Fall into Autumn 9: Fall Gradient

We really had the first snow yesterday! Until Friday, I doubted that it would snow in my region, because it is considered one of the warmest in Germany, but apparently... not warm enough anymore. So due to the rain and snow this weekend, huge amounts of leaves fell down and I'm starting to feel all wintery... Meh.

I didn't feel a lot like red leaves today, when I was thinking what to do for the gradient mani. I decided to turn it into another Halloween mani of sorts. I wanted to create a sparkly gradient and it turned out to be incredibly sparkly... at least, when the sun hit it.

I wanted to use China Glaze Zombie Zest again and started thinking of other colors from this one. I chose two Milani polishes, Hi-Tech and HD from their 3D Holographic line. Since Zombie Zest is really sheer, I started with painting my nails with three coats and let them dry shortly before moving on. At three coats it still wasn't opaque, so I did it a little differently on my right hand. I didn't take pictures though.

It's interesting how strong the silver looks, even though I barely used it. Hi-Tech is a really nice light green scattered holo and I thought it would be nice for a gradient, but it seems to be kind of overwhelmed by the other two. Totally different story when I look at my nails though. It is green and the gradient is quite smooth. I guess it's my camera again. It seems to hate holos... I really mean that. It turned strong holos like Make Up Store Greta into plain silver polishes. Boo.

Next, I cut a piece out of a kitchen sponge that approximately had the size of one nail. I let it soak some water, so I wouldn't soak up the polish. Whenever I use more than to colors, I usually paint the polishes directly onto the sponge, lightly press them on some paper to mix the colors and then move on to my nail. That's how I did it this time as well. I find it easy this way and it's not very messy. I didn't have a lot of clean-up to do afterwards.

I finished it with one coat of essence BTGN Top Sealer and went to bed... thinking I would be done. But the next morning, I suddenly felt like trying the impossible again. I felt like stamping. I don't know why, but to me, stamping is difficult. I just can't seem to get it right. So I feel that my stamping today was a huge success. Since I'm not much of a stamper, I have no idea what brand the plate is from, but it is called A-37. I used a white stamping polish by Misslyn for the stamp.

The spider didn't transfer very well and was barely visible, so I outlined it with acrylic paint and a fine brush to make it stand out more. I don't like spiders in my house, but I find them quite fascinating when they are outside. I love watching garden spiders, for example. They make the most beautiful spiderwebs! Most of the garden spiders around the house got eaten by birds already, so there is not much to watch anymore.

What do you think? Is the gradient fall worthy even though it's not orange/red? :D