Nails of the Week

I decided to try ombre nails for the first time & I think they turned out pretty good for my first attempt! My nails are also giving me some serious fall & Halloween vibes, as if I needed to crave fall even more when it’ll be in the mid 70’s this week. Tomorrow you’ll understand why I chose this manicure for this week instead of something more summery.

To paint these nails, I started out with a base of my lightest color, Essie’s Shearling Darling.
Then I used Scotch tape to block off the skin around my nails by placing the tape at the sides & near the base of my nails. The process is quite messy so this helps cut down on clean up.
Then I applied this dark red & my black onto a makeup sponge, one sandwiched right next to the other with a little of the black overlapping the red. I dabbed this on my nails until I had the desired amount of red vs. black.
Then I did this step again, but instead of dabbing it on, I carefully stamped the sponge on for another layer. Of course if you end up with any distinct lines, you can dabb them away.
After one nail is painted it is important to use a top coat to quickly smooth out any texture created by the sponge. I used an older one in case my dark colors started to bleed into the bottle. I also had a cotton square soaked in nail polish remover so I could wipe off the brush after each use.
Once my nails were completely dry, I used a matte top coat. If you want shiny ombre nails, you of course can skip this step.