Happy Monday, all!
I couldn't decide if I should cut my nails before this mani or keep them longer. I am a violin player/teacher, so I can never have my nails (at least on my left hand) too long. But, I figured I'd leave them longer for just one more mani before chopping them! :-)
I am so so excited to be posting my first official "Monday Blues" mani! I am so happy to be a part of this group of lovely ladies...so excited that I ran out and bought two new blue polishes! :-)
Since my last gradient post was such a hit, I decided to do another gradient today! But I tried something new: I used three different colors instead of two. And I LOVE how it came out!
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finished product :-) |
I'm not sure why the thumb looks like it is all dinged up in this photo...it's not like that IRL, I swear! Instead of my usual Rimmel base coat, today I used something I picked up from the drugstore. I am always so nervous my nails will tear or break because they are somewhat thin, and I read recently about a great Sally Hansen product: Green Tea + Bamboo Strengthener. It went on very smoothly, and I can't wait to see if it really does what it claims to do.
Once that was dry, I used two coats of Revlon's 410 Dreamer. The bottle is a little bit weird because it doesn't have any brand or description on it, but it's such a pretty color, so who cares!? Here is a swatch of just this light blue color:
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Two coats of Revlon's 410 Dreamer with no top coat. |
I also picked up Essie's apricot cuticle oil this morning, because as you have probably noticed from past posts, my cuticles get very dry. I saw a review of it posted this morning by Liz over at Liquid Jelly, so I grabbed it for myself -- and so far, so good! (note to self: next time wash oil off of fingertips before typing a blog post - now my whole keyboard is oily!)
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Holding one of the new polishes I got this morning :-) |
For the gradient, I followed this tutorial, but altered it so that I had three colors instead of two. From light to dark, the colors are:
Revlon's 410 Dreamer (my base color)
I think all three colors work SO well together. However, I can't say that this is my best gradient... you can see a lot of the sponge marks, and it just did not blend as well as my last gradient, which you can view here.
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A closer (kinda blurry, sorry about that...) look |
To add a little something to the manicure, I pulled out my Bad Moon Rising by Lac Attack. It is a really pretty mixture of red, green, and blue hexes in a clear base. I fished out the blue colored hexes using a toothpick, and applied them around the outline of each of my ring finger nails. (ugh, I just looked down at my keyboard again... it's a cuticle-oily disaster!)
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My mani, pre-glitter hexes |
And, as always, I topped my mani off with a thick coat of NYC In a New York Minute Grand Central Station top coat. This top coat is starting to really thicken.. I think it's time I splurge and get a new $2 bottle...
gorge. love your gradients! they're always seamless <3
ReplyDeleteawe thanks feathers <3
DeleteWow,that gradient looks incredible, you're a total pro!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joanna!
DeleteThis is gorgeous!! :D
ReplyDeleteYou play violin?? So incredibly jealous!
Thank you! And yes I play violin :-) I've been playing since I was 9 years old.
ReplyDeleteBoth this and the post previous to this are great! 2 really well done gradients!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kas! :-) Glad you enjoyed them!
DeletePerfect gradient! Very pretty!
ReplyDeleteThank you Marisa!! :-) So glad to hear from you!!
DeleteGreat gradient! I really like how it came out. And welcome to Monday Blues!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mihaela! So happy to be part of the group :-)
DeleteThat gradient is gorgeous!
ReplyDelete