Sunset wonder

One of my favourite things in the world is sunsets... they never since to amaze me. I saw a fantastic sunset sky this weekend while have a boozy picnic in Hyde Park, which has spurred me on to try gradient nails. They're really on trend right now and there's some amazing combos being created in the blogger community. There's two techniques - sponging or merging the colours by sweeping an acetone dipped brush along where your chosen colours join. I decided to try the sponging technique and here's the result...

I'm pretty pleased with the colour combo, given it's my first attempt, but I definitely need to work on the blending and layering!

I started with two coats of Marks & Spencer Nail Colour in Soft Orange and once dry I started the sponging process. Just using a cut off section of a regular washing up sponge, I painted on a layer of Stargazer Nail Polish shade 121 directly on to the sponge, which I then dabbed over the top half of each nail. This created a dappled effect. I repeated this, moving the sponge a little further up the nail so a graduation of colour was created. Finally, to give a more dense colour on the tip, I painted directly on to the very top of each nail and then used the sponge to soften any lines. I finished off with a coat of INM Out the Door quick dry top coat.

The kit

Next time I'm going to try three colours and concentrate on blending!

Happy painting... the nailist xxx