Gradient manicure: what is, types and design

Each new season brings new trends in the nail industry, however, for several years gradient shades have been at the peak of popularity. The very structure of such a coating is a vivid combination of several tones without a pronounced sharp transition between them, a similar style allows you to fantasize and realize the most creative combinations in your wardrobe and accessories.

From a technical point of view, the gradient, or, as it is also called, degrade, represents a soft transition from one tone to another, and stretching in it can be carried out not only from light to darker shades of any one color, fashionistas sometimes choose absolutely different colors and try to beautifully combine them with each other. This is one of the main advantages of such a coating - this combination can be any, quite unexpected and original; all this allows the girl to stand out and, without a doubt, impress others. There is another plus, much more practical - when several tones are collected on the nails, it is always easier to choose an outfit so that it creates a single image with manicure.

Stylists highlight several more advantages of applying ombre:

• soft transitions from tone to tone represent fertile ground for bold experiments;
• such a design, including several colors, always attracts increased attention;
• absolutely any colors and shades can be used for the gradient;
• the coating goes well with additional decorative accessories;
• You do not need to repaint your nails every time you change your outfit;
• depending on the chosen colors, the gradient may be appropriate both at the gala event and in the office with a strict dress code.

Perhaps, only one of the drawbacks can be noted - far from all colors are in good harmony with each other and not every shade can flow beautifully from one tone to another. But all this is just a matter of taste: if a woman is brave and not afraid of bright colors, then she will be able to turn any combination into her own highlight.

The gradient is often called stretching and is usually drawn in several ways. Depending on the coating technique, manicure options are divided into several types, we will dwell on them in more detail.

• Gradient manicure - this technique of coating the nail plates, when one shade imperceptibly flows into any other. Such a manicure is better known as ombre and, as a rule, one color is used for such a design, only its shades change from light to slightly darker.

• An alternative to it is the so-called Dip Dye manicurewhen coloring comes in several different, but always bright colors.

• Besides, graduation manicure It is divided into horizontal as well as vertical, and a gradient with a transition is also distinguished. Of course, with each season there are more and more new options for such a stylish cover, but at the peak of popularity there is always a classic.

The easiest way to apply is the gradient with the transition. Usually, 5 coatings are selected for the performance of such a coating, and in turn each one covers the nails from large to little finger. Thus, it stretches the tones from one finger to another. Such a manicure is quite easy to do on your own, and if you do not have five varnishes of different tones at hand, you can always make a new color yourself - just mix several colors, for example, red and yellow give orange, yellow with blue will give green, and pink with violet - a pleasant lilac shade.

Cover the first nail with blue, and to stain the second, drop a little of this blue varnish on a glass or plastic palette and add a little white to it so that the shade becomes a little lighter. With this color, you need to cover the second plate, and then add another drop of white to the palette and paint the third nail. Thus, you will get a transition from blue to pale blue, while you can paint all 10 nails with a gradient or cover the nails on both hands the same way or draw the nails on one hand from blue to white, and make the second the same, but mirror.

Horizontal and vertical transitions are a little more complicated; they are a stretch from one color to another.

Horizontal ombre involves the transition of tones from the very tip of the nail to its cuticle, while the shades are both “related” and completely different. In the first case, the manicure will be gentle and classic, in the second - bold and extravagant.

Usually in such a manicure at least three shades are used, and experienced masters apply even more colors. At the same time, keep in mind that if you use many shades in a contrast ombre, the transition will be quite sharp, and if you use close shades, then the general appearance will, on the contrary, be soft and tender.

Vertical grading also involves the transition of tones inside the nail plate, but here the tones flow from right to left.Just like in a horizontal coating, three or more colors are used here, most often the little finger is completely painted in one color, a gradient in a different tone is drawn on the nameless nail, in the middle tones they change from what we got on the nameless and etc. Such a manicure looks quite fresh and very stylish, and most importantly, very well-groomed and elegant.

By the way, another rather original feature of gradients is the use of thermal varnishes; when the ambient temperature changes, they change their colors and the coating always plays with new unusual colors.

When applying a gradient to the nails, a wide variety of coatings are used.

