; Plisherrific: Gradient-licious Candy - Revlon, Zoya, LA Colors

Mar 25, 2012

Gradient-licious Candy - Revlon, Zoya, LA Colors

I'm loving all the challenges and competitions being hosted lately, because they inspire all these interesting ideas! This is my entry for Rebecca's nail art competition here. I picked the theme/technique of Gradient and Dots.

[Colours used: Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Orange Fizz, Pineapple Fizz,
Revlon Glimmer Gloss Cherry Fizz, Zoya Tiffany, LA Colors French White]
I have been meaning to try a horizontal gradient, rather than the more commonly seen vertical gradient. I haven't seen an example of this before, so I wasn't sure how it would look, especially on my fairly narrow nails. My original inspiration is actually those colourful Rock Candy that is so popular in Sydney and Melbourne.


[Colours used: Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Orange Fizz, Pineapple Fizz,
Revlon Glimmer Gloss Cherry Fizz, Zoya Tiffany, LA Colors French White]
Doesn't this look like candy? It's so shiny, espeically with the little flakies, and the colours were so bright, I wanted to nom my nails for awhile there! It didn't help that they smelled delicious since most of these were scented polish.

I don't know if it's obvious, but there are actually two different gradients going on here. The top and bottom strips are red to yellow, while the middle strip is pink to red.


[Colours used: Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Orange Fizz, Pineapple Fizz,
Revlon Glimmer Gloss Cherry Fizz, Zoya Tiffany, LA Colors French White]
Let's get into the method. There really is no fancy technique here, but there is a lot of laziness (this seems to be an ongoing theme with my manis).

These are the directions for the index finger:

  1. Tape off section B. Paint a strip of Watermelon Fizz on the rightmost side, a strip of Orange Fizz down the middle, and a strip of Pineapple Fizz on the leftmost side. You will need to overlap them a little, and you might have to go over once or twice more with some of these colours to get a smoother gradient. 
  2. Peel off the tape as soon as you're done. Paint a quick dry top coat over the lot. Go watch half an episode of House, or a full episode of How I Met Your Mother. :D
  3. Tape off section A and C. Paint a strip of Tiffany on the right most side, a strip of Cherry Fizz down the middle, a strip of Watermelon Fizz on the leftmost side. Again, overlap the colours and use your discretion to touch up with the same colours.
  4. Remove tapes at superspeed and layer some dry fast top coat over everything!

Since I wanted the colours to change in gradient from nail to nail as well, I alternated the direction of the gradient on each nail.


[Colours used: Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Orange Fizz, Pineapple Fizz,
Revlon Glimmer Gloss Cherry Fizz, Zoya Tiffany, LA Colors French White]
So, what do you think? Does the horizontal gradient work?

The next time I try this, I'll use stronger, contrasting shades for the middle strip so it looks more obvious.


[Colours used: Revlon Watermelon Fizz, Orange Fizz, Pineapple Fizz,
Revlon Glimmer Gloss Cherry Fizz, Zoya Tiffany, LA Colors French White]
I wanted to use another technique off Rebecca's list so I added the dots. This is the first time I have tried doing structured dots, rather than the occasional, random dots on my nail art. I definitely need more practice. :(

The dots obscure the gradient of the middle strip a little bit, but I think it does add a nice delineation between the different gradients.

I think it will be harder to use the sponging method to create a horizontal gradient, but that's mostly due to my narrow nails. There just isn't that much space. In any case, I do prefer using jelly polishes and painting to create gradients.

Thanks to Rebecca for organising this competition! :D

4 comments:

  1. I LOVE this!!! So beautiful!! :D

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  2. YUMMM, you're making me crave those lollies... And the horizontal gradient is so interesting too!!

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    Replies
    1. NOMNOMNOM ROCK CANDY!

      Yet another gradient style to play with now. :)

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