It’s been a while since you saw my nails on the blog but they are back. A couple of weeks ago I broke some nails and now that they have grown back, I thought I’d do a fresh manicure. Oh and I changed the shape of my nails too. They have been a round/ almond shape for a while and I wanted to switch it up. So ballerina/ coffin shape it is for the moment.
How to do a French Gradient
You start off with a nice light pink shade of nail polish. I used Pillow Pie from Smith & Cult.
I did two coats of the nail polish and let it dry completely. This way when you start creating the french gradient you won’t smudge the polish. For the gradient you will need your pink again and a white nail polish (here I’m using p2 gloss goes neon colour activator).
To paint the gradient on your nails, it’s best to use a sponge. Any sponge goes, as long as it’s clean. Now take the white nail polish and paint it on the top half of the sponge. Then take the pink and paint the bottom half of the sponge. Make sure to overlap the colours in the middle! This helps tremendously with getting a nice gradient!
What’s left to do, is to paint/sponge on the colours. Press the sponge down lightly on to the nail and go from side to side in a stippling motion. At the end it should look somewhat like this.
Viola – you just did a french gradient and now you just need to apply your favourite topcoat and you’re finished! Don’t worry if it sometimes doesn’t look like a nice gradient because the topcoat will take care of it. It will blend the colours even more together.
I decided to take it up a noch and embellish on of my nails with a nail charm. It has been ages since I used some and it just seemed fitting. I got a bunch of these gorgeous charms from aliexpress like a year ago or so. Here I have another post where I use them. A little topcoat or nail glue (for even stronger hold) goes a long way to secure the charm on your nail.
Now tell me, how do you like the nail design? Do you like french gradients? In the pictures it’s sometimes hard to catch the gradient but in real life it’s much more visible while still looking classy. I for sure prefer the french gradient to a traditional french manicure. Let me know what you think!
I hope you’re having a nice day and a fab weekend. Don’t forget to follow me on my social medias and follow the blog via Bloglovin or mail subscription. xx
Serious nail envy!! I really like this kind of design because it’s more subtle, not too over the top. xx
Sophia xx | http://sophiawhitham.co.uk
Thanks girl! It’s one of my fave designs up to date :). xx
You make it sound and look so easy! These are stunning! x
Thanks Parie, always admiring your nails too. And it actually is so easy (at least after one or two tries 😉 ) xx
Oh wow that actually sounds kind of easy. I’m so untalented when it comes to manicure but I definitely ought to try this. Looks bloody lovely.
Love, kerstin
http://www.missgetaway.com/
Thanks so much Kerstin. Just try it out yourself you will see it really is quite easy. xx
I love this – saw it on Pinterest first:) It’s honestly so beautiful! I wish I had long nails like you do but mine are terribly brittle and break as soon as they grow over the edge of my nail bed. Biting probably doesn’t help either meh. Yours are gorgeous! x
Thanks so much Tereza. I help my nails with a thing coat of gel so they won’t brake that easy when they’re long, but I guess I just was the lucky one in my family to be blessed with nice nails. xx
Ooh this look very nice. I need to learn on how to do this. xx
It’s really easy after one or two tries. I love doing some simple gradients ;). xx
I love this! I’m going to try it. 🙂
Thanks, happy you liked it. Let me know when you’ve tried it out! xx
Love these nails! How do you make it sound so easy? I travel a lot and need something I can do on the move, this doesn’t look too brash or seem to difficult to carry around/do on the road! thanks!
Katrina x
http://www.aquaandink.com