Gradient Nails

Sometimes just having one color on your nails doesn’t cut it. If you find yourself wanting something more, why not try a gradient? It’s simple, quick, and a cute way to wear your nails, especially for the summer!

What You’ll Need:

• White nail polish
• Three to five different colored nail polishes _[1]
• Makeup sponge (preferably triangle but you can make any shape work) _[2]
• Nail polish remover
• Q-tips

What You Do:

Step One

First thing’s first, cut your sponge so it fits your nail. If you have a triangle sponge you may be able to just work with the flat side of it, but if you’re like me and ended up with an oddly shaped sponge you’ll have to cut it to make it fit. _[3]

Step Two

Starting with your white nail polish, paint your nails completely white. It will probably take two coats of nail polish before your nails are completely covered. This will be your base so the colors of your gradient will show up better. Don’t worry if you’re like me and end up with nail polish everywhere, you can clean it up at the end. _[4]

Step Three

When the white polish is completely dry, start to paint your sponge. It’s easiest to decide what order you want to colors in, remembering that your top color will most likely be the smallest because of the way that nails curve. I decided to start with pink, then orange, then blue. Because I only used three colors each section was kind of big, but if you choose to use four or five colors, you’ll end up using less of each color. Don't worry if the colors overlap, they're all going onto the same place! _[5]

Step Four

Apply the paint to your nail. I found it easiest to place the sponge directly on my nail and then move it up and down and then side to side so that the nail was completely covered. Don’t worry if the colors blend together in some places, that just adds to the gradient! _[6] You’ll likely have to re-paint the sponge for every nail. If you can still see quite a bit of the white, sponge your nails again in the same way to make the polish darker. _[7]

Step Five

Once you’re satisfied with how the gradient looks and everything has dried, start to clean up the polish that has most likely ended up all along the skin of your fingers. The easiest way to do this is to dip a Q-tip into nail polish remover and use it to remove the excess polish.

And you’re done!