Gradated Ikat

Helloooo lovelies!

Today's mani is my attempt to mash together the gradated dots look and the ikat look, inspired by a pair of shorts I bought recently.

The writing on my finger is because these are a contest entry. :) I figured this was a lot easier than awkwardly holding a small scrap of paper!

For this look, I began with a base of My Vampire is Buff. This is an excellent pale nude shade, but it's also a bit of a PITA as it requires four thin coats to reach opacity and uniformity. Boo, hiss! I wouldn't do it if the results weren't worth it, though. On the opposite end of the spectrum, my experience with 2013 (the top coat, not the year) have been AMAZING so far. This is my first time using it, and it goes on so well (more liquid than Seche Vite), the brush (as with all lacc colours) is my favourite thing ever, and no shrinkage!!! Glory hallelujah! I'll keep testing it, but this may be my holy grail top coat. :O

I then mixed up some ultramarine blue acrylic paint with white and/or black to make three different shades of blue, and dotted them on using my smallest dotter, starting with the lightest and ending with the darkest. It was a time-consuming process but very easy.

Polishes used:

OPI - My Vampire is Buff

Duri - Rejuvacote (base coat)

la couleur couture - 2013 (top coat)

acrylic paint in blue, white, black

smallest dotting tool

something to distract from the monotony

I had a post planned for tomorrow but I've deemed it sub-par. Now I'm plotting out what the heck to do! I'll keep you all posted. Literally. Haha! Dum-dum-TSCH.

xo,

J.

EDIT: Here's a pictorial if you'd like!