Guest Blog Post - Blue Ombre Nails

I don't know about any one else but i'm always switching up my nail polish. No matter how lovely the colour looks or how long i've spent making them look nice, within a few days i'm bored and want something new. I've always liked nail art but spending hours on intricate details to remove it all a few days later seems silly!

This design is quick, easy and cheap(and did i mention really pretty too?!)

To get Gradient nails(or ombre as some might call it!), where the polish goes from light(less opaque) to dark(highly opaque) or dark to light(whichever you fancy) all you need is one nail polish. I've seen this done(and attempted it very badly) with multiple polishes but that's where it starts getting a bit tricky!

When doing this with a single polish it's best to use one that is thin and that isn't very opaque. This allows us to create thin layers that we can gradually build up.

I chose Barry M's Silver Sea. It's a lovely silver ocean blue with a bit of glitter that really adds another dimension to the gradient. It's perfect for the cold Winter season that's coming up. It's also a complete steal at only £2.99.

Seche Vite fast dry top coat, Barry M Silver Sea, Leighton Denny Sex Kitten.

The first step is to apply a very thin coat of polish onto bare nails. It doesn't matter how thin it is as we're going to build it up. It also doesn't matter how messy the layers are as this won't be noticeable once we've finished all the layers.

Bare in mind that my thumb and ring finger are already painted.

When this layer is nearly dry start slightly higher up the nail and apply another coat, still quite thin. 

Repeat step two higher up the nail again, making the coat slightly thicker

Apply another layer focusing on the top half of the nail.

Finally apply the last layer focusing right at the tip of the nail.

The tip should now be opaque and the colour should be gradually getting darker as it goes up the nail.

Once all the layers are applied, it's important to let them dry before finally applying a top coat(I used Seche Vites fast dry top coat). If they're not dry when you brush on the top coat it can smudge the polish and ruin the gradient effect.

It's such a quick and easy way to create such a lovely effect. You can also do this technique over a base colour like i've done below on my thumb nail for a more subtle effect. Firstly apply the base colour, mine is Sex Kitten by Leighton Denny(From October's Glossybox!) and then repeat the above steps on top of it when it's dried.

Zoe, xo

About Todays Guest Blogger...

My name's Zoe and my Blog is zozeze.blogspot.com

I'm a 17 year old who makes too many impulse buys and spends far too much money on superficial things.

I'm very new to blogging but i'm already obsessed! My blog focuses on make up, current trends and shopping but occasionally something about fashion and style might pop up!

 

NOTD - Leighton Denny Baby Doll

I'm not sure where to start with this one..love the colour and the formula does require less coats to get an opaque finish but because it's quite thick it's difficult to prevent the dreaded air bubbles. I will be giving it another try and attempt thinner coats but it's tricky. Luckily I got this in my October Glossybox and didn't spend my own money because again this is another high end polish that isn't amazing. I don't expect miracles but I just think when there are so many great drugstore brands out there the higher end stuff should be better, no?

My October GlossyBox

To celebrate their 6 month milestone GlossyBox have included SIX samples in Octobers box and a neat little Dermalogica case as a bonus. I'm not saying that each of the six samples are ones I'd have chosen but as usual there are a couple of stand out products that mean I couldn't care less about what else they padded it out with.

First of all I was SO excited to received Dermalogica stuff as I've never tried it and have always wanted to. Multivitamin Thermafoliant (a thermal skin polisher), Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque (a concentrated mask to help skin recover and regenerate), Renewal Lip Complex (daily treatment that restores lip tissue). As I am composing this from my sick bed I will absolutely be trying this trio today in a bid to make my dull skin look a little more alive.

This month there are THREE perfume samples from Robert Piguet. Given my current, fluey state I'm in no position to judge scents but I shall be trying them all at some point. Well.. I say them all... unfortunately the 3rd sample "Fracas" was empty so I'm hoping that's not the nicest one.

Now this was a cool product to receive. This may well become my everyday staple. Stila Smudge Stick in Moray. It reminds me a lot of Mildew from Urban Decay but a little "dirtier" and with a dark gold glitter running through it... really beautiful, can't wait to use it.

Given that I've recently discovered a hidden love of pink nail polish I was very pleased when I first opened the box to see this. It was the first thing I noticed and I immediately decided Octobers box had outdone itself... that's before I saw all the other awesomeness. I've never tried a Leighton Denny polish but it just looks expensive don't you think? It feels like a little bit of luxury in my hand with it's chunky glass bottle and futuristic looking cap. The shade is "Baby Doll" (how cute is that?) and you will most DEFINITELY be seeing a NOTD post featuring this very soon. I only repainted yesterday and I very nearly reached for the remover when I got this.

One last note on GlossyBox this month.. The index card you get inside has had a bit of a revamp too. It's twice the size and now has little barcodes that will transport you directly to the sellers website when scanned by your mobile phone. It also tells you how much the full sized products are worth which is a nice feature as you would have previously had to wait for the site to refresh itself for the current month or do a little research online to discover how much you were getting for your subscription fee. For me and others who review the boxes on blogs etc that is a handy little bit of information to get with the box.

I'm pretty much in love with everything I got this month  and am very glad I didn't cancel my subscription when so many others did. I don't think I'll be signing up to any other sample services.. it could get very expensive very quickly and I think one is enough.. don't you? If nothing else GB are likely to up their game to keep up with all the competition now (which I think they are doing if this month is anything to go by) so hopefully my loyalty will not go unrewarded.

Are you still signed up to GlossyBox?

What did you get this month?