Hi everyone. I’ve got some news today: I’m a challenge loser. I was supposed to join a Valentine’s Day Challenge, and I was all pumped and even completed 3 of my 5 manis this weekend…and then I ruined my SD card and lost them all. I am so sad about this and feel kind of defeated, but I hope that tomorrow I will have some time to recreate the manis I lost. Sadly I will be missing the first day but hope that I can get back on track because it’s only a 5 day challenge! Since I didn’t want to NOT post today, I decided to share with you a gradient I did. If you follow me on facebook, you may recall my posts (here and here) asking for advice on how to do a gradient because I’m such a gradient loser. A couple of weeks ago I was lamenting to a few friends how ugly my gradients are and how I always hope my gradients would turn out like Sarah’s from Chalkboard Nails. Sadly, they always end up looking like I did them with my toes. One of my friends told me to stop comparing my gradients to hers because she’s not human. lol Seriously, though–how amazing are her gradients? I was drooling over her black and white Leather Gradient and thought that maybe I would be able to do something similar. Let’s take a look at what I feel is my first semi-successful gradient:
I started off with 2 coats of OPI This Gown Needs A Crown. I love this polish!
I then used OPI 4 In The Morning which is a black satin polish from the Gwen Stefani collection to sponge on the gradient. I used a rough and porous latex sponge and applied the two polishes directly on it and sponged the polishes on twice to get them to blend well.
I think that you can see the gradient effect a lot more clearly in this picture. I’m kind of proud of myself right now because I have struggled with so many of these techniques forever so it feel like I just conquered my second Everest (water marbling being my first).
Is it pathetic to be all excited about a manicure? Hey, it’s the little things that make me happy, ok? So what do you think of my gradient? Win or fail? Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I will talk to you soon.
You nailed it! It looks fantastic to me.
Thank you so much! 😀
Totally win!!! I love this gradient! I get super excited over my manicures as well 😀
iriel recently posted..Austen-esque
Yaaaay! 🙂 I feel so accomplished. lol
That is a total win! I need to work on mine as they’ve been coming out crappy as of late. Shame about the sd card though, hopefully you can get caught up. 🙂
Ashlee(PaintedNubbs) recently posted..Valentine’s Nail Art #2
I hope that I’m not a one hit wonder. I’m going to have to try this again with regular creme polishes.
I think you did a great job with this. I had a hard time with gradients too. The line between the polishes always seemed too harsh. I finally figured them out around Christmas time and was way more excited than my kids thought I should be. =) Next thing you know you’ll master watermarbeling! Love the color combination by the way.
Lustrous Lacquer recently posted..What’s in a finish? – Holographic
Thank you so much. I do need more practice and I’m happy that I’m not the only one who gets crazy excited when I do a nice mani. 🙂
Beautiful job! I keep on seeing gorgeous ones and looking at mine and wincing, so you are an inspiration!
Awww! You’re so sweet. I’m proof that practice helps. 🙂
Epic win, that is one solid gradient!! The real question here is why doesn’t everyone get excited over great manicures? I saw the Cdn, Dufour-Lapointe, sisters who won gold and silver in moguls interviewed at Sochi and they were sporting some very cool mani’s!
LOL! I totally agree. We all need to rejoice awesome manis.
Looks awesome!! Good job!
Nicole recently posted..Stamping Saturday
Thanks, Nicole.
Looks like a perfect gradient to me! 😉
Lisa N. recently posted..Orly Emberstone
Thank you, Lisa.
Yes, gradient success! Very nice!
Yay! 🙂
Gorgeous! i love textured gradients <3
Squeaky Q recently posted..Pastel Floral (inspired by MrCandiipants)
Thank you so much!
That’s gorgeous – I’ve never done a gradient with textured polishes before but it works so well! I’m definitely going to try it.
Rachel T recently posted..Nail-Art-A-Go-Go Challenge Day 7: Primary
I wouldn’t have thought of it either if I hadn’t seen Sarah do it. 🙂
I love this gradient, it’s flawless!
Thank you, Erin!
UM this is an absolutely flawless gradient!! I plan on doing a gradient look later this week and now I am self conscious that it will suck haha!
Bailey recently posted..New Beauty Products from LUSH
Awww–yours will be great…and thank you! 🙂
It looks great! 😀 Love both of the polishes!
Thank you so much!
Love it! I have never heard of this, I wish I was so talented! I love your blog, you really show you are a normal person and not some mani snob lol
Awww…thank you, Kim. If I ever become a mani snob, you can all just shoot me. 😉
This is the first textured mani that I have liked (and between us, I like yours better.) I have some issues with texture on my nails, it makes me cringe just thinking about it rubbing against material. I even have issues with glitters. So, kudos for not creeping me out too much! 😉
LOL When textures first came out, all I could think of was the rough polish rubbing on flannel and that was enough to make me not wear them. I totally feel you. But thank you for the compliment! 🙂
This is gorgeous! I love silver and black together 🙂
thebubblybrunette recently posted..Candy Hearts
Thank you so much! 🙂
Holy crap dude, when I saw this on FB I thought you used textures. This is awesome, you are such an overachiever…I hate you. Pretty soon you will be achieving non human status as well 😛
Frosso recently posted..China Glaze Tail Me Something
lol…I love how much we tell each other that we hate one another. 😛
Definitely a win! It looks great 🙂 I think I may have to give gradients another try myself!
Rebecca recently posted..Bloglovin’
Thank you! Yes, try and try again. I had to try it so many times before I got anywhere near this. Let’s just hope it’s not a fluke.
Um, DEFINITELY a win! These two polishes look melded together…it’s fantastic.
Sorry about the SD card frustration and being a challenge loser. If it makes you feel any better, I am a challenge loser, too. I only had five weeks to commit to, and I failed on the fourth due to being sort of on work travel (although I intended to make it up and didn’t), and I hate my Valentine’s Day manicure, so I think I’m just going to cut my losses and give up rather than force a new one. Womp womp! I will just stare at this pretty gradient as consolation.
We are both major challenge losers. With all my health and meds drama, I just thought I would stop stressing over the challenge. I really wanted to do it, but look how worked up I am about all the other stuff…not the right time, I guess.
I have never thought your gradients are shit but this is the best one in terms of blending those colours. It is absolutely perfect