Illamasqua Gradient Stamped Houndstooth Mani

In this mani I used Illamasqua Muse as the base, stamped with a gradient houndstooth.  I love how this looks on the nail, and will definitely be experimenting with it more in the future!  The black and white used are Wet N Wild Black Creme and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. Plate used was Cheeky CH13 with the variation of a houndstooth.

To get a gradient to use as the stamped image instead of the base image, you add 2 colors to the stamping plate on opposite ends letting the two colors touch in the middle.  From there you take you old gift card and scrape directly across where the two colors meet, in order to mix the two colors in the middle without moving one color to the opposite side and to spread the color evenly across the image plate. where the two colors meet is where the color has mixed, and in this case, Black and white create grey in the middle. I hope that makes sense!

What do you think? I love it!

XOX Caitlin  
* All products in this post purchased by me*

Acid Wash nails!

Acid Wash nails!  I've seen a couple of blogs posting photos of their nails using this technique, and I wanted to try it out. 

The technique to get this effect is to paint different layers of polish, and use remover on top of the layers of polish to remove the top colors and show the colors beneath. 

I used Illamasqua Poke as the base color, then a layer of Zoya Bevin, and a layer of Color Club Sweet Pea from the Blossoming Collection on top.  Then I used Pure Acetone and an ELF makeup brush I got at target and removed some of the layers of polish to achieve this look!

I think this looks so neat! I love it. :)

XOX Caitlin