We've definitely gotten to the point where the days are getting longer and there's something about the sweet spot we're in right now - when I get to the point in the evening when it's time to relax and take a  breath, the colours of the sky are just absolutely beautiful. So, of course, that's the reason that to me this is a springtime sunset gradient mani - I have a strong and very positive association with these colours in my head that I associate with this time of year. 

Anyway, keep reading for more!

Since I hate white bases but I knew that I needed a light base to really make this gradient pop, I started out with one coat of a very pale pastel blue shade as my base. Honestly, it's the distinctly better alternative to white for all of the reasons, so if you're like me and you hate a white base I totally recommend trying out a pastel one that works with your color picks. For this gradient, I wanted softness, but I also wanted the colours to have a richness to them, so I went with pastel neon polishes from Color Club in blue, purple, pink and peach to evoke that look of the spring sunset sky. I used a cosmetic sponge to apply the gradient and it took three layers of sponging to get to this opacity and blend.

I absolutely love silhouette stamping on a sunset gradient base and I've had my eye on these images from the Whats Up Nails B017 Stamping Plate with this mani in mind ever since I picked it up. I decided to go with black stamping polish to just really get that rich, strong contrast, though I did consider briefly going with a softer look using a lighter stamping polish. I used three different images for this mani and really considered the finished product as I chose how to place them. 

Once I was happy with my stamping, I sealed in my design with a water based top coat and then followed with a matte top coat to take down the shine and voila!

There's something about spring and gradients for me, I don't know what it is. I just love 'em and want to do them all the time - so keep an eye out for more gradients coming up in the near future. And if you haven't yet, head over to @pblnails on Instagram and follow me there to see all of my nail art, including short video tutorials of all of my work!

Thanks for reading!