ombre – Adventures in Polishland

Tag: ombre

Saran Wrap Ombré Manicure for Valentine’s Day featuring Zoya Nail Polish!

Posted on January 23, 2015August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Friday! January is coming to a close soon, and that means Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. I wanted to create a festive manicure for the holiday of love that was a bit different than the looks I’ve created in the past. I got to thinking and came up with what I think is a super fun and easy nail art look! I raided my Zoya Nail Polish stash and found the shades that I needed. Let me show you what I’ve dubbed the Saran Wrap Ombré!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

For this manicure, I used an off-white base and five polishes ranging from light pink to red. I used all creme formulas for this manicure. You can choose whatever you have in your collection, but the shades I used, from lightest to darkest, are:

Zoya Jacqueline
Zoya Dot
Zoya Kitridge
Zoya Wendy
Zoya Rocha
Zoya Livingston

All of these polishes are available on Zoya’s website HERE.

Saran wrap nail art is super easy to create! I learned this technique from THIS Pin a few years back. All you have to do is paint your nails with a base color (here, Jacqueline). Once your base is dry, layer a coat of another color polish on top of your base and dab a small ball of saran wrap over your nail. You will get a cool marbled effect! Let your nails dry (they will look quite textured) and use a glossy top coat to even out the layers. I used two coats of top coat to get a flawless finish.

This manicure can be a little messy to create, so I recommend you use separate pieces of saran wrap for each color polish. When you’re finished, take a Q-tip or clean-up brush and go around your cuticles with acetone to remove any excess. You will be left with a beautiful ombré manicure that is tied together with the marbled effect. I think it looks stunning!

All in all, I hope you liked this simple Valentine’s Day manicure featuring Zoya Nail Polish! Of course, you can use the saran wrap technique with any polishes and any colors you choose. I will definitely be using this technique more, as I forgot how easy it is to create and how great it looks! Please let me know in the comments if you’ve ever tried a saran wrap manicure, and what your manicure for Valentine’s Day this year will be!

The products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Pinspiration | Eyeshadow Sponge Gradient Nails

Posted on March 27, 2014August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Thursday! I’ve been trying to perfect gradient nails since I started this blog nearly two years ago. No matter what method I try, I just can’t get it down! I recently spotted THIS pin that suggested an eyeshadow sponge as the tool to use when creating a gradient manicure, so I had to give it a try. I first tested it out with Zoya’s new polishes (see that post HERE), but wanted to create another look. Let me show you my gradient nails!

To create this look I used two of my all-time favorite polishes – Essie Butler Please and Essie Play Date. First, I painted a full manicure using Butler Please. I let that dry a bit, and then took a clean eyeshadow sponge, added a drop of Play Date to it, and carefully dabbed it at the top of each nail. Then, I used the other side of the applicator, and repeated the process with Butler Please until I got the look the way I liked it. I completed the manicure by adding a coat of Essie Good to Go! top coat.

I am loving the result! It’s still not quite perfect, but I’m really getting the hang of this gradient method, and plan on using it for all my gradient looks in the future. Not only is this technique simple, but you can use nearly any nail polishes you like. If you don’t have any spare eyeshadow sponges, check your local drugstore or grab THIS pack on Amazon. They are super affordable, and one pack will last for several manicures. Let me know what you think of my eyeshadow sponge gradient in the comments!

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Gradient Nails featuring Milani Textured Creams for Fall

Posted on October 29, 2013August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Tuesday! I’ve been wanting to post a gradient manicure on Adventures in Polishland since it’s creation, but I’ve never been able to master the technique. When trying out the new Milani Textured Creams collection, I knew I just had to give the gradient another try. Let me show you how it turned out!

I used both Gracious Green and Lovely Lavender to create this manicure. First, I added added a thin coat of each polish to roughly half of each nail. It doesn’t have to be precise, since the colors will be smudged together anyway. The next step is taking a cosmetic wedge, and placing a bit of each color on it. Then, smudge the sponge carefully over each nail to blur the colors together. And that’s it! For more help, check out THIS tutorial on Pinterest.

I really like the way this gradient turned out! The textured finish is very forgiving, and makes for some easy nail art. I can’t wait to use this technique again, and maybe even use three colors. For a full review of the Milani polishes used in this post, including where to purchase them, see THIS blog post.

The products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

An Ocean of Ombre

Posted on June 11, 2012August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Two hot trends this summer are ocean hues and ombres, showcased on nails, accessories, and apparel. I decided to combine both of them on my nails using a variety of polishes from my collection. You can buy an ombre kit at Sephora right now for $22 (click HERE for details), but by using polishes I already owned, and a sheet of white scrap paper, I didn’t have to spend any cash. Plus, each of the colors I used was purchased at a drugstore and would total under $17 anyway– about $5 in savings! Here’s how I achieved the Ocean Ombre look.

First, I picked out the five blue shades I was going to use. Luckily I currently have exactly five blues! To ensure that I would achieve light to dark shading, I painted two light coats of each polish on a piece of white scrap paper, cut out each sample, and rearranged the order. Once I was happy with the colors, I got painting! I started off with the lightest color on my pinky, and ended with the darkest on my thumb. Lightest to darkest, I used Empire State Blue by NYC, Blu by Sally Hansen HD, Blue Me Away! by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Plenty of Fish in the Sea by Spoiled, and Party Palace Blue by Confetti. Even though each of these colors was from a different brand, with some being cremes and others metallic, they all looked great together.

What do you think of the finished product?! I received many compliments on this manicure from my coworkers and from customers at my retail job. And even though it looks fancy, it was so easy to accomplish! The ombre trend can be perfected with any color palette. If you don’t have 5 shades of one color like I did, try sunset colors– pink to red, red to orange. You could also use neutrals with white, cream, grey, and black. Or, if you’d like to stick with the ocean hues, but only have a few shades of blue, alternate the colors. The key is to use the polishes you already own in a new way. You don’t always have to spend money for a new look!

Try out one (or both!) of these trends and let me know how it turned out in the comments section or on my Facebook page!