A few years ago, I was trying to recreate the look of those gorgeous bright tipped ombre nail designs that I see nail techs do using colored acrylics and I came up with the technique that I used for today's design. I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of it, I will admit, but I feel pretty proud of figuring it out. That is honestly one of my favorite things about being a nail art hobbyist, figuring out how I could possibly pull off similar designs to professional gel and acrylic artists at home using regular polish. And while it's not always possible, it often is... with some adjustments!

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Because my nail beds aren't currently as perfect as I might like them to be, I actually started this mani by applying one coat of my new favorite nude sheer - Cirque's Georgette. On my skin tone, this is just the perfect bare sheer because it adds a surprising amount of camouflage without being opaque and it has a really smooth, even formula.

Now for this gradient technique, where I only want opaque color at the tip. I just apply one swipe of the color to my sponge and then fill the rest of the sponge with clear polish. This allows me to build a layer of polish across the nail with a smooth color blend without actually having to add color. For this mani, I did three passes of stamping to get to the opacity I was looking for. 

One I had finished the gradient, I went in with my gold flakes in two different ways. First, I added one coat of Essie's As Gold As It Gets, which is my favorite metallic topper and is, to my devastation, long discontinued. Next, while that was still wet, I added some larger gold metallic flakes just sort of scattered over the nail to add some more visual interest.

I kept the stamping really, really simple for this mani. For my middle and ring fingers, I used two different feather images that I think work really well with this design. For my outer fingers (thumb included) I used this cluster of stars image that is quite subtle but adds a sort of magical vibe to the overall look.

Once I was happy with my design, I sealed it in with a nail art top coat and then followed with a generous layer of glossy top coat for shine and volume. And voila!

I'm obsessed. Seriously, at this point I'm sitting here and just imagining all of the different versions of this mani that I could do for all sorts of different occasions. This might end up being one of those mani's that becomes a bit of a staple for me, but I'm not the least bit mad about it. I just love the combination of the simple gradient, the flakie topper, and the quite minimalist stamping. Love love love!

Be sure to head over to Cosmetic Proof and See The World In PINK for more bright summer nails for this week's #CBBxManiMonday! And if you want a closer look at how I did this mani, check out the video tutorial over on my Instagram @pblnails and be sure to follow me to keep up on all of my nail art designs!

Thanks for reading!