• Gray gradient with stamped accents

    Hi everyone!


    Yesterday the four holos in the brand new a-england To Emily Bronte collection made their way to my desk (thanks mom!!). The two grays looked like a perfect combination, standing next to each other on my desk, and since I had absolutely nothing planned for today, I decided to give my nails some extra TLC and a manicure using my two new beauties. This is the result of my lazy afternoon:

    indoors, no flash
    I started out with a layer of OPI Natural Base Coat and painted all my nails with two thin layers of a-england Cathy, a gorgeous pale gray with lavender undertones, beautiful blue shimmer and a very subtle holo. The shimmer and holo show up under direct light but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't capture it in a picture. You just have to trust me when I say it is absolutely exquisite (or you can google for swatches by people who know what to do with a camera instead of just shoot-and-hope-for-the-best like I do ;)

    After that I used a-england Wuthering Heights and Cathy to make a gradient on all my nails. Wuthering Heights is a stunning medium gray holo with purple undertones and a lovely scattered holo, and it is a perfect mate for Cathy. Using Sammy's tutorial, some pieces of sponge, a plastic sheet and a toothpick I managed to create a gradient that I'm actually quite proud of :)

    I already decided I wanted to stamp on the gradient but I didn't really know what image or what color. I didn't want to cover up too much of the gradient, that much I did know. When I saw the swirly image on UberChic plate 5-01 something clicked. I grabbed my go-to black stamping polish, Hit The Bottle As Black As Night, and stamped my middle and ring finger. At first I intended to stamp all my nails but I'm glad I stopped after two. A layer of Seche Vite to give my nails a glossy finish and voila... done!

    These polishes were used:
    a-england Cathy, a-england Wuthering Heights, Hit The Bottle As Black As Night

    I love the way the black stamp contrasts with the soft gray gradient. I thought about adding a black dot on my index and/or pinky but even though my manicure looked very simple, I didn't want to add anything else. I can always do it tomorrow if I decide it looks too simple ;) What do you think? Should I have stamped all my nails? Should I have added the dots? I would love to hear your opinion :)



    a-england Cathy and a-england Wuthering Heights were bought from Pretty Polish.
    Hit The Bottle As Black As Night was bought from Hypnotic Polish.
    UberChic 5-01 was bought from She Sells Sea Shells.

    8 comments:

    1. That's a very subtle gradient - a work friendly mani!

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      1. Thanks Maria!
        Hehe, next time I'll try to do something more colorful (but I'm not making any guarantees ;)

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    2. Oh my goodness I'm so jealous!! I haven't gotten new A Englands in forever. :( Super awesome mani. You're right, those grays look amazing together! :D

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      1. Fortunately the a-england polishes aren't limited edition as far as I know so you can still get them after you get your XBox... oh, and you have your birthday coming up so make sure to drop some subtle hints. I found a big neon sign with bright red blinking letters worked quite nicely :D

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    3. I really like subtle gradients and love a-england. This is perfect. Once could take it anywhere. :-)

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      1. Thank you :) A-englands are great, as far as I'm concerned. The colors are beautiful, they are almost all one coaters and they stamp great... oh, and of course they're mostly holo :D

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    4. Replies
      1. Thanks! It made me feel very elegant (and trust me, I'm anything but that ;)

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    Please let me know what you think. I may not reply right away but I will get back to you in the end... promised!