Date: May 13th, 2012

Striped and mirrored diagonal gradient manicure featuring Lynnderella Bride of Franken as sparkles on top

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Gradient Nails Gradient Manicure stripes nail art striping tape swatch swatches sponging nail art bright nails diagonal Lynnderella Bride of Franken

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. :D 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. ♥

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Posted in Brands, Gradient Nails, Layerings, Lynnderella, Nail Art, Sponging | 54 Comments »
Date: May 12th, 2012

Summery diagonal gradient manicure featuring Illamasqua Insanity, Alarm and Stance

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Gradient Nails Gradient Manicure Illamasqua Insanity Alarm Stance swatch swatches sponging nail art nail varnishes bright summer nails diagonal

I couldn’t resist and did it again. :D
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. :)

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Posted in Brands, Gradient Nails, Illamasqua, Nail Art, Sponging | 120 Comments »
Date: May 9th, 2012

Holographic gradient manicure featuring A England Tristam, Saint George and Princess Sabra (Tristam Eyes) and a subtle stamping

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Holo Gradient Manicure Gradient Nails stamping A England Tristam Saint George Princess Sabra Tristam Eyes Bundle Monster BM 215 swatch

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. :D

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Posted in A England, Brands, Gradient Nails, Nail Art, Sponging, Stamping, Subtle | 105 Comments »
Date: May 8th, 2012

Skittle gradient manicure with the Illamasqua Pastels Blow, Caress, Nudge and Wink

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Gradient Nails Gradient Manicure Illamasqua Pastels Blow Wink Caress Nudge swatch swatches sponging nail art

Since I saw the fantastic tutorial by Sammy from The Nailasaurus I couldn’t get gradient manicures out of my head. I have done them in the past and liked them but I did use a different technique and never dared to make a gradient manicure with one specific nail polish finish: creams.

The gradient nails technique I used back then was to apply a drop of nail polish to aluminum foil, pick it up with a sponge and dab it on my nails. With glitters and rough shimmers it was a bliss and worked perfectly. Because of their texture the not smooth blending was never a problem though but for creams it could have been.

Now thanks to Sammy’s fantastic technique smooth cream gradient nails are no longer impossible. Thank you so much Sammy! ♥

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Posted in Brands, Gradient Nails, Illamasqua, NOTDs, Sponging | 145 Comments »
Date: May 3rd, 2012

Squishy glitter layering or how to make a yummy jelly sandwich with Nfu Oh Jelly Syrup JS01, the China Glaze Crackle Glitter Glam-More and more

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Layering jelly sandwich American Apparel Hassid China Glaze Crackle Glitter Glam-More Essence Circus Circus My Sparkling Acrobat Nfu Oh Jelly Syrup JS01 black jelly

I am still madly in love with the Nfu Oh Jelly Syrup jellies and ordered fifteen more since my last post with my first five Jelly Syrups. :D Sadly because of stress and a bad cold – which I am still recovering from – I only could play once with them. The black jelly JS01 was the first Jelly Syrup I wanted to try a jelly sandwich with.

China Glaze just released four Crackle Glitter nail polishes and I must say this new crackle finish with glitter instead of a cream crackle or shimmer flecks crackle made me like crackles again. I am still crackled out for cream crackles but layering the Crackle Glitter Glam-More between a jelly? I like! :)

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Posted in Brands, China Glaze, Essence, Layerings | 50 Comments »