french manicure gradient

HELLO all! Earlier today, I had a random strong urge to blog. It's been months and months since I last posted, so I hope that you all haven't forgotten about me. It's been a busy year, probably my busiest yet, but it's indeed been a great one. I've still been painting my nails regularly and posting them on Instagram (@c4rped1em; I'm obsessed), but I just haven't had that extra bit of time to post them on here. In order to get back into the swing of things, I'm going to back-post and post all of the manicures I've done over the past few months. I'll also post some new ones, of course.

I'm excited to check out all of your blogs and see how everyone is doing! As for today's post, I'll be showing you a manicure I did last week that I absolutely loved.

It's called a French manicure gradient, and I got the idea from Sarah at Chalkboard Nails. I've been wanting to try this for a while, but for some reason I thought it would be really difficult. Of course it turned out to be pretty easy! It's just a simple gradient. Take a look:

For this manicure, I used my favorite white, OPI Alpine Snow. The pink is Essie Better Together, another favorite of mine. I debated which pink/nude to use for a good ten minutes, but I ended up choosing this gorgeous Essie and I'm glad I did. 

How can you get this look? Easy! First, paint on two or three coats of your sheer pink or nude. I used three coats. Then, paint on one coat of your fast-dry top coat of choice. For me, it's Poshé, which is GREAT if you haven't tried it. (Think Seche Vite but even better: you can use up pretty much the entire bottle without the lacquer getting thick and goopy! It also makes my polish last substantially longer than most other base coats.) Next, grab a triangular makeup sponge (one of these) and a piece of paper or aluminum foil to act as a surface to put the polish on. Swipe on some white next to your choice of a pink or nude polish, about as thick as your nail or so. Push the makeup sponge on top of the polish, then carefully sponge the polish on to your nail, one by one. How much white you choose to use is up to you, and depends on how long your nails are. I did each nail twice to make the white stand out more. Once the polish dries, swipe on another coat of top coat and clean around your edges if necessary. 

Have you tried this look before? I think it's an awesome take on a classic and always chic look.

If you're looking for some new polish, check out my blog sale!