Pixie Dust Gradient

My apologies for slacking off on my blogging so much lately! I had a lot going on to get 2013 wrapped up and 2014 under way, but I think things may settle down some now. Of course, there's still one more thing I need to do: share my Christmas Day manicure!

Thanks to some last-minute prep I had to tackle, I didn't have much time at all to put together a super fancy Christmas look for the big day. Gradients are still my absolute favorite thing right now, but since I'd already done a more typical gradient for the holidays, I decided to try my hand at a textured version.

I started with two coats of Zoya Tomoko and then sponged on both Tomoko and Zoya Chyna to create the gradient. So easy! The textured polishes blended really well—I love how the bumpiness accentuates the gradient even more. I have to confess that I'm actually not the biggest fan of wearing textured polishes (the rough surface brushing against things is like nails on a chalkboard for me!), so I ended up adding a couple layers of topcoat to this by midday on Christmas. I didn't get a photo with the topcoat on, but the overall effect was still very nice.

Thanks for looking, and happy new year!

Swatch: Sugar Coat in Red Velvet by Sally Hansen

I think textured polishes can be really fun on occasion, so when I saw Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat polish in this gorgeous Red Velvet color on the store shelf, I just had to have it.