Today’s nails are a smokey gradient which reminds me of my first gradient manicure. For this manicure I used Essie Waltz for the base, Sally Hansen Dorian Grey and a darker charcoal grey.
Waltz is a translucent, milky white. Three coats were needed to get even coverage, but not opacity. In my opinion that’s just fine with this particular colour because I wanted to keep some level of transparency to soften the design.
I used a makeup sponge to dab Dorian Grey by Sally Hansen onto the base colour. I started dabbing the nail at the tip and worked my way towards the centre. I had to do this four or five times to create the right blend. Then I used a darker charcoal grey and dabbed the tip of the nail. I realised that this wouldn’t make the tips as dark as I wanted them to be, so I actually painted the top millimeter of the nail with the charcoal grey and then dabbed later it with the charcoal grey a couple of times.
I couldn’t be more thrilled with the outcome! Even though I expected Waltz to look whiter, the very sheer pink effect actually matches the grey really well, and the soft blend makes me think of cashmere. I applied one coat of top coat and missed a bit on one of my nails, so I applied another coat. I noticed that the second coat added a glossy shine similar to a gel manicure. So from now on, I’ll be adding two layers of top coats to my gradients.
I adore these!
Thanks Tina!
I love the gray gradient look! Awesome look!!
Thank you, I think I’ll have to try this more often
Your nails look awesome!!!!!!!
Why thank you Miss CraftyNail!
Loving the new nail shape! 😀 loving that gradient too!
Yay! Thank you lovely 😀
I luv yo nails they luk glamour ooh like yo designs
Thanks so much Mamoya!
This is so gorgeous! I love your nail shape.
Thank you Dani 🙂
these are so subtle , pretty 🙂
The colours ended up blending beautifully. Pleased you like it 🙂
Plain awesome. Thanks for sharing and explaining the steps.
You are very welcome. Thanks for the compliment 🙂
Amazing effect! Loving anything ‘dip-dye’ at the moment, definitely going to give this a try!
Lizzee xo
Thank you Lizzee! I’m very happy to hear you’ll be trying it out, make sure you drop us a link when you do so we can take a look 🙂
Beautiful nails, beautiful shape and beautiful effect 🙂
I’m so happy you like them 🙂 Thank you for the lovely compliment xoxo
Thank You for the Awesome Never Ending Gorgeous Nail Shots xx
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This is a very nice gradient, I love how it turned out! ♥
Thank you so much! It’s one of my favourites
So pretty! Your nails and manis are soo beautiful! 🙂