Purple and Blue Ombre Double Stamp

Combination of the sponge gradient and double stamping techniques for a visually interesting design.This one falls into the category of much easier than it looks.

By stamping a pastel under the white you get a layered affect that creates depth in the design. The ombre gives it a shadow effect that looks great with cream polishes. Lets get started. 

Click "See more" if you want to know how I did this design.

Flyin' High and What a pansy are both very opaque cream polishes that give great coverage with just one or two coats. I painted all my nails with two coats and used the ice water bath trick to harden my polish. Just put some ice in a bowl of water and dunk in those pretty painted finger tips. Avoid bumping into the ice chunks to much on the way in if you can.

 Its very important that your nails be dry and set when you are planning on using the makeup sponge technique or else the sponge will pull up some of your base polish.

Once dry, Paint the end of your sponge with the colors you want to blend, gently pad your nail with the sponge and go back and forth to blend the colors. These paints provided enough of an effect with just one pass of the sponge but if you want drama let your nails dry and go over them again.

This step is always messy. It is easy to clean up with an angled eyeliner brush and a little polish remover. I wanted to show the mess I made. It's oddly satisfying to clean off the extra paint and sometimes it helps to clean up between layers of sponge to see the blend more clearly.

Acetone is harsh and it drys our your skin but there are more gentle formulas available. I'm just old school and my mother used straight up acetone. It works very fast and some of the other removers are a lot of work in comparison.

Bundle Monster is one of the very first sets of plates I ever bought. I get almost all my supplies on amazon and I find myself using my Bundle Monster plates more than other brands. I have a few favorite designs and the quality of their plate is great. They are not as expensive as some of the other brands I've tried and many of those are not etched as well as the Bundle Monster plates. Etching is important because if they are too deep you get smudging and if they are not etched deep enough you wont pick up the whole design on your stamper because it will dry to quickly. Practice makes perfect but the brand of plate you use can make a huge difference.

After you have the ombre you want its time to get in there with your pastel stamping polish. I like to mix the colors right on the plate. I did a tutorial that describes how I do this with pictures here...

 Tutorial mixing stamping polishes directly on the plate 

 When I place the stamp I try to do it differently on each nail. Some on the side, some just the top and some just the tip of the nail. It adds interest and breaks the monotony stamping can have. This design is very forgiving so it doesn't need to be perfect and you get a cool effect that looks intentionally random if that is a thing. I went back in with white stamping polish and made sure to place it so that it did not cover the pastel colors exactly. Turn your plate, so the design is upside down or turn it sideways, when you place it the second time. As long as you don't overlap exactly the way you stamped the first time you will have depth and interest. Top coat it up and enjoy your one of a kind nails.