40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Week 4 Orange, Purple, and Green + Reciprocal Gradient

Oh, boy, was this a toughie of a challenge!  I had reciprocal gradient as the pattern challenge and while I was familiar with it, I couldn't exactly remember what it was so I had to look it up.  I was also a little apprehensive because I've not actually done a gradient at all yet, but I knew enough about this cool technique to wonder if the colors weren't going to work well or just look like a hot mess (spoiler alert: I was right).  Thanks to a great Youtube tutorial by My Simple Little Pleasures, I was quickly able to learn how easy it is.  Patience and time are the key!  So I sucked it up and dove in.

Picking colors from my stash was hard.  I don't really own orange, and not much plain green.  It also doesn't help all my polish is currently stored in boxes due to my living situation so searching is a litte harder.  :)  The recent A Box, Indied had all three colors, but I felt the purple was too sheer for this and didn't "go" well in tone.  I felt a plummy purple was more appropriate.  However, I worried this darker color palette would be difficult for a gradient, even though I liked the undertones of the color combo.  I decided to risk it anyways.

I used Different Dimension Witch & Fabulous as the orange and Colors by Llarowe Doctor Bombay's Potion as the green, both from the October A Box, Indied.  From CbL's fall collection 2015 I chose Aubergine Dreams as the purple.  Luckily, because I had been wanting to try a gradient for a while I already had on hand Glisten & Glow's Ctrl-Alt-Del latex barrier.  Despite being scented, it smells like bathroom cleaner to me.  Although it doesn't bother me, I have read reviews previously to be cautious that it does bother some noses.  It is incredibly easy to apply, but I do need more practice on where to place it to get best results (there's some cracks and cervices I missed).  This stuff is awesome enough, though, that I might use it on every mani!  Especially since I'm lazy and also not skilled with clean-up (which you'll see from my pics below).

Doing a gradient is incredibly easy - I just painted onto up&up latex free foam cosmetic wedges - it's the waiting part that's the hardest.  I had to do several layers to get the orange to show, but it did eventually (kind of) work.  I used chevron vinyls to create striping down the middle to reveal the reciprocal aspect.  I've recently discovered the awesomeness that is Girly Bits' Glitter Glaze quick dry top coat - dries super fast, super tough, and super glossy that makes holo and glitter pop.

While this isn't my most favorite mani I've done, I am proud of my sponging technique on first try.  Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Shade lighting

Shade with indirect sunlight

Full sun in an attempt to show all the glitter and holo

Disclaimer: items were purchased by me for my personal use.  All opinions are my own.  No affiliation with the brands mentioned in this post

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Mani: #52WPNMC with Superficially Colorful Tsahik Accented by Darling Diva The Alchemist and Dark Ritual

This week's Monday Mani features red, orange, and green from the #52WPNMC nail art challenge.  My mani was inspired by Lacquerologist's gorgeous mani from last week, which I discovered in my feed on Instagram and you can find on her blog here (and, yes, I SO want that KBShimmer now!).

I used Superficially Colorful in Tsahik for the orange, Darling Diva in The Alchemist for the red, and Darling Diva in Dark Ritual for the green.  I'm not a big fan of orange in general and, thus, don't have really any in my stash, so I thought I was *really* stretching it using Tsahik, but thought I could roll with it since it's described as a bright holographic orange/coral red polish.  What I discovered pleasantly surprised me: while in indoor lighting it clearly leans coral in hue, in the outdoors it lights up to an almost-neon orange.  Crazy cool!  Formula was ah-mazing on this, and could easily be a one coater depending on how you applied it.  I went for two thin coats.  As is the case with my Darling Diva polishes, no application issues there either.  Although I was a little impatient applying topcoat (need to get better about that!), it really brought out the holo in Tsahik, which otherwise dries as semi-matte.  Dark Ritual is a deep blackened evergreen linear holo and The Alchemist is a bright red holo.

Tell me in the comments what you think!  It's hard to put these colors together - did I pull it off?

Indirect outdoor lighting under shade

Full shade

Full shade

Full direct sun

Monday Mani is about showcasing beautiful indie polishes that I've purchased through lifestyle shots. So many swatches out there are captured under lighting and conditions that aren't common of every day. My intention is to show mani's under typical lighting and wearing conditions so you can decide if the beauty is right for you or not. Please note that although colors are accurate on my computer monitor (Macbook Pro), colors do vary among devices. Professional blogger swatches are perfect - here's my life lessons from a handmade artisan.

Disclaimer: All reviews and opinions are my own. Products were purchased with my own money. No affiliation with Superficially Colorful, Darling Diva, and their respective products.

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Mani: Colors by Llarowe in Nice Melons!

Today's handmade polish mani features Colors by Llarowe in Nice Melons! (from the Summer 2014 collection), a 5-free indie nail polish company located in Colorado.

Right now I have nubbins, which I hate, so I decided I needed to celebrate with a nice juicy color before fall sets in here.  I forgot at the time I picked it out, but I've actually already worn this color before.  Doesn't matter, though, because it's SO amazing!  I love me some coral palettes, and Nice Melons! from Colors by Llarowe captures the yumminess of a cantaloupe while also looking coral-y.  In low lights, it leans pink, but in warmer lighting it leans orange.  LOVE IT.  Plus it's *holo* and what's there not to love about that?  Colors by Llarowe applies beautifully on my nails and dries fast with my body chemistry.  As always, I use Zoya Anchor and Zoya Armor as my bottom and top coats, respectfully.

These photos were taken outside on an overcast day to demonstrate the polish's midrange tones of color.

Disclaimer:  All products were purchased with my own money.  All reviews and opinions are my own. Not affiliated with Colors by Llarowe or Llarowe.com.