Polishing and Sponging - Zoya Crystal + China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

As I promised last week, this entry will be about gradient manis again (I do love them so), but using the sponging method instead.

We didn't come up with the gradient-sponging method, but it was Ev who actually described it to me. It's really easy to do though and one explanation was pretty much all I needed!

Before we start, I do apologize for these photos! They are older pictures, all taken with the iPhone.

Zoya Crystal and China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

The base colour here is Zoya Crystal, which is a gorgeous almost-dull blue with gold glitter. Then I used China Glaze Emerald Sparkle to gradient over Crystal. Emerald Sparkle is a dark green jelly with green glitter. With the sponge method, you don't actually need a jelly polish for the top layers.

I dabbed some Emerald Sparkle on a sponge and pressed the sponge lightly around the middle of my nails, adding the green polish from the middle up to the nail tips. Then I just kept building up the green colour by adding more of Emerald Sparkle closer and closer to the nail tips.

Then as always, a layer of dry fast top coat over everything! I was a bit too enthusiastic this time and you can see the top coat past the edges of my nails, urgh. As my nails were pretty long then, the gradient looks like a change of colour on the tips of my nails, which is pretty nice as well.

For the spongey material, I have used a variety of things before, including a cheap make-up sponge (which was actually a little too fine for this), the soft side of a dish-washing sponge, and when I was really desperate, a cloth. The cloth works pretty well, surprisingly.

Zoya Crystal and China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

This photo is out of focus to show the pretty sparkles in both polishes.

You can also add one coat of a sheer polish over the mani to make the gradient even more subtle.

In this case, I added a coat of XOX 24, which is a sheer, zingy white-blue glass fleck. XOX polishes really do smell toxic, I have to say, and despite the pretty, I'm reconsidering the wiseness of using them.

XOX 24 over Zoya Crystal and China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

 It's still obviously a gradient, but it looks more gradual now.

Let's hope I have something other than gradients next week! :)