Gradient Zebra Stripe Manicure
For this mani I started off with 3 coats of Couture Little Black Dress, and then applied three different color additives into the tacky layer of my gel polish to create a gradient effect. At the base of my nails I used CND Antique Bronze, then CND Pink Gold Sparkle in the middle, and CND Violet Pearl on the tips. I blended them together well to create a seamless gradient. Then on all of my nails except the ring finger, I used a dotting tool dipped into Gelish Top It Off to randomly apply some stripes. After curing the TIO, I used alcohol wipes to remove the excess additive powder. I applied a coat of TIO on all of my nails and cured one last time. On the ring finger I added some round gold studs provided to me by the Born Pretty Store.
Here’s a shot of what my nails looked like BEFORE the excess additive powder was wiped off.
And these are the cool studs that I added tot he ring finger. This set of nail art studs from the Born Pretty Store includes gold and silver studs in many different shapes and sizes, including circles, squares, teardrops, hearts and stars. Save 10% on your next Born Pretty Store order with coupon code XTL91.
The additives look cool!
Love!
Looks awesome!
I love the look of the additives! :-) I really like the studs, too, but have trouble getting those to stay (especially the bigger ones)
These look fab. I am a bit confused on how you got the black gel polish effect on the nails, so could you explain further? Did you achieve this effect by applying black gel over entire nail and then using dotting tool dipped in ascetone before curing? Also would love to see a video for this too? Many thanks for all the nail inspirations :)
I polished the whole nail black and cured. Then used a brush to brush on the additive powders on top of the black polish. Then I used a dotting tool to make the zebra designs using Gelish top coat, and cured. The additive powder that was not covered by the top coat could then be wiped off, which allows the black underneath to show.
If you look closely at her picture with the additive gradient, you can see the stripes made with clear top coat before exposing the black. :)
These are AMAZING! So clever!