China Glaze Chasing the Sun Ombre Set Swatches + Review

Hi everyone!

I passed on all of the recent ombre sets from China Glaze (the pink, purple, and turquoise ones), but I spotted one of the new sets called Chasing the Sun at Sally's recently and I knew it had to be mine.  They had another one (Wave Runner), but I had a few of the colors already, so even though I was tempted I just came home with this one:

White On White, Sun Worshiper, Pool Party, and Flying Dragon

I was so happy that I had none of these polishes in my collection, and I had been wanting them for quite some time now, so it was perfect.

White On White is a pretty decent white polish.  It's not my absolute favorite, but I used it for the base (as directed) and it worked just fine!  Sorry for my lack of cleanup; I used two coats, and I took a quick photo before I started with the gradient:

I thought the sponges that came in the set were just going to be like any other cosmetic sponges, but I was wrong.  They worked like a dream!  I only had to apply the polish to the sponge once (!) to do all five nails on my left hand.  When they were dry (which was extremely fast), I reapplied, then went over a couple spots that needed a touch up.  This was hands down the fastest gradient I've ever done, and if you're one who has trouble getting a smooth gradient, you might want to try this!

I'm very happy with how they turned out, and I ended up topping it with one of my favorites, inm's Northern Lights top coat.

I think these sets are fun, especially for summer, and it definitely takes the thinking out of finding coordinating colors in my collection.

Here's a little bonus video:

Let me know if you have tried any of these ombre sets, and what your thoughts are!  

Have a great day! :)

Kristin

Abstract Neon Tape Mani + Tutorial!

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to finally have a website where I can post all of my photos and ideas!  It's been a long time coming.  If you know me from Instagram, I've been posting all my nail polish obsessions over there for a while now.  I can't wait to share more of my work and tutorials for all of you to enjoy!


My first post is a look I just did as a collaboration with another nail artist on Instagram.  We came up with the idea to create some "abstract" nails, and I've been on a neon kick lately so that is how the idea came about!  I am so happy with how they turned out.  They were so quick and easy to do, and so much fun for summer!  I have had quite a few requests to create a tutorial, so I've included one down below!

Here is the finished look:

And, onto the tutorial! 

(Btw, if you have any questions or comments, please leave me a comment or send me an email!  I would absolutely love to see your results as well, so feel free to tag me on Instagram, or email me your work!)

1. Gather your supplies and prep your nails. I used a-England The Knight (basecoat), Essie Blanc, a neon green, neon pink, and neon blue by Color Club (this look would be amazing with pastels, or monochromatic color schemes though!), Scotch tape, a cosmetic sponge, scissors, and tweezers. 

2. Paint two coats of your base color. I used a white base so the lines would pop amongst the neons. Make sure your base colour is completely dry, or use a quick dry top coat before moving to the next step. 

3. Hopefully this step won't be too confusing to explain, but this is just how I did it.  Take a piece of tape and make a small vertical cut at one of the corners.  Using tweezers, tear the tape vertically angled a bit to the right, creating a long triangular shape.  The thinner the better, though I think it looks good if they vary in size anyways!  I used four or five pieces on each nail for reference, and be sure to leave a "tail" so they are easily removed.

4. With the sponge, paint one of the corners with the first color, and sponge in a few random sections on the nail.

5. Repeat step 4 with the second color.  Overlapping a bit of the previous color without covering too much area is what you want, keeping the texture of the sponging, but also blending the colors a bit together.

6. Repeat with the third color, covering the rest of the white on the nail.

7. Remove the tape from the nails one by one.  I like to use tweezers for this step. 

8. Clean up the cuticle with some remover.  I just used a cotton swab (which I removed most of the cotton from) to make it easier. 

9. Wait a few moments, (you do not want to smudge your work!) then finish with a top coat! 

Have fun! :)



Kristin