Hey everyone! Happy June! Since June is Pride Month and Winnipeg celebrated Pride this past weekend, I decided that my first Mani Monday of the month should pay home to Pride celebrations and try my very first rainbow gradient manicure. Though I'm not a member of the LGBTQ community myself, I consider myself to be an ally and I love to support not only equality for that community but also the downright celebration of it in the face of a world that still enacts violence and hatred on people just for being who they are. Happy Pride, everyone! 

Keep reading for a closer look at the mani!

This is the first time I did a vertical gradient, but I actually found it to be really, really easy and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. For anyone who is just dipping toes into gradients, the biggest (and best) tip that I've gotten myself and would like to share with you is that a glitter top coat is your friend. It helps to smooth the blend and gives some depth and dimension to the look. Anytime I do a gradient mani, I always follow with a topper, whether it's a fine shimmer or more of a chunky glitter.

For the rainbow gradient, I knew I wanted to use really bold créme polishes, so I reached for my Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes because the formula works absolutely amazingly for a gradient with really high pigmentation so I really only needed to dab a couple of times to get really full coverage and a nice blend. The shades I used are Glow With It (Yellow), Dreamsicle (Orange), Wild Strawberry (Red), Cherry Fast (Purple), Revobluetion (Blue), and In The Groove (Green). Some of these were limited edition and others are still available, but if you're looking for a great formula for gradients, I'd definitely take a look at Sally Hansen Insta-Dri.

Like I said above, I always follow a gradient with a glitter topper and for this one I reached for Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter, which has a really great combination of finer shimmers paired with holo glitters. Though it does have a pinky base, it doesn't really cloud up the color of your mani at all. After sitting with this mani for an hour or so, I wanted to add a little something else and it hit me... Add some love! So I reached for the Bundle Monster x Elleandish BM-XL201 stamping plate and added a little bit of cursive love stamping using this Billie French White (From the Dollarstore - great for stamping!!) and a Born Pretty Store Monacle Stamper. As always, I finished the look with Cutex Quick Dry Nail Polish.

And there you have it - a rainbow mani splashed with love for Pride Month! Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and excited to try more vertical gradients in the future - and maybe more rainbow manis over the course of this month.

For more rainbow mani's, head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In Pink to check out their rainbow themed nail arts for today's #CBBxManiMonday!

Thanks for reading!