Manicure Mondays: Glitter Ombre

I'm quite literally obsessed with painting my nails... on a tri-weekly basis. My nails are begging for air, but I can't help it! I just love trying new combinations, techniques and colors on them - especially now that it's summer! I've been seeing ombre nails everywhere lately and I've tried it before, but was never really successful at them... until now.

Ombre basically means color gradation, fading from one color to another or just from darker to lighter. Ombre with solid colors is extremely hard, that's why I kept on failing. But... ombre with glitter... much, much easier and much, much sexier.

I tried two techniques, one with loose glitter and one with a glitter polish. After seeing one of my favorite fashion bloggers give a mini-tutorial, I knew I had to try it. You can look at her blog for the tutorial, since being that I am the one that takes photos and I am the one whose nails I'm doing... it's pretty impossible to give you a tutorial myself!

{what i used}

CND stickey anchoring base coat

ORLY glitz & glamour (base color for all other nails)

OPI spark de triomphe (top glitter coat for all other nails)

Santee rich gold (for the accent nail base color)

Sallygirl sparkle effects loose glitter in gold (glitter for the accent nail)

Seche Vite dry fast topcoat

Nicole by OPI drying drops

For another manicure, I decided to do a glitter ombre manicure again but using a different method. This time, I painted my nails one base color, in this case, a gorgeously metallic foil gold-silver. Can you believe I got this for a buck?! One of my favorite polishes ever.

After letting the base color dry completely, use a glitter polish to gradate glitter from the middle of your nail to the tips. I recommend using a glitter polish that has a combination of both large and small glitters. I used Deborah Lippmann's 'Today was a Fairytale.' It's super pricey but her glitter polishes are way worth it! They are the most unique and gorgeous polishes ever and you can't find anything like them. I also recommend using a glitter polish that isn't opaque, it should be somewhat sheer so that you can build upon the glitter opacity.

Basically, paint one light coat of glitter starting halfway down your nail. Let it dry, then paint another coat a fourth of the way down from the tip. Let it dry again, then add one last layer at the very tip, that way the glitter will be most concentrated at the tip! Ta-da, ombre! Finish off with a topcoat and my favorite invention ever: drying drops - they make your polish dry to the touch in one minute and completely in five - a life saver.

{what i used}

CND stickey anchoring base coat

Santee rich gold

Deborah Lippmann today was a fairytale

Seche Vite dry fast topcoat

Nicole by OPI drying drops