Practicing my gradients

I have been trying to perfect the gradient method for awhile. I have attempted it a few times, each time I walk away amazed with how beautiful it looks, but so disappointed with all my errors in application.

If I could just do a smooth perfect gradient I would be happy.



I love love love this color combination. For this gradient I used Essie Go Overboard, Zoya Alexa and Essie The More the Merrier to create a teal to lime green gradient. And just because I was not happy with the final result, I put some China Glaze Fairy Dust to cover up the imperfections.



I'll tell you my number one complaint about gradients, the white undercoat. White pigmented polish is from the devil. I have yet to find a white polish I am pleased with. Some gradients don't require a white undercoat, but I find in order for the colors to be bright and appear as they are in the bottle, the white undercoat is a must.

Unfortunately, white polish is never good in one coat. Usually takes at least two and then maybe a third depending on how chalky and streaky the formula is. And then when clean up is involved, you end up cleaning the edges and showing the white undercoat by accident.



As you can tell I tried to cover that up with a smaller brush, note the darker teal edges, trying to cover up the accidental white undercoat. In an attempt to make the gradient look a little better, I added a stamp to it.



I used my Lily Anna Plate 10 to stamp a coral looking design. It looked ok, but I think I prefer the gradient on its own. I just wish I could apply the gradient perfectly.



So now I plead with you dear readers, what tutorials help you with the perfect gradient? I've watched a million online tutorials and they all show the same thing, and it is never helpful. So do you have tricks for the perfect gradient? Please share them with me!!!

Sweet Heart Polish Club 33

Checkout this awesome glitter topper featuring Mickey Mouse glitter! This is Sweet Heart Polish Club 33 from the Disneyland or Bust collection.



This polish is a mix of gold stars, green matte and holographic clovers and black Mickey Mouse heads with gold glitter and gold shimmer in a clear base. There is quite a lot going on with this topper, and because of that (and an application issue) I thought I would try it over two different base colors. Above, I painted two coats over Zoya Tracie and below I painted two coats over Essie The More the Merrier.



Application: This polish was on the thick side and you did have to fish for the bigger glitter pieces (the clovers and the Mickey pieces), but I think the unique glitter pieces make up for it. The final product looks great and heralding from Southern California, anything Disney and I'm a fan! I think I liked the topper slightly more over the light green Tracie polish than over the lime green The More the Merrier polish.

Where to purchase: Sweet Heart Polishes retail for $9-$10 and you can purchase them from her Etsy shop! The Disneyland or Bust collection features a number of glitter toppers featuring the Mickey glitter and some bow glitters as well!

This polish was provided to me for my honest review, and here you have it! 

Posted by Traci at 9:00 AM 4 Comments

Emily De Molly Monet's Garden

This sparkle polish is amazing! Created and named for Monet's Garden in France, this polish is such a beautiful homage to Monet's beautiful garden!



The polish consists of green, lime, neon green, purple and blue glitter suspended in a green jelly base. I could not keep my eyes off this glitter! It was so beautiful. I'll show it in a variety of lighting so you can get a feel for it indoors and out.





Since I was so drawn to the neon lime pieces, I thought I'd add some chevron accents to highlight the neon green glitter in the polish.



The polish I used for the chevrons is Essie's The More the Merrier. I used nail vinyls to create the chevron look.





Application: I was so impressed with the application of this glitter. It went on in two coats and was not difficult to apply. No dabbing needed and the application did not drag the glitter. It was the best experience I've ever had with glitter application. Unfortunately, I really loved this polish and wore it for several days – took 30 minutes to remove! Curse you beautiful glitter!!!

Where to Purchase: Emily De Molly is an Austrailian nail polish brand, so I turn to her USA stockists to purchase. I purchased this polish on Llarowe for $13. So word on the street is the creator is currently taking a maternity hiatus from creating the polish, but should be back. So keep an eye out for this amazing polish!