Funky Gradient Nails

9:00:00 AM

Happy Sunday!  Let me start off by saying that these past few weeks have been a blur!  There really isn't much going on in my personal life other than work and well, more work.  Here on the blog though, it's been quite exciting.  If you don't follow me on Twitter or Facebook, then you are probably unaware that I am now a Guru for the Nail Art Society!  I seriously couldn't be happier and never thought that I would be considered a nail art guru.  You should check out the guru page that NAS created for me, as well as the other amazing gurus!

The best way for me to explain the Nail Art Society is that they are the Julep of the nail art world.  For $9.95 a month, NAS sends subscribers kits which contain tools for you to create your own unique manicures.  In the re-launch kit, subscribers will be receiving four Orly Instant Artist Water Based Polishes.  The colors are Hot Blue, Jet Black, Crisp White, and Platinum.  There also will be some water decals which I have yet to play around with.
  
I will be talking more about NAS and the re-launch in my next post since this manicure wasn't what I originally was planning on doing when I got the polishes.  I had the greatest idea using Jet Black and Crisp White, but it crashed and burned when I tried to translate it onto my nails.  Reason being, I'm not accustomed to using striper polishes, which these Instant Artist polishes are.  Typically when doing thin lines, I use my nail art brushes, so this was a whole new experience.  

When my idea failed, I opted for a trusty gradient with a unique design to get used to the brush.  Let's take a look at the manicure!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - I'm With the Lifeguard, Splish Splash, Sun Kissed, Hang Ten Toes, Flip Flop Fantasy
  • Funky Fingers - Riot!
  • INM - Northern Lights
  • Orly Instant Artist - Jet Black
To get the look, I started off with a base coat of a thin white polish.  When it was dried, I did a make up sponge gradient using the six neons listed above.  I dabbed the sponge on a couple of times to get the colors to really pop.  Before I talk about the Instant Artist polish, I must tell you my genius idea!  Before I did the gradient, I took painters tape and taped off my cuticles and all around my nails!  This way, when I sponged the polish on my nail, it went only on the nail and not on my skin!!  It quickly peeled off and I had little to no clean up!  For as much as I do gradients, I'm shocked I never thought of this before!  Since I was new to doing this, you can still see some white on the edges, but now I know where to put the tape that hopefully next time I get full gradient coverage.

After I got the colors popping just enough, I added a quick thin coat of INM Northern Lights to make them sparkly.  Loving that holo glitter.  Then came striper polish time, the nerve racking striper time.  I started by making three lines down the nail.  I was shocked with how easy the brush was to work with in comparison to other artist polishes I've used.  Typically they're long and awkward which makes it nearly impossible to create a decent design.  I added a few more random lines to play around with different angles using the brush.  It may look a little overboard, but it was well worth it in the end!

What do you think?  Fan of striper polishes?  Ever used an Orly Instant Artist?

Again, thank you NAS for naming me as one of your gurus.  I'm still beyond honored!  Next post (or maybe the one after depending on how fast I get the photos up), I will show you the other colors and a nail art design I created using all of them!  Just a disclaimer, the only polish in this post from the NAS kit is Orly Instant Artist Jet Black, which is the black outlining.  You would have to purchase your own polishes for a gradient if you like this look and want to recreate. :)

Until next time, <3.



**Orly Instant Artist was provided to me by the Nail Art Society for promotional purposes.  All other polishes I purchased.  Please see my Disclosure Policy**

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