The most popular are gel polishes, which in essence are a kind of hybrid of ordinary varnish and acrylic paint. Distinctive features of this composition are:

• high percentage of gel in the structure;
• much less harmful formaldehyde and toluene;
• when applying such a coating, the nail plate does not require preliminary grinding and sawing, it is only cleaned and degreased, which means that the nails remain dense and healthy longer;
• To get rid of such a coating you don’t need to destroy it at all, just apply a remover - in this case, the gel polish will soak in literally 10 minutes.

Vinyllux is another popular coating when applying a gradient. Purely visually, it looks like a varnish familiar to everyone, but it has its own characteristics that cannot be seen at first sight. At its core, this varnish is a two-phase product, which includes a base - so you can not apply a base to the nails.

Vinyllux has a rather peculiar structure. - its pigments are slightly larger than the size of the gaps between the keratin scales, so they are simply not able to stain the nail plate. The coating hardens in 10 minutes, while over time it only gets stronger.

Some craftswomen try to use biogel for the gradient - this is a completely pointless exercise, since it is designed to extend the nail plate or give it the desired shape, but not paint.

The gel polish stays on the nails for about 2-3 weeks, while it can withstand any, even the most adverse weather conditions.

Vinilux is called “weekly” varnish - it is worn for 7 days, however, as practice shows, after 4-5 days the first chips appear quite often, in addition, such a coating does not look aesthetically pleasing if there are at least minimal defects on the nails and damage.

Well, of course, you can use the most ordinary varnish to create a gradient, then you have to update it every 3-4 days, and most types of household chores (cleaning and washing dishes) have the most adverse effect on it.

For a long time, the gradient was performed in beige shades, stretching it from light milk to darker peach. Nowadays, the color palette used in degradation is limited only by the imagination and personal preferences of the owner of such a manicure.

A stretch from blue to pink looks very gentle, the transition of shades from lilac to saturated purple. But more courageous girls combine practically incongruous, for example, green and red tones or combine blue with yellow.

In recent years, a colored manicure is quite popular - a rainbow, as well as coatings with mirror rubbing, which give the coating a metallic shade.

You can draw a gradient on the nails even at home, To do this, prepare the main inventory:

• several types of varnishes of various shades;
• sponge / applicator / kitchen sponge;
• wooden stick or a couple of toothpicks;
• degreaser, base coat, fixative;
• nail polish remover;
• corrector.

Stretching is quite easy to do if the most common nail polish is used, but there is a “but” - such a manicure will last no more than 2-3 days. A gradient made by coatings on a gel base will be a little more durable, but drawing it is much more difficult.

Specialists of the nail industry use several basic coating options, we will talk about the most popular ones.

In order to create an ombre in this way, you need to prepare a piece of kitchen sponge or cosmetic sponge.

To begin with, you should decide on the shades that you plan to use in the decorative coating.

Next, a base is applied, which is designed to protect the nail plate, so that the gradient remains on the nails for a longer time.

Then the lightest varnish is taken, they should completely cover the nail and let it dry.

After this, a sponge or sponge should be moistened with ordinary water so that the material becomes moistened and does not absorb varnish. Then you should take varnishes and alternately apply them in strips on the sponge, moving from the first tone to the second, while you should draw them fairly confidently so that the lines slightly touch each other.

At this stage, a plastic film or foil may be required, from the contact of the spongy surface with them, the boundaries are blurred and a smooth transition is formed; in order to make sure that the stretch is harmonious, you should check the effect on paper.

If you are satisfied with the color scheme, you should proceed to the most difficult thing - transferring the coating to your nails. If you do not have much experience in manicure, then start with one nail in a few touches, while the sponge can be slightly shifted from one side to the other to get a more original result. Specialists cope with this task with one touch.

If the remnants of the used varnish get on the skin, then you need to get rid of them before it finally dries, then you will need a special liquid or corrector.

To consolidate the effect, a top coat should be applied, which will give the manicure greater durability.

There is a little trick in this method - in order to create a gradient you can just apply a basic shade on the plates, and on the sponge another - it will be you who will print it on a clean edge in the future.

