Acetone Files: Pink Ombre with Gold Deco Accent
Acetone Files
Pink Ombre with Gold Deco Accent
I saw another blogger do this metallic deco pattern with striping tape and I really wanted to try it - and another thing I've been wanting to try was the "ombre" (each nail a different shade of the same color) look. Both are big trends right now in nail art, so I decided to combine them! This is one of my favorite manicures so far - my teenage self would never believe I'd be wearing pink on my nails and actually loving it!
I realized I'd accumulated enough warm pinks to do the skittle ombre effect, plus a little frankening at the ends. My index finger is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Heart of Stone; middle is L'Oreal Pink Me Up (the Perfect Pink IMO); ring finger is Fingerpaints Model Colour over Covergirl Golden Opportunity (with a little help from striping tape). My thumb is also SHHN Heart of Stone lightened with white (SHXW White Out), and my pinkie (ha ha, nail polish pun) was supposed to be just Covergirl Crushed Berries, but it turned out to be a shade too dark to get the gradient right, so I mixed in some Model Colour to bring it back to center.
My pinkies are a bit patchy because Crushed Berries is sort of gelly-ish (kind of the bloody effect like in Revlon Vixen, which does cover in 2 or 3 coats but has a bit of transparency to it), and adding the more opaque Fingerpaints didn't thicken it as much as I expected. And I'm not too happy with the lighest franken either - it got a little streaky because I forgot how awful Pure Ice Superstar was and tried to use it in my mix - big mistake, WAY too globby! - and aborted halfway trough.
Ombre How-To
You definitely don't need to have (or buy!) 5 different shades that match perfectly to do this yourself. Here's how to nail (pun intended) the ombre effect with what you already have.
With one color + white
1. Make sure the color you choose fairly pretty dark - you're going to build up to it as the darkest.
2. Use this formula to create your colors in 5 shades:
1) 4 drops white, 1 your color
2) 2 drops white, 1 your color
3) Half white, half your color
4) 1 drop white, 2 drops your color
5) just your color
3. Decide which direction you're going and paint your first color on BOTH nails on both hands (this will ensure you have enough for both hands before it dries).
Example of one-color method
With two colors + white
You can also do this technique with white, a medium tone, and a darker tone of the same color using this formula:
1) 2 drops white, 1 drop medium
2) Half white, half medium
3) Just medium
4) Half medium, half dark
5) Just dark
Those are just the easy ways - you can of course franken and mix to your heart's content to come up with the perfect shades. The point is, as long as you have white, you don't need to buy 5 individual colors to wear this technique.
P.S. A variation I've been wanting to try: use a contrasting color instead of white with the one-hue method - it'll be a fascinating two-tone gradient! Look for an upcoming swatch!
Pink Ombre with Gold Deco Accent
I saw another blogger do this metallic deco pattern with striping tape and I really wanted to try it - and another thing I've been wanting to try was the "ombre" (each nail a different shade of the same color) look. Both are big trends right now in nail art, so I decided to combine them! This is one of my favorite manicures so far - my teenage self would never believe I'd be wearing pink on my nails and actually loving it!
I realized I'd accumulated enough warm pinks to do the skittle ombre effect, plus a little frankening at the ends. My index finger is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Heart of Stone; middle is L'Oreal Pink Me Up (the Perfect Pink IMO); ring finger is Fingerpaints Model Colour over Covergirl Golden Opportunity (with a little help from striping tape). My thumb is also SHHN Heart of Stone lightened with white (SHXW White Out), and my pinkie (ha ha, nail polish pun) was supposed to be just Covergirl Crushed Berries, but it turned out to be a shade too dark to get the gradient right, so I mixed in some Model Colour to bring it back to center.
My pinkies are a bit patchy because Crushed Berries is sort of gelly-ish (kind of the bloody effect like in Revlon Vixen, which does cover in 2 or 3 coats but has a bit of transparency to it), and adding the more opaque Fingerpaints didn't thicken it as much as I expected. And I'm not too happy with the lighest franken either - it got a little streaky because I forgot how awful Pure Ice Superstar was and tried to use it in my mix - big mistake, WAY too globby! - and aborted halfway trough.
Ombre How-To
You definitely don't need to have (or buy!) 5 different shades that match perfectly to do this yourself. Here's how to nail (pun intended) the ombre effect with what you already have.
With one color + white
1. Make sure the color you choose fairly pretty dark - you're going to build up to it as the darkest.
2. Use this formula to create your colors in 5 shades:
1) 4 drops white, 1 your color
2) 2 drops white, 1 your color
3) Half white, half your color
4) 1 drop white, 2 drops your color
5) just your color
3. Decide which direction you're going and paint your first color on BOTH nails on both hands (this will ensure you have enough for both hands before it dries).
Example of one-color method
With two colors + white
You can also do this technique with white, a medium tone, and a darker tone of the same color using this formula:
1) 2 drops white, 1 drop medium
2) Half white, half medium
3) Just medium
4) Half medium, half dark
5) Just dark
Those are just the easy ways - you can of course franken and mix to your heart's content to come up with the perfect shades. The point is, as long as you have white, you don't need to buy 5 individual colors to wear this technique.
P.S. A variation I've been wanting to try: use a contrasting color instead of white with the one-hue method - it'll be a fascinating two-tone gradient! Look for an upcoming swatch!