Materials I used:
Base coat - Seche Vite
White base polish - Sinful Colors 'Snow Me White'
Three colors of polish for gradient - Lucky Lacquer 'Teal We Meet Again,' 'Spring Charm,' and 'Sweet Pea' (see swatches here)
Single chevron vinyls from nailvinyls.com
Liquid latex (not shown in picture) or something to cover the skin around your nails to make clean up quicker.
Makeup sponge
Top coat - Rica 'Glam Gloss'
I started off with my white base polish and allowed it to dry completely. Some people prefer to use their lightest shade of polish when creating a gradient. I choose white because of the design, and because it helps to brighten the sponged polishes without too many layers.
I then used my single chevron vinyls and created a boxed pattern. Yes, I did intentionally make them off center. If you would like your box pattern to be more centered, I would recommend using straight vinyls or striping tape and create a t-shape centered over the entire nail and then use individual tapes or single chevrons to do the corners. After I placed my vinyls I applied my liquid latex mask around my nails to help with clean up, the mask I'm using is from Ellagee.com. I then used a makeup sponge and sponged my gradient over the white. Top to bottom on the sponge the colors are 'Teal We Meet Again,' 'Spring Charm,' and 'Sweet Pea.' I sponged about three coats and then removed my tapes and mask. I performed a bit of clean up with acetone and a brush, I also touched up some of the white stripes with a white nail art stripper.
I created the geometric gradient on my mid and ring fingers. Originally, I had intended to leave all my other fingers white, however, I really like this gradient combination so I just did a basic gradient on all my other nails. I also topped this off with Rica 'Glam Gloss' top coat for extra shine. I have had problems in the past with this top coat bleeding, but I gave ample time for the nail art to dry before applying the top coat this time and I had no problems.
This gradient kind of reminds me of a sunset, well the colors not the geometric pattern part of it. However, I thing the geometric design changes it up a bit. I did debate putting China Glaze 'Fairy Dust' over the top of this but I decide not to do it this time, since I did it on the previous gradient I created. Did you notice that both of my hands are in some of the pictures? I finally got a new tripod, so I can start doing double hand shots again.
If you are a newbie nail artist that is looking to improve on your photography set up, I highly recommend you invest in a tripod for your photo equipment, even if you are using a cell phone. Not only does it allow you to photograph both of your hands, but it helps create consistent, clear pictures. I have very unsteady hands, trying to hold my camera to take a pictures is not very reliable, they often come out blurry and out of focus because I can't keep still. Just a minor pointer for those of you looking to up your nail art photography game.
I hope you like this nail art design, and found the tutorial and my little photography recommendation useful. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.
Your Fellow Plebe,
