ♥
To take part in the Pastel Nails giveaway click on the following link, fill in your details and answer the question:
The giveaway is open internationally. Good luck everyone and a big thank you to the amazing team of Illamasqua for offering these four stunning nail polishes to my lovely readers! ♥
The thing about feeling inspired is you have the urge to translate the inspiration immediately into a new manicure which led to my fourth gradient manicure. The inspiration was too strong to resist.
Yesterday I picked up three nail polishes from the limited edition Manhattan Buffalo collection. The two creams 18 Robin Boot and 20 Blue Suede Toes screamed gradient nails to me but I wanted to add a third color. The best match for another color to go with the bright teal and blue had to be a purple so I picked the sadly also limited edition p2 Deep Purple from last years’ Flour Hour collection. It is like a brighter version of China Glaze Grape Pop or OPI Funky Dunkey.
The second part of the inspiration was a retweet by Rie from Nails and Noms where I saw the gorgeous striped gradient manicure by Mimi from Makeup Withdrawal. Why haven’t I discovered her blog sooner? I love it!
As a cherry on top of this gradient manicure I wanted to add something sparkly, something special and also a nail polish which wouldn’t cover too much of the striped gradient. Lynnderella Bride of Franken was the perfect pick. ♥
I couldn’t resist and did it again.
The new and much smoother technique by Sammy from The Nailasaurus still makes me love and adore gradient nails so I had to try another gradient manicure today.
This time I wanted to raise the difficulty level a bit with making a gradient with three instead of two colors and also sponge a diagonal gradient instead of a straight gradient. I was also in the mood for bright colors so I picked Illamasqua Insanity (bright orange), Alarm (bright red) and Stance (vivid purple with fuchsia undertones).
The result of the combination of Insanity, Alarm and Stance is a bright and fun summer manicure and I am really happy how it turned out.
Gradient manicures are the current nail trend I can’t get out of my head so I couldn’t wait to try more gradient nails. I was especially curious about how a holographic gradient manicure would look.
Because I wanted to experiment with two holographic/prismatic nail polishes with the same holo particles I picked A England Tristam and Saint George. After the gradient with Tristam and Saint George was finished I wanted to play a little more and stamped the gorgeous Princess Sabra (Tristam Eyes) with the reptile skin pattern from the Bundle Monster image plate BM 215 on top for a subtle look.
Gradient nails with holographic nail polishes and a stamping? A guarantee that your camera will freak out while taking pictures.
The inspiration was too strong to resist. 
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