Fall into Fall

Happy first day Fall!!! I am so excited for the weather to start changing, for the rains to come, for the smells of great cooking, for bundling up in warm clothes, for snuggling by the fire with a book and for the family oriented holidays - not to mention my birthday and anniversary are all during the Autumn months! Everything about fall makes me happy. So, to celebrate, I thought I'd do a mani to help me get some of the excitement that I'm feeling over this time of year out of my system. 

Doing a google search for "fall" made me really jealous of people that get to experience the very drastic changing seasons where all the trees turn bright shades of red, orange and yellow. Additionally, apparently everyone lives next to an awesome foot bridge surround by these beautiful colors because every other image had a bridge or an old wooden fence in the image ;) I decided to be inspired by one such image and created my very own picturesque foot bridge amidst the changing fall trees. I apologize that the pictures are all so similar...I just wanted to try and match the bridge up!

Gradient? Err...sort of

I really like the look of gradient nails and had always been curious if I too, could hop on that bandwagon. Well, I sort of did? My attempt isn't the traditional smooth look that so many have been sporting, but I like it nonetheless. 

I used Essie's Turquoise & Caicos as my base color and let it dry for as long as my impatient brain would allow for before beginning the gradient. I suppose I should have researched a bit more into how most people do a gradient, but I had heard that THE thing to use is a makeup sponge. I had several lying around and gave it a shot! (without watching any tutorial on the "proper" method of application...oops!). Anyway, instead of painting both colors on the sponge and rolling it over your nail a few times as is now convention, I painted just my gradient color (Sally Hansen's Gray by Gray) onto the sponge and dabbed away!

While my "gradient" isn't necessarily a smooth transition between the two colors, I am still in love with the look I've created. It's understated but with a little bit of a surprise ;)

They remind me a bit of watermelon or candy or I don't know...magic? Anyway, next time I shall attempt using the proper method, but for now, I am in love. 

Happy Polishing.