orange ombre - butterfly kisses

I wanted to do a sunny, summery nail, so I picked Zoya Arizona for my manicure today.  I am just starting to use Zoya polishes - they are a little thinner than what I've been used to, but they do have a nice formula.  I wasn't in love with Arizona, but I do set myself up for failure with these oranges.  I love the color, but it doesn't always love me back.  To temper the color, I decided to do an ombre nail with OPI Take the stage.

The interwebs say that this ombre nail is very ON TREND.  I hear that a lot.  On Trend.  I've never been on trend before.  With, uh, anything.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.

The ombre nail is simply another color sponged onto the nail using a makeup sponge.

Put a little polish on the sponge, and dab it gently (you can always add more polish, it's harder to take it away) about 1/2 to 3/4 up the nail.  I like to dab another layer at the tip to make it opaque at the bottom.

I really liked this look, and it made the Arizona more wearable for me.

A few hours later, though, I started playing around again....

...and used a sponge to add some yellow (Sally Hansen Xtreme in Mellow Yellow) to the nail, so I could try a new-to-me nail art, the monarch butterfly.

After sponging on the yellow and orange, take a nail striper and black polish (I used Pure Ice Black Rage) and make a curved line from the cuticle to the side of the nail bed.  Then make diagonal lines out from the curved lines.  Cap off each segment with a curved line, and fill in the tip.

Add white hi-light dots along the edge.  I also added some near the cuticle, but I didn't like it there as much.  You'll want to use a top coat to make the art pop and to protect it.

I was happy that my husband recognized these as butterfly wings when I showed him the mani.  I'm proud of my first try!  It's a little busy of a look for me, but I'd probably do it again for a theme mani, or as an accent nail.