Metallic Gradient

Good morning everyone! A couple of weeks ago I was browsing on /r/RedditLaqueristas [sic] and I saw a breathtaking metallic gradient that I have since not been able to locate. While I am a fan of gradients and have been doing them for a while, I always stick to using creme polishes. I am so excited to show this to you all because I think that metallic gradients are the best thing ever!

Are you guys drooling yet? 

I could have worn this manicure for an entire week, that's how much I love it. I used a base of OPI Unfor-Greta-bly Blue, then did a sponge gradient with Quo by ORLY Filthy Rich and OPI The Show Must Go On!

I want to try this out with ALL the metallic or shimmery polishes that I have. Unfortunately, they make up the minority of my collection.

The one single thing that I would modify would be changing the pink-red colour because I think it appears a little too red for my liking when I was going for a more pinky-orange. Could you imagine MAC Bad Fairy sponged in there? 

Alright. Be honest. How many of you are adding this to your to do list? It's so easy - it literally took me less than ten minutes and it is SO stunning.

Pretty Pink Gradient

Hi everyone! Sorry for the absence for a little bit, I feel like I say this every post, but I'm so busy all the time. Man I wish it were summer again, I guess that's one of the huge perks of being a student. Today I have a really pretty gradient to show you all that I did about a week ago using three OPI colours.

This reminds me of fairy princesses or something, it's so sweet and girly. I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and OPI Mod About You, as well as OPI Pirouette my Whistle layered over top.

What do you guys think of this look? Too girly for you? I think I'll be using Pirouette my Whistle a lot more this holiday season, it reminds me of snow falling!

This was a nice change after all the Halloween manicures I was wearing. 

Opinions on this look? Too girly for you? What about some other colours - maybe blue to white?

Day 31 - Recreate your Favourite Challenge

Hello ladies! Sorry for finishing up the challenge a little late, I forgot how busy the end of August always is! For the recreate my favourite challenge option, I decided to recreate gradient nails from Day 10 - that was so long ago now! I love the look of gradients, and I think with practice I can only keep getting better!

For this gradient I used Zoya Arizona, Zoya Reagan, and Zoya Wednesday. I love the way this turned out! I love gradients, what can I say.

I love the way the blue and the magenta blend together into a very pretty purple.

The thing that my hand is posing with in this photos is my boyfriend Daniel's hand, in case you were wondering!

On one hand, I'm so relieved that the challenge is over, it's been so demanding. On the other hand, I am going to miss having inspiration every day and posting alongside a brilliant group of ladies. I had so much fun participating in this challenge during the month of August and I absolutely want to do another challenge someday. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read my daily submissions!

Day 10 - Gradient

Hi everyone! Look, we're one third of the way done the challenge already! I think I for one will be really sad to see it end. Today I got to do some really fun gradient nails, and ever since discovering this brilliant tutorial by The Nailasaurus I am obsessed with all the beautiful gradients I can now create with ease.

To make this soft and pretty gradient I used OPI Do you Lilac It?, OPI Pink Friday, and Zoya Wednesday.

This is so pretty, I just can't get over it! I want to do ALL the gradients!

Let's have a look at what everyone else came up with for today's theme!

Hello Pastel Gradient

Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA this week, I haven't even been that busy I just loved my last mani so much I put off removing it until just the other day. Today I have my first potential entry into Rebecca from Rebecca Likes Nails' nail art contest! I am determined to win the $25 giftcard to Ninja Polish, so I'm going to be trying out a few designs and hopefully you guys can give me some feedback! 
To give you context for the challenge, Rebecca wants to see nails that are all about her favourite things! If you've ever read Rebecca's blog, you'll understand why she chose "gradients, animal print, bows, dots, and Hello Kitty" as the theme for this competition. I had mapped out a few designs in my head, wanting to include all of the themes to maximize my chances of winning, but I'm having trouble coming up with designs that aren't too tacky, for lack of a better word. 

So in this design I have tried to incorporate a pastel gradient, polka dots, Hello Kitty and of course her bow! I used OPI Pink Friday for the accent nail and for the pink in the gradient, OPI Do You Lilac It? for the purple in the gradient, China Glaze For Audrey for the blue in the gradient, OPI Alpine Snow for the polka dots and Hello Kitty's face, Quo by ORLY Red Hot for her pretty little bow, China Glaze Liquid Leather for the black features, and one tiny drop of Love & Beauty yellow.
Keep reading for some more photos.

Pink Zebra Gradient

Hello there lovely followers and welcome to the first installment of my Valentine's Day 2012 series! I love Valentine's Day, I think it's a lovely holiday and I don't really care if it's "too commercial," I think it's sweet. Over the next two and a half weeks I'm going to be showing you guys some designs that I might wear for V-Day. Without further adieu, my Pink Zebra Gradient mani..

So let me try to offer an explanation for my giant gap first of all. When I sat down to do this mani I was going to water marble, but maybe it was too cold or something but none of my polishes were spreading. I had put down a base of OPI Steady as She Rose but assuming I would be marbling, I'd clean up the mani after. Buuuuut..that never happened so now I have a messy and large gap, sorry!

To get this look I layered two coats of OPI Steady as She Rose, then I sponged on OPI Pink Friday, and finally used a sponge and OPI Strawberry Margarita for the tips. I stamped with China Glaze Liquid Leather and Konad plate m57. I really liked the way these looked and I got a tonne of compliments. Even my roommate who is apathetic towards nails was intrigued. Keep reading for more photos!

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

This might actually be one of my favourite manis to date, and it's something I want to try over and over again because each nail is so different. Behold...what I tried to make look like stained glass but it just ended up looking like sno-cone behind white bars!

What do you guys think?! The colours I used for the sponging, which might be my new obsession, were OPI Did It On 'Em, Fly, Funkey Dunkey, Pink Friday and The Thrill of Brazil, China Glaze Papaya Punch, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lightning all over a base of OPI Alpine Snow. I'm thrilled with how this turned out!

Gold Plated

Ready for the second day back to the routine? I'm excited to try out my new classes today, it's Tuesday meaning I have Social Psychology and History of Latin America since 1825. I'm predicting these to be my two favourite classes, and therefore Tuesdays and Thursdays to be my favourite days. What classes do you have today, or are you working? Still on vacation?
As you saw yesterday I put on two coats of Essie Jamaica Me Crazy, but I wanted to spice it up a little bit. The other day I picked up makeup sponges and used them for the first time in my sock monkey mani, but this time I wanted to try a different type of sponging, sort of like a gradient! Here goes!

I love how these two look together! I used Quo by ORLY Filthy Rick as the gold polish.