I must say I am a huge, huge fan of doing gradients with stamping polishes. And I know, I'm maybe wasting them when I could be using regular polish and saying the stamping polishes for stamping, but they're just so pigmented and work so beautifully... Anyway, for today's mani, I used a pairing I don't often go for to create these pink and yellow faux watermarble nails and I just love it!

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Whenever I do a gradient, I always start by applying a nearly white créme polish to all of my nails as my base. This not only gives you a slightly brightened base to build color onto, but it also helps the gradient to stick more evenly. I also always try to make sure that my base is completely dry before I move onto the sponging so that I don't risk lifting the still tacky polish and creating a mess for myself - which I did do with this mani. I did manage to save it without having to start over though, so... win?

Before I sponge on my gradient, I apply a cuticle barrier to all of  my nails. With gradients and smooshes specifically, I try to my cuticle barrier in really close to the base polish so that I don't end up with any pooling in the cuticles. 

For the gradient on this one, I decided to do two different placements. On my pinkie, middle and thumb, I went in with a diagonal gradient and on my pointer and ring I went in with a vertical gradient. In the end, I think this gives a really subtle effect, but it does definitely add some interest. Because these polishes are so pigmented, I did two passes of sponging to get the blend and opacity that I was looking for.

For the stamping, I kept it super simple with this faux watermarble design from the Pueen Marble Paradise 01 Stamping Plate. I used a white stamping polish to apply it because I wanted to keep everything really light and bright. I decided to alternate the direction of the placement of my image just to add a little bit of very subtle interest. 

Once I was happy with the design, I sealed everything in with a nail art top coat and then followed with a glossy top coat for shine and volume. And voila!

If you're looking for a faux watermarble plate, I really do think that Pueen Marble Paradise 01 is a great option. I've actually had it in my collection for ages, but I haven't pulled it out nearly as much as I should have... might have to remedy that soon! 

Thanks for reading!