Polished- DIY Blue Ombré Nail Art

Hey nail polish/nail art lovers! I’m here again with another DIY nail art tutorial. This time it’s all about ombré. I’ve been working on this technique for quite some time and after watching a few video tutorials, reading tutorials and TONS of trial and error runs I came up with a pretty easy way to do it. I’m going to be honest, this one takes a bit of patience and determination. Are you ready? First you’ll need 3 nail colors, aluminum foil or parchment paper (I used that since I ran out of foil), paper towel a makeup wedge and a pair of scissors).

Let me show you what I like to use for prep and after the look is complete first.

First things first, you need a good foundation. If you haven’t done so, check out 15 Questions With Nail Guru Mayu Glazer she gave an abundance of manicure maintenance, and nail care tips. After speaking with Mayu, I armed my nail polish trove with some key essentials (pictured above) that I pretty much can’t go without when it comes to manicures and pedicures. I LOVE Mayu! Here’s the breakdown starting on the left top and ending on the right top:

1. Chip Skip by OPI – apply before base coat (aids in preventing chipped polish) Trust me IT WORKS!
2. Nail Foundation – Flawless Basecoat by butter LONDON (best basecoat out) I like the fact that it can be worn alone because of the matte finish when it dries.
3. Dry Fast Top Coat by Seche Vite (outstanding top coat) I’ve tried bazillions of top coats and ALWAYS come back to this one. It dries quickly, coats well and provides an eye-catching shine.
4. Drip Dry Drops (really does what it says) I couldn’t find a trustworthy site for the actual OPI Drip Dry drops, but I’m thinking the Nicole by OPI (included in the link) drops should provide the same results. If not you can always go into your local Ulta and pick up the drops I use.

When I tell you that I’m in LOVE with the blues in the NARS x Thakoon Collection, I mean it! You would’ve thought someone got killed when my first bottle of Koliary fell to its untimely death; I screamed! I’ve used Koliary several times this summer, I used it in last week’s tutorial and it made its way into this week’s nail art tutorial; can’t get enough. This time I used (left to right): Kutki from NARS x Thakoon Collection, Don’t Touch My Tutu by OPI and Koliary from the NARS x Thakoon Collection.

I suggest using 3 different colors: base color, middle color (lighter), tip color (darker). It could be done with more colors, but if you’re doing this for the first time, stick to the basics.

Apply your base color first…

Let it dry a bit, then get your makeup wedge…

You can get these at any makeup counter or drug store. Take your scissors and cut it in half (straight down the middle of the wedge). It should come out looking similar to this…

Then take your foil and/or parchment paper and make your first polish puddle. This color should be your middle (lighter) color, in this case it’s Kutki.

Take one of the halves of the makeup wedge and dip it into the polish puddle…

Before applying to your nail, blot off some of the excess on a paper towel, then begin blotting the polish tipped makeup wedge onto your nail. Start, maybe halfway in the middle of your nail, working from one side to the other all the way to the tip of your nail. Don’t worry about the funky texture or small polish holes that will happen during the process, the top coat smoothes it all out. Do the same steps above with the other half of your makeup wedge using your tip color (in this case Koliary). It will look similar to this…

Repeat on all of your nails. As with any polish puddle, you’ll need to replenish it since it gets tacky throughout the application process. Once your done, your nails should look similar to this…

Your nail beds will be on the gnarly side with all of the excess paint, so clean up is a must! Clean those areas with a q-tip or an eyeliner brush (best option) then shellac on your top coat. Let it sit for a few minutes, then drop those Drip Dry dots on. I also like to massage my cuticles with a tiny drop of cuticle oil, just makes them look better. After that, you’re set!

I really like how these two colors blend into each other so well.

What do you think of this ombré technique? Let me know if you try any of my tutorials, I’d love to see pictures too.

xx Sereeda

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 30th, 2012 at 1:05 pm. It is filed under Beauty and tagged with Nail art tutorial, nars and thakoon, Ombré nail art, polished. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.