Golden Coral Gradient Nails

I don't really have any excuses about how long it's been since I've posted here. I'm not quite sure what happened! I've been distracted with other things for the last month, but I have still been doing nail art when I can; for some reason, sitting down to actually focus and write a blog post is the part of the process that's been eluding me. Can I blame it on the sunshine and my backlog of novels that I've been devouring?

Anyway! On to the nail art. Today I have some simple but very summery gradient nails to share. I ended up with this look recently when an initial nail art plan didn't pan out and I needed to come up with a plan B to cover the mistakes I'd already made. I never would have thought I'd end up liking a peachy-orange & gold design so much, since I usually don't like orange or gold, but I really fell in love with this as I wore it.

My base color here is Julep Janet. The color and the semi-matte finish (not visible here because I added other elements and used top coat) are definitely pretty, but the formula was a bit thick. The pretty peach color is worth it, though—I like this look so much that I'll definitely be keeping Janet around for future variations on this theme.

Once my base was dry (and after I'd made some ill-fated nail art attempts with white polish that needn't be spoken of further), I used a makeup sponge to apply the gradient of Janet and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Poof! Be-gonia, a striking coral orange. As I mentioned (and tend to mention a lot on this blog, because I'm a broken record), I'm not a big fan of orange, so I can't really say what made me pick up this polish in the first place. But I'm glad I did: the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure formula was great, as always, and the color is super flattering.

Finally, to tie everything together, I added a coat of Zoya Maria Luisa, a delicate gold-flecked accent topper. A silver glitter topper just didn't seem right with the warm colors of the gradient, but gold turned out to be the perfect finishing touch.

I think this manicure demonstrates one of my favorite things about the nail art process: the way a design you end up loving can happen naturally, when you have no plan at all... and even when you think you've made unfixable mistakes. It sounds like a cliché, but sometimes it really does work to turn your brain off and let the polish(es) be your guide.

Thanks for looking!