Gradient and Roses in Nail Polish Design

Manicures is a fun way for women (and men) to express themselves; however, getting your nails done by a professional can be costly. Doing your own nail designs is a fun way to express yourself for a cheap price. This tutorial will teach you two techniques for nail art: a gradient effect, and a floral design. This two techniques can be used in order to achieve the suggested design, or can be used separately to make your own: let your creativity go wild.

Disclaimer

Although the following techniques are simple in concept, they can be difficult to excuse to those who lack fine motor skills. In order to achieve best result, practice the techniques of a piece of tin foil or paper first.

Materials needed

 Nail polish: specifically, 1 light and 1 dark color.

 Top and Base coat

 Toothpick, wooden skewer, or a tiny brush.

 Makeup sponge.

Optional materials:

 Tin foil

 Acetone and a tiny brush for clean up

Apply a base coat. Base coats are essential to smooth out your nail bed, protect your nails from damage, and make sure your manicure lasts for as long as possible!

Apply the lighter of the two colors you’ve chosen. Make sure the nail polish covers the entire nail. Two or three coats may be required to achieve an opaque color. Wait until the nail polish dries before moving on to the next step.

With the darker color, apply a few coats on the makeup sponge. Dub the sponge on the tin foil once or twice to remove access nail polish.

Sponge the color at one end of the nail. Use only a few coats on the area you want to gradient. Then, continue to dub coats at the end of the nail, so the very tip becomes dark in relationship to the beginning of the gradient. Wait until the color dries to move on to the next step.

Put top coat on top of your manicure. Top coat will blend the two colors together and make the edge seamless. In addition, top coat smooth’s your manicure, and insures your manicure lasts for as long as possible. Wait until the top coat dries to move on to the next step.

With the darker color, put a blob of color on the darker portion of your manicure. Let the blob set for a bit, but make sure it does not dry. Practice this step on a tin foil or a piece of paper to know exactly how long you should wait.

Put some of the lighter nail polish on the tin foil (or another surface). Pick the color up using the toothpick, brush or wooden skewer. The amount you will need to pick up varies on your nail polish – make sure to practice this step to know the perfect dark to light ratio.

Transfer the light colored blob from your toothpick to the dark colored blob. Put the light colored blob in the middle of the dark colored blob.

Swirl the color around until they look like a rose. Make sure not to swirl the two colors too much, as they will mix together instead of making a rose. Practicing this step is essential for success.

Finish the design up by adding more roses. Wait for the polish to dry before moving on to the next step.

Apply a final top coat. Clean up around your nails using nail polish remover.

You’re now done!