Gradient Challenge Day Four - Pink Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everybody! It's day four of the Summer Gradient Challenge I've been doing with Esme from Nail Addict. I feel twice as productive since today's challenge color is pink. At least that's what the picture told me to do :P

For today's gradient I wanted to try a new technique. Normally I either paint directly on my sponge or I use the Nailasaurus method. But hey, it's a challenge so why not challenge myself to try something right? So I got out the lonely lonely fan brush and attempted this tutorial from Neverland Nail Blog. I still don't know how I feel about it but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Polishes used:

• Seche Rebuild base coat / Seche Vite top coat
• Essie Blanc (base under the colors)
• Sally Hansen Salon Manicure I Pink I Can
• Sinful Colors Dream On
• Red Angel stamping plate RA-107

This was.... an experience. I am in total love with how my middle finger turned out, it is such a smooth gradient and I adore the subtle brush strokes that give it a painterly look. The other fingers, eh. I think there were a few factors to this hit and miss. First, I just need practice :P The fan brush I used was actually for normal acrylic paints and not a nail art brush and it did NOT like having polish on it, I think that was a very big factor. The bristles were way too stiff to begin with and they threw a fit and clumped up with polish. With a brush intended for polish I think this would have gone so much more smoothly. After a few do-overs though I kinda got the hang of it I think. Clean up was a big pain but again I blame the brush for not being flexible enough and I had to press down on like half my finger. After the gradients were done they felt kinda plain so I stamped on some leopard print with Dream On. I kinda like the stamping, it stands out more in person on the dark half of the nail than it does on camera for some reason. Well, it's pink anyways. I'm kinda glad this color is over.

Want to see what a nice pink gradient looks like? Go see what Esme did with pink for today! She is so much better with pinks than I am, I think we should all go visit and put mine out of mind >.<