Nail Trend: The Ombrè Manicure

The next design is something that I had wanted to try for a while. It first graced the runways last autumn (or winter) and was publicized as the next it trend by both InStyle and Seventeen Magazines. The Ombrè manicure is an interesting concept and to describe it, without a picture is difficult; my best description is: a gradient manicure which is not confined to one finger but rather, incorporates the entire hand. Don’t worry, I do indeed have plenty of pictures!

This design involves a lot of color frankening (or mixing) to create a new color. There are many techniques for this manicure and I’ve adapted them to make my own. Please be aware that this technique that I have used is best suited for mid-tone cream colors. For bright colors I would recommend All Lacquered Up’s tutorial. For dark, rich colors I would recommend this video by Seventeen. Please keep in mind that what I do isn’t the set in stone and you should be adaptive and use your creativity to help you through!

I’ve actually attempted this manicure a few times but only have pictures of my current, and it’s previous attempts. The main color I used for the purple Ombrè was ‘Spontaneous’ from China Glaze and the main color for the green Ombrè was ‘Dirty, Sexy, Money’ from Misa.

To create the design you will need a main color, a black polish, a white polish, something to mix on (I used Post It’s) and something to mix with. You will also need a clean polish brush, I recommend using the brush from a cheap clear coat.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Paint your middle fingers with your main color
2. Mix your main color with 2-3 drops of white (on your scrap paper) and apply that shade to your index      finger. This shade should be 2-3 shades lighter that your middle finger.
3. Mix mainly white with 2-3 drops of your main color and apply to your thumb. This shade should be 2-3 lighter than your index finger.
4. For your ring and pinky fingers you will need to repeat the process using black, instead of white polish.

Here is the finished look:

Check out the video below for more tips and tricks!

Eyeko Vintage Polish Review

I have been craving a mint green nail polish for quite a while now. First, I thought I wanted Essie Mint Candy Apple but unfortunately that polish has long been sold out here. I’d also been wanting to try Eyeko nail polishes in general for a while and since Eyeko had the minty green “Vintage Polish” I decided I should bite the bullet. I also ordered the Eyeko Cream, Eyeko Tinted Cream, and the trio of Fat Balms and Vintage (the polish retails for $5). This is my first experience ever ordering with Eyeko. I actually placed an order about a month ago and received my products in about 2 weeks (regular first class shipping). Back to the polish; Vintage is a mint green nail lacquer which even though it is cool toned looks wonderful on my warm toned skin. I was pleasantly surprised with the color to say the least. It took three coats to get an opaque finish and I should note that this is a cream formula with no shimmer. The polish itself is quite thin when you apply it, almost runny but it still dries fairly quickly. I used my normal base coat combo, then 3 coats of Vintage, followed by a coat of Seche Vite.

In terms of wear:

After wearing this polish for a week I found that my dominant hand (Right hand) chipped significantly on my index finger and middle finger. The wear however, on my left had was nearly perfect with only one minor chip. Here are some pics.

(Above is 3 coats)

(Left: 1 coat     Right: 3 coats)

(Left: 2 coats     Middle: 3 coats     Left: 1 coat)

(Above: Left hand after 1 week)

(Above: Right hand after 1 week)

I hope you enjoyed this review. Unfortunately this specific shade has sold out via the Eyeko website however, there are plenty of other shades that look just as fun like their Lilac polish.