Pink & Nude Gradient With A Sprinkle of Fairy Dust

As I'm currently testing out the durability of some polishes I've received this week, so here is something I did a couple of months ago but just left sitting in my unpublished folder.
I'm not as good at gradients as some of the other girls, I always have trouble blending the colours properly and they cause me such a headache. Not to mention that they are super messy and I spend ages cleaning up! I like the way this one turned out though! The colours I used were inspired by my Instagram friend (@cassgooner). If you have IG, check out her awesome designs!

I started off with a coat of ELF Desert Haze which I also used for the gradient along with Andreia No.109 which is actually a very vibrant pink neon but it turned into a medium pink on the nail. Probably because it's a jelly and also because it's sitting over another polish! The side positioned leopard was done with the smallest edge of a dotting tool and I topped everything off with China Glaze Fairy Dust.

I wish doing gradients wasn't so messy because they make for really pretty manicures!

Isn't Fairy Dust pretty?

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Pink And A Pot Of Gold

A few weeks ago I did this glitter gradient and told you how much I've been loving them and that I would be doing some more in the near future. Well, here is another one. I love their simplicity, yet I receive the most compliments from people when I have something like this on my nails.

For this glitter gradient I used my only Jessica polish which I love - Samba Parade, a gorgeous baby pink. The formula is getting a bit strange on this one, maybe because I've had the bottle for so long! For the gradient I used W7 Gold Dazzle which is just a gold glitter bomb and for £1.95, it can't be beaten. The larger hex pieces of glitter in there are loose pieces that I randomly placed on the nail to give it a bit more variety and sparkle.

Autumnal Gradient

I wore this two-tone red Autumnal gradient a couple of weeks ago. The weather had just started to change then, and the colours seemed season appropriate.
Since following Sammy's gradient tutorial, I find them a little easier to manage but I still get annoyed at the amount of polish I get around my finger and the clean up afterwards. I guess it's something I have to endure since I really love gradients!

For this gradient I used two shades of red. Butter London Come To Bed Red and Nails Inc Victoria. I have to say that CTBR is not my favourite of reds. It has a jelly-like finish and although I don't mind some vnl, I hate vnl with red polish. It needs 3 coats for full opacity.

I always feel the need to complete my gradients with a glitter or some sort of topper so I added CND 24K Sparkle Effect. I reminds me of fallen golden leaves and it also gives it a rustic looks. I'm not sure what version I prefer though! You?

When In Doubt, Wear A Pink Gradient!

As the title suggests, recently when I've been running out of ideas and lacking inspiration, I turn to gradients. Whatever colours you choose to go with, they always look pretty and neat.

So here is a pink french tip gradient mani. Polishes used were Yes Love Y17 and a no-name hot pink I picked up in Primark for £1. I topped the gradient with Kiko Sparkle Touch 228 to give it that extra bit of sparkle.

Violet Pink Gradient Dots

I really enjoyed doing this gradient dot mani inspired by Sarah at Chalkboard nails. It's been on my "to do" list ever since I saw it last year but as usual, I've only just got around to it! It's such a simple mani but I really like the way the dots start fading from the violet into the white.

I used a violet pink Forever 21 polish (no name) which I got as part of a set of five polishes for $3. I had never used Forever 21 polishes before but for this price I couldn't help myself, plus all five colours were really pretty. The white is OPI Alpine Snow.

Nude & Peachy Gradient

Since my last "cotton candy" looking gradient, I've been trying to get that gradation of colours to smoothly blend together, just like in Sammy's tutorial. I thought that the easiest way to achieve this would be to use soft and light colours since I have such a hard time blending very contrasting colours.

So for this mani I opted for Elf Desert Haze and Collection 2000 Fruit Loop. However, after I had finished, I realised these colours are way too close to each other to get a massive contrast, but I think I got a hang of the "blending" bit without that noticeable line of where the two colours meet. Next step is trying to do this with more contrasting colours!

Apologies for the picture quality. These two colours were really hard to capture under a lamp. Even my iPhone pictures turned out better than my camera pictures.

Can I Call This A Gradient?

Gradients are everywhere at the moment! I can't open my blog feed, my IG or my Pinterest without stumbling upon a gradient or ombre as it's often called, and I'm loving it! I've always loved gradients so I'm really glad they're everywhere!

In the past couple of weeks, I've seem some of the most beautiful gradients from Jeanette at The-swatchaholic,  from Carolina at Colores de Carol and of course Sammy's brilliant tutorial.

I had to try a gradient myself but it didn't quite turn out how I had planed! I was hoping for that smooth transition from one colour to the next, like that blended eyeshadow effect as I like to call it, without any of the grittiness but I had no such luck :( Maybe I should have used more complementing colours instead of contrasting.

I still like the way it turned out but I wasn't trying to go for the obviously clear graduation look. It's definitely something I'll try again soon, after I practice a little more.

I added a layer of Accessorize Crystal Shimmer to add a little bit of sparkle and at a last attempt of smoothing everything out.

Starry Starry Blue Sky Gradient

Check out the nubbins! I've had to file my nails right down after removing the glue-on nails. After a little buffering, they were as good as new!

I decided on a blue and glitter gradient today as I wasn't really inspired to stamp, scotch tape or do whatever kind of nail art. Sometimes a gradient is just as pretty!

Polishes used: Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream, Miss Sporty Blue Berry, China Glaze Blue Iguana, 17 Midnight Sapphire, Essence Blair, La Femme Purple Glitter.