Friday, February 20, 2015

Gradient bow nails!

Hey y'all! 

Today on the blog, I have these super girly gradient nails with a bow charm accent nail. 


I was really pleased with how these turned out. I'm not typically enthusiastic about 3D nail art or nail charms but I decided to step out of my comfort zone and give them a chance. 


I purchased these bow charms from Amazon. 


Aren't they darling? 

Here's a shot of the polishes I used:


Left to right: Essie protein base coat, Zoya Bar, OPI Flamingo Tini Pink, OPI You're Such A Budapest, Zoya Willa, Zoya Purity, and Seche Vite. 
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I started out as usual by applying my base coat. I've really been struggling with my nails peeling which is why I switched to the protein base coat. I've only been using it a couple of weeks so I'm not sure how much it's doing for me yet but I will keep y'all updated. 

After my base coat was on, I put two coats of Zoya Purity on my index, ring, and pinky fingers and two coats of Zoya Bar on my middle finger and thumb. I topped my middle finger and thumb with Seche Vite. 


That sparkle though...

Moving on to my gradient nails, I used both of the OPI's and a regular makeup sponge to create the gradient. I made three passes over both index fingers and both pinky fingers and immediately topped with Seche Vite after the third pass. 

Moving on to the accent nail, I used a small dotting tool and Zoya Willa to create the dots and allowed that nail about 5 minutes or so to dry so I could top coat without smearing the art. I applied Seche Vite to the entire nail and gently applied the bow charm to the nail with a pair of tweezers and allowed the top coat to dry. I took a macro because adorable! 


A few thoughts about these charms - they're affordable and super cute but they definitely aren't practical. I lost one off my right hand while I was sleeping last night! All in all, I'm calling them worth it though because they just add such a ultra feminine flair to any mani. 

What are your favorite nail art supplies? Do you like 3D nail art? 






24 comments:

  1. I normally buy my nail art supplies from bornprettystore. These bows are gorgeous and I do like 3D nail art, but prefer things that don't protrude over the edges of my nail or get caught in my hair. I would rather buy the smaller metal bows that curve onto my nails. Pity, cos these are so cute! A lovely mani!

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    1. Thank you! That's exactly how I feel about them. Haha.

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  2. I saw these on my IG feed yesterday - SO CUTE! I love the combination you've come up with here and think the bow is super cute. 3D accessories definitely take a lot of getting used to and often topcoat is just not going to hold them so the evil nail glue has to come out. I need a gold texture polish.

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  3. This is so cute! I like the bows, it's a nice assortment of colors. I would love to wear the teal/aqua bow.

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    1. Thank so much! I can't wait to try that one either.

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  4. Love your mix and match mani. Nail art bows have always been a favorite accessory of mine.

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  5. I love everything about this mani :) I haven't done any 3d art, but when I do I'm going to get bows and do a hello kitty mani

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  6. This is very cute. I always top coat my PixieDust polishes like this too. I really like how the bow looks with the rest of the manicure!

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    1. Thank you! I love the sparkle of pixie dusts with top coat!

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  7. Like you said, I too just don't find 3D nail art to be practical. BUT!! They are super adorable to look at! I love the combo you chose with the dots and bow!

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  8. Do you ever get those bows caught on stuff? I feel like I'd snag them on stuff!

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    1. Katey, I didn't get an option for that since one fell off while I was sleeping but yes, I was definitely afraid I would catch one on something!

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  9. This is a super cute skittlette! I almost never leave charms on, they're typically just for photos, because I only have a few and I am NOT okay with losing them. Lol.

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  10. The bows are adorable! Bar surprises me every time! I think she's the only "Magical Pixie" I have enjoyed.

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  11. Pretty design, that bow looks so cute. This reminds me that I purchased bows, pearls, studs, fimos, caviar beads last year from amazon and haven't yet used it. I wanted to have them in my collection so badly and now I feel i havent done justice to them

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  12. Yeah, 3d nail art isn't for me - this would last about 15 minutes on my hands.

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  13. The bows are adorable. I haven't tried 3d nail art mostly because they would never stay on, but I think its great for a special event.

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  14. I've never thought to do one or two gradient nails as part of a skittle--great idea, and cute results. :)

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  15. I love how these all come together. Polka dots, sparkles, gradient, bows = win!

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  16. Loved how u paired them. I have similar set of bows n now m having ideas of how I can use them.

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