I’ve been doing a lot of swatches lately, but have neglected to do posts about nail art and I really want to get back to that. Today’s mani was done for my Mommy’s Mani Monday group for the prompt: Favorite Technique.
Normally, I would probably choose polka dots as favorite technique, because I really do love them – however, lately I have been all about gradients, especially those done with metallic polish. So, when I was prepping for this mani, I automatically reached for some metallic polish and what I ended up with is fiery fall tones with a stamped geometric pattern.

The red I used (Wet n Wild – Burgandy Frost) is a much more pigmented color than the orange-gold color (Tropez Super Pearl – Sunset Pearl) so my first step was to paint on two coats of the latter so I had a decent amount of opacity. I allowed the two coats about 10 minutes to dry before starting my gradient.
To create the effect, I used a non-latex makeup sponge and applied a bit of each polish to the sponge. I then patted the color directly to the nail, moving the sponge around to get the coverage I wanted. I repeated this for each nail, gave it a couple of minutes to dry and then did a second and eventually a third coat this way, until I was satisfied with the blending.
I allowed the gradient nails to dry for about 10 minutes and then stamped on top of them using Funky Fingers – Dark Knight and Born Pretty Store plate BP-L 005. I topped them all with a coat of Seche Vite to finish it off and enhance the blending of the polishes.
POLISHES:
- Essie – Grow Stronger Base Coat
- Wet n Wild – Burgundy Frost
- Tropez Super Pearl – Sunset Pearl
- Seche Vite – Dry Fast Top Coat
- BP-L 005
I didn’t take a picture before stamping, but I kind of wish I had! This polish combination really pops and both have that lovely metallic shimmer flash that I cannot capture in a still photo. I’ll definitely use this combo again!