Studded Grey Gradient Tutorial

Hey guys! This week I was playing around with my OPI Fifty Shades of Grey polishes and came up with this cool gradient/ombre (does anyone actually know the difference??) I didn't quite manage to get fifty shades of grey onto each nail, so I had to make do with three. Read on for my tutorial to see how to get this look for yourself :) 

What I Used:

- OPI Nail Envy Base Coat

- OPI Dark Side Of The Mood

- OPI Embrace The Gray

- OPI Cement The Deal

- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

- Square silver studs from bornprettystore

- Dotting Tool

- Makeup Sponge

- Nail Polish Remover and cleanup brush

1. Apply a base coat to protect your natural nails from stains and provide a smooth base for polish.

2. Next, apply one coat of your lightest colour as a base for your gradient and allow to dry.

3. Paint a stripe of each colour, darkest to lightest, on a makeup sponge and overlap them slightly to blend them. Then press the sponge onto your nail with the darkest colour at the cuticle end. Applying the polish in a smooth rolling motion across the nail will ensure the whole nail is covered.

4. Reapply polish to the sponge and repeat step 3. You may need 3 or 4 applications to achieve a smooth and opaque gradient.

5. Apply a top coat to protect your polish and help blend the colours together, then allow to dry.

6. Using a dotting tool, apply a large dot of topcoat at the bottom of your nail in the centre, or where you want your studs to go. Next, using a smaller dotting tool or toothpick dipped in top coat, pick up your studs one by one and press them onto your drop of top coat in a diamond formation. 

7. Seal in your studs with a thick layer of a fast-drying top coat, and clean up around your nails with a cottonbud or brush dipped in polish remover. 

Easy peasy! What do you guys think? There's not a lot you can stuff up with sponge gradients, so please have a go yourselves. I hope this tutorial was helpful for some of you, and I'll see you next time!

Lisa xx