The design using foil is not very different from the one described above by the main technology. The one and only difference is that if in the first case the varnish is initially applied to the sponge, then here it is to the foil. Keep in mind that for this you will need a flat surface.

The color transition is initially done using a sharp toothpick.

In this method, I apply the applicator for cosmetic eyeshadow. And this technology is very similar to the first two, however, it is believed that the applicator is more convenient than a sponge and a sponge.

The procedure for manipulation in this case is as follows:

To begin with, the cuticle and keratinized skin near the nail plates are removed.

The nails are painted with base varnish and only after it dries, the edge of the plate is covered with one of the varnishes used, and the second is applied to the applicator, it is imprinted at some distance. Depending on the total number of desired shades, the steps are repeated.

At the final stage, you should certainly remove the remaining coating from the fingers and apply a layer of fixative.

This method of application is considered to be the simplest, because to design a beautiful gradient you only need a brush with soft villi.

It is necessary to apply the selected shades of varnishes with a thin layer to the cleaned and fat-free nails, then the brush is dipped into the clinser and immediately, until the varnishes are completely dry, a series of quick movements are made on the nail plate in those places where there should be a transition of shades from one to another.

After each such shading, the brush should be cleaned with a napkin, if you do not have much experience in applying ombre, it is better to give preference to a fan brush. However, the procedure in this case will be slightly different - this brush does not make a soft transition, so it’s better to mix the middle, transitional tone yourself, connecting the main tones, apply all the colors on the nails and use a damp brush to make movements similar to waving before starting work brooms and repeat until the desired effect appears.

As we already mentioned, such a graded coating lasts much longer, in addition, it does not have the unpleasant property of peeling off pieces and peeling around the edges, as is often the case with conventional varnishes.

After that, the surface of the nails must be covered with a basic coating, after that it polymerizes quite quickly, and the sticky top layer is removed using any lint-free cloth.

When the nails are fully prepared for staining, you should apply gel polish on one side of one shade, on the other on the other, after which a very thin brush draws a smooth stretch between the tones.

In conclusion, the nails are again sent for drying, sticky residues are removed and a top-coat fixing coating is applied on top.

Keep in mind that during polymerization, do not keep your nails under the light of the lamp for more than two minutes.

In recent years, the geometric gradient has become very popular., it is performed with a fairly thin brush. For such a coating, you should prepare a pair of gel polishes, while one should be white, and the second should be more saturated and bright. By gradually diluting the shellac of a bright shade with white, you will get more and more delicate light colors - they should display various geometric shapes from light to dark. At the same time, all layers are applied very thinly, drying is not required after each application - the hand should be placed in the UV lamp only after you finish the whole picture.

This season, at the peak of popularity, there is a gradient made in the form of rhombuses.

However, it is possible to apply such a pattern with ordinary varnish, although it dries quite quickly and therefore its use will be quite difficult. In this case, you better use special stencils with various patterns that allow you to realize the most daring design ideas.

Some girls use stencils and in the work with gel polishes - this is not entirely correct, since shellac tends to flow under the stencil, so the effect may turn out completely different from what you plan.

In conclusion, we dwell on the most trendy nail art design options using the ombre technique.

• Classical - in this case, the gradient is applied one nail vertically or horizontally.

• French technique - the basic principle here remains unchanged, however, beige or light pink colors are taken as the main shades, which smoothly turn into milk or white within the same nail plate.

• Gradient with art painting. - in this case, the coating is used as a field for drawing interesting pictures.

• Shining - here graduation looks a little different. The nails are covered with only one shade of varnish, while the gradient is performed using sparkles, the number of which is reduced from the edge of the nail to the cuticle or vice versa.

• Chaotic - in this case, the border of the transition points are located in absolutely any area, and the applied colors quite often change direction. An example is Skills' nail design, which got its name from the name of well-known sweets - everyone knows how these sweets behave when they are in milk.

• Linear - this decor is represented by simple lines applied vertically with thin brushes. With this decor, there is no blurring between the borders of the shades.

See how to make gradient manicure with stamping in the next video.