When it comes to modern ways to use neon nail polishes, I think my favorite is the pairing of a really beige-y nude shade paired with neon tips in a gradient fashion. The great thing about pairing a beige shade with a bolder color in a gradient is that you really shouldn't have to worry about the blend getting muddy or the colors clashing and looking weird. For today's mani, I decided to go with what I like to think of as a double gradient - a gradient on each nail to create that French fade vibe, but also a gradient of neons for a skittle mani, of sorts.

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I've actually had this base polish from Quo's Breathable polish range (which I believe is exclusively available in Canada at Shoppers Drug Mart) in my collection for a couple of months, but this is the first time I've gotten the opportunity to use it. Sandy Shore is a very aptly named pale beige nude with really neutral undertones. For this mani, I started with one coat of Sandy Shore on all of my nails and let it dry completely.

For the gradient, I knew I wanted to keep it in the really warm arena of neons because I personally think they look the most impactful when paired with a nude, so I went with a rich berry shade, a cool bubblegum pink, a really bold coral and a slightly softer orange shade. To get this fade, I basically applied one strip of the neon to one end of my makeup sponge and then filled the rest with the nude shade for application. I ended up doing 3-4 passes of sponging to each nail to get the desired blend and opacity that I was looking for, and I think all of these shades ended up giving me a really smooth gradient. 

I knew that I wanted to pair this gradient base with some black stamping and I wanted to keep it to the tip, so I grabbed for the Pict You PY-J054 Stamping Plate and decided to go for this spotted image - which could be cow or dog or some other randomly spotted animal print. I really like the tip images on this plate and I find that they're a good shape for turning and shifting to get a different look on each nail. For this mani, I alternated the angle of the design placement and I think it ended up being really cohesive overall.

Once I was happy with my stamping, I went in with a generous coat of Cuticula Limitless Top Coat to all of my nails and voila!

Not going to lie, I'm kind of obsessed with how this mani turned out and I suspect you'll be seeing different variations on this theme popping up a bit in the upcoming months because it's such a versatile technique and I feel like a lot can be done with it. As usual, I highly, highly recommend Color Club's cream polishes for gradients because they really blend beautifully.

Check out my video tutorial for this mani - and all of my other mani's - over at @pblnails on Instagram and be sure to follow me there!

Thanks for reading!