26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Reciprocal Gradient

Oh! the reciprocal gradient, it fascinates and intrigues me but I really can't be bothered with faff of doing the gradient one day and then having to wait until the second day to do the wretched striping tape or vinyl part only to discover it is a messy disaster.
Last time I did one, it occurred to me that surely I should be able to use stamping to achieve a similar effect, and I did actually try it but that was 2 years ago
So here we are, I am trying for stamped reciprocal gradient, but just with 2 colours - I think 3 was too many!!!
I used Princess Nail Lacquer Gangrene (beautiful khaki green) and Sewage (gorgeous warm grey)
I chose these 2 as a reasonable contrast to each other and also because I knew I could stamp with them.
So I did my gradient (no photos because they are never that good!) and then stamped using Dixie Plates Autumn 01. I really wanted to use an image other than just a stripe but obviously anything too complex could just end up looking messy and indistinct. I have to say, I am quite pleased with the way it turned out.
They were a bit tricky to photograph, the weather was bad, lighting was terrible and I still got annoying reflections so I resorted to matte top coat although they looked so much better glossy.

Dixie Plates Autumn 01

  

 

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Nail Crazies Unite - Stamping with a flakie polish base

This week's prompt was stamping with a flakie polish base. This mani is also this week's submission for the Pancreatic Cancer Awareness challenge #pcanovember17. The prompt for that was Animals (or Nature) and all the manis are in purple.
I had a pale lilac gel base on so I added a single coat of 'Ard As Nails Shamone. As with all flakies, this pretty topper would be at its best over black but I thought it was worth a try over pale lilac and loved its subtlety.
Obviously I took photos matte and glossy although they really didn't capture how lovely it really was.
Next for the stamping - well cats of course! I used Messy Mansion MM50 with Barry M Blackcurrant to add the kitty cats.
Finally I added a matte topcoat (the Barry M one, best value matte top coat!)

Messy Mansion MM50

 

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26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Animal print in the wrong colors

This week's prompt was Animal print in the wrong colors (colours)
I decided to go purple, I have never seen a purple leopard although I am sure that would be a beautiful sight!
This was a really simple mani. I started with base of Kiko 331, a lovely shade of purple and then I used Lina Get Wild 01 and A England Polovetsian Dances for the stamping.
I think they turned out quite well and I was pleased I had gone for similar rather than contrasting colours. I took a few shots - some with off-white gloves, some with purple. The purple ones often look awful on camera but I managed to capture the colour OK this time.

Lina Get Wild 01 with A England Polovetsian Dances

 

 

 

 

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Nail Crazies Unite - Neutral Colours

This week's prompt is Neutral Colours.
I used a new polish from 'Ard As Nails which I recently pounced on in a flash sale. It has no name so I think its an oopsie but it is a lovely pretty warm nude, although perhaps a bit darker than nude, definitely in the neutral category though.
I don't have a sunshine shot unfortunately as I did my nails after lunch and the sun had gone down by the time I was ready for photos - I hate winter!!!
I stamped with Lina Twirls and Swirls 01 and Virago The Bus Stop. I thought this was greener and it is listed as seaweed green but it really does look rather brown on my nails in most lights, although I am sure I can see green in some of the broad daylight shots.
Anyway, khaki or brown, it's still pretty neutral in my book but I will leave it out and use it as base to see how it turns out, for future reference.
I loved how these turned out and wore them for a couple of days.

Lina Twirls and Swirls 01

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