NAIL ART: Nuts About Fall Gradient Owl Nails
Honestly... It's not fall, right? It's not fall on the calendar, it's not fall on the weather report, it's just not fall. And yet... September 1st hit and in my brain, it's fall. In my brain it's time for sweaters and cozy and it's almost Halloween. It's not, but also it is. Know what I mean? Anyway, when I sit down to do nails now, my brain has entirely shifted away from summer and into fall designs, so I grabbed for a stamping plate that has been sitting in my collection just waiting for it to be fall time and went to town for my first undeniably fall themed mani of the year.
Keep reading for more!
In keeping with the sort of nude theme I have going here on the blog this week, I wanted to keep this mani in that colour family as well and that's sort of what informed the choices I made with colour for this mani. I recently picked up Coconuts Over OPI, which is this sort of perfect pale beige nude shade that I think will get a lot of play for me as a base for nail art. I started by applying one coat of this shade to all of my nails.
For this mani, I knew I wanted to go in with a gradient so I grabbed for a slightly darker taupe shade that felt similarly neutral in tone and that I thought would smoothly transition with the beige. I went for an even half and half split on a makeup sponge to try and get a really smooth transition and it ended up taking me three passes of the sponging to get the desired blend and opacity that I was looking for.
For the stamping, I knew that I wanted to apply a full coverage image to all of my nails and then layer that with smaller, partial coverage images, so I started with this sort of scattered leaves image in white stamping polish. A little bit I wish that I had an off white stamping polish on hand for a little bit less contrast, but I like how it turned out in the end. For my middle finger, I went in with this cute little owl image and reverse stamped it with a pickup in black and fill in the two colours I used for my gradient along with white for cohesion. Finally, for my ring finger, I grabbed this "Nuts About Fall" text image and applied to the center of the nail. I've sort of fallen in love with text images recently, specifically ones from brands like Whats Up Nails that have really crisp pick up and transfer.
Once I was happy with the stamping, I went in with a water based top coat to seal in the design and then followed with a matte top coat to take down the shine and really give that fall vibe. And voila!
All Products Used
OPI - Coconuts Over OPI
Essence - Meant To Be
Maniology - Bam White!
Maniology - Straight Up Black
Maniology - Smudge Free Top Coat
Anchor & Heart Sea Glass Matte Top Coat
Whats Up Nails B053 That's Pretty Autumn! Stamping Plate
Whats Up Nails Magnified Clear Stamper
NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool**
Pueen Liquid Peel Off Cuticle Guard
** = PR Gifted from NailStuff.ca - use affiliate code TRYSH for 10% off your first order.
I swear, my love for Whats Up Nails really does know no bounds. When I initially bought this plate, it wasn't with this design in mind, but I'm so, so glad that it came to me because I love the way it turned out. Also, is it fall yet? I mean... yes, in less than a week it will be fall but also... Is it fall yet? Know what I mean? My brain.
Thanks for reading!
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