Monday 16 June 2014

Neon chevron scaled gradient skittle

A couple of weeks ago the super sweet Narmai of Piggie Luv pulled together a few nail artists for a collab in support of Hanne from It's So Damn Original who is having an eye surgery procedure done. Since Hanne is hot for neons, the theme of this suprise collab was 'Neon nails for Hanne'. I couldn't decide which neon shades to use so I tried to use them ALL with this neon chevron scaled gradient skittle look. I hope this look and the collab as a whole puts a smile on her face and into good spirits for, during and after surgery!

And yes... I'm skipping work appropriate mani monday for this :)


 
VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Collab shot:



Neons are especially difficult to photograph so I have an assortment of shots here from natural indirect sunlight (shade, from inside my window) and photos taken under two 5200k CFL bulbs in my makeshift 'studio'. The general rule of thumb for me is if you see a textured grey woven background like the one right below, then I took the pic in natural daylight as those are my blinds. If not and the background is plain greyish-white (it's a white bristol board but looks grey in photos) then I took the photo indoors with bulbs. I'm still deciding what I like best, often natural light is better but I find some colours show better and the distinctions between colours are sharper under the artificial lights.


For example, this one below was taken under the 5200k bulbs. While the bulbs tend to blend my skin more and make me look more tanned (hey, I'm not complaining), the colours also seem more crisp to me.










1 MIN OR UNDER VIDEO TUTORIAL:
(see also 15sec version on Instagram)


Instead of writing out all the steps, please see this post on how I did a triple scaled gradient with chevron nail vinyls. Although there were three 'scales' instead of two like in this mani, the steps and logic is the same. I am in the midst of working on a gradient guide to all this madness so stay tuned for an easy access gradient 101 resource! I used these single chevron nail vinyls for the gradient divider.

Polishes used (this is a long one):
- Essie 'Boom boom room' (light neon pink creme)
- China Glaze 'Pool party' (neon pink creme)
- Finger Paints 'Pop art purple' (neon magenta-purple creme)
- Quo by Orly 'Infused' (dark neon purple creme)
- Nails Inc. 'Baker street' (neon royal blue creme)
- Essie 'I'm addicted' (neon aqua blue creme)
- China Glaze 'In the limelight' (neon green with shimmer)
- China Glaze 'Yellow polka dot bikini' (neon yellow creme)
- China Glaze 'Sun worshipper' (neon yellow-orange creme)
- China Glaze 'Orange knockout' (neon orange creme)
- Pure Ice 'Superstar' (white creme as base)



9 comments:

  1. This is so pretty I can't even decide which nail I like best! It's an awesome technique, I have to try this!

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    1. Thank you so much Jenny! It's really striking with all the different colours isn't it! Pick your fav colours and run with them! If you're on social media with tagging remember to tag it #scaledgradient as I will come looking :)

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    2. Hello there :-) I did my first scaled gradient and I really like how it turned out <3 You can have a look at it on Pinterest or on my blog ;-) Thanks for sharing this technique!

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    3. WOW it's great!!! Are you on Instagram or Facebook? I want to do a feature of scaled gradients soon but want to tag you! Yay thanks so much for being inspired!!

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    4. Thank you! No, sorry, I'm not. Just the blog and Pinterest ;-)

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  2. Simply gorgeous!!! :) Love your photos. I wish Hanne the best with her surgery!

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  3. i just commented on the chevron gradient as well and this i totally off the top :) so glad i found your blog, you got a new follower <3

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    1. Why thank you!!! I'm in the middle of editing/adding 1min videos in place of 15sec ones so the site may be a bit wonky over the next week but hopefully everything will be smooth sailing for your enjoyment soon! Thanks for following :)

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