Reciprocal Gradient Nail Art Tutorial

Ombre nails are awesome enough as it is, but now there's reciprocal gradients and scaled gradients too?! Crazy talk. Today, I'll be talking about the reciprocal gradient and walking you through the steps on how to achieve one!

A reciprocal gradient is when you create an ombre (let's say red-yellow-blue) on your nails, apply a stencil (ie: nail vinyls) over top, and create a second ombre reversing the color order (now blue-yellow-red). Hopefully it will become more clear as I explain the steps.

1) Start with a white base.

2) Create a gradient by painting lines of polish on a makeup sponge and dabbing it onto the nail. This step may need to be repeated multiple times for the desired color/opacity.

3) Apply a coat of fast drying topcoat.

4) Apply stencils (ie: nails vinyls) over the first ombre. I used Quatrefoil Vinyls from Vinyl Quickies.

5) Create another gradient, this time flipping the sponge 180 degrees so that the color order is opposite.

6) Gently peel off the stencil.

7) Apply a final coat of fast drying topcoat.

I filmed a tutorial of my reciprocal gradient for you to help you see the steps in action. The blue stuff around my nails is Lickity Split Latex Mani Mask from EllaGee that helped cut down on cleanup.

That's all for today. Hopefully my instructions were helpful and you try this fun type of ombre nails for yourself! If you do @ me on Instagram so I can see! <3