If you’re looking for an easy yet impressive looking manicure idea, this geometric gradient nail art is for you. Nail art brushes are great but nothing compares to good old striping tape for accuracy and speed! Oh sharp corners and perfectly straight lines, how I missed thee.
The geometry and muted colours of Roman architecture inspired this manicure. It’s such an inspiring city that I often had to stop to quickly make a draft of design ideas. The combination of two or three shades in one building particularity appealed to me. As soon as I was reunited with striping tape, this gradient manicure was born!
So without further ado, here’s our how-to!
HOW TO:
- Apply a base coat, then paint all nails with 2-3 coats of light nude opaque nail polish.
- Once the base is is dry, (make sure it’s dry completely!) apply nail art tape as pictured on all nails.
- Now work one nail at a time. Using mid-thickness nail art brush, paint each segment with a different shade of nude/brown nail polish to create a gradient effect.
- Accurately remove the tape.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 on all fingers.
- Clean up around cuticles with an angled brush if required and apply a top coat. If you used matte polishes to create this look, you can leave your design as it is or apply a matte top coat to smooth it out. If you used glossy nail polishes make sure you apply a matte top coat.
USED:
- All polishes from Essie Cashmere collection
- Essie Matte About You.
- SoNailicious #4 Warrior angled brush – to clean up
Wearing: Gunmetal Knuckle Ring.
Now, over to you!
So how do you like this Roman holiday gradient nail art? Are you keen to try it?
– Maria, xx
Related posts: See previous posts from the SoNailicious Takes A Trip series here.
P.S. If you do try this gradient nail art tutorial, I’d love to see the result – Tweet or Instagram me a photo of your manicure with the tag #sonailicious.
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Mijn Kleine Geheimpjes says
I’m not really into nailart but i LOVE this one! Definitely gonna try it, thanks for the tut!!
Maria @SoNailicious says
Oh, thank you! So glad to hear you’re going to try these gradient nails. Look forward to seeing your version! x
Bev Hoffman-Rush says
Love this tutorial going to have to try it. Love the colors too. Where did you get the striper tapes?
Maria @SoNailicious says
Hi Bev, you can get it from eBay or BornPrettyStore. Just search ‘nail art striping tape’. They are pretty cheap too! :)
Bev Hoffman-Rush says
I forgot, love the rings!
Bev Hoffman-Rush says
What color polishes did you use from the Essie Cashmere collection? You said to use a nude opaque for the base, but looks like just a white
Maria @SoNailicious says
Hi Bev, this nail design was done with all colours from Essie Cashmere except for the pink – Just Stitched. You can see the exact names of each in the link provided above. The nude is Essie All Eyes on Nudes, which is the lightest shade from Essie Cashmere collection :)
Maria @SoNailicious says
Thank you! The rings are from here: http://www.sonailiciousboutique.com/product/gunmetal-knuckle-ring-with-diamantes-new xx
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Very cool, how do you like this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmlr8tQFlRY