Gradient or ombré effect nails are one of the easiest nail art techniques there are, and its really effective! There are endless colour combinations to choose from but I went with a slightly more subtle pairing as a base for this leopard print effect. The leopard spots are really easy to do and all you need is a couple of different nail polish colours and a cocktail stick!
I love this combination of colours, the lilac toned grey goes really well with the silver and the dark purple. The grey base colour is Ciaté, Pillow Fight, the one I have is a mini from the Ciaté advent calendar a few years ago but you can get the full size version here. The silver used for the gradient is Barry M Foil effect No.319 which seems to have been discontinued, but any silver polish will do! The dark purple for the leopard spots is Rimmel Pro in 410, Trend Spotting, this is also discontinued but you can get a similar one here.
The glittery pink in the centre of the leopard spots is Maybelline Colour Show 224, Rosy Rosettes which you can get here. Finally I used Models Own top coat, which I also used as a base coat.
The only other things you need are a small sponge, I use a make-up sponge but you could also cut up a large sponge into smaller bits which works just as well, some cocktail sticks and some paper.
Here's how I created this super easy nail art!
First I started with clean nails and applied a clear base coat and left it to dry.
Next I applied two coats of Ciaté Pillow Fight leaving it to dry between coats.
The next step is to add the silver gradient. I started by putting a blob of the nail polish onto a piece of paper that I could dip the sponge into. I then dabbed the sponge onto the tip of my nails as the sponge gets the excess polish off you can dab further down the nail with a lighter touch to give a gradient effect. Repeat this on all your nails and then leave them to dry.
Next I put a blob of the pink glittery polish onto the paper and grabbed a cocktail stick. This is going to be the insides of the leopard spots so its best if you choose a lighter colour for this step and a darker colour for the next step, which will be to create the outer shapes of the leopard print. I chose to only cover my thumb and ring finger in the leopard print but you can pick whichever nails you want! So I dipped the cocktail stick into the polish and dotted some little blobs over the nail, you want to spread them out a little to give room for the next step.
As with the other steps I put a blob of the dark purple polish onto my paper and dipped a cocktail stick in to collect some polish. Carefully, I then painted little curved shapes around the pink blobs to make the leopard print effect. The good thing about this is that it doesn't have to be too neat and the shapes can just be randomly placed around the nail. I filled in any gaps with more little curved blobs. The hardest part for me of this nail art is trying to paint my right hand! It's definitely not the neatest thing I've ever done! The only advice I can give is to take your time and try to rest your hand on something to give you a bit of stability... and take pictures of your left hand!
This is the finished look! I'm really pleased with the way they turned out, the leopard print is just so effective! I hope you liked this post, if you want to see some of my other nail art designs take a look at my Pinterest board. Leave a comment if there are any other Nail art designs that you'd like to see!
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Love, Antonia
