If you checked out celebrity hair trends over the past year, you would know that ombré was one of the most popular trends. Everyone from Jessica Biel to Drew Barrymore to Ashlee Simpson was sporting the trend. Even my own college roommate dyed her hair to make her tresses go from brown to blonde. It’s such a beautiful, carefree style and became a popular trend quickly. Although many stars have gone back to classic colors, the ombré is still alive and kicking.
The most popular ombré trend today is with nail polish. If you check out pinterest, ombré nails are everywhere and there are so many different variations. We’ve compiled a few of the different ombré nail looks here along with instructions for you to try yourself.
This week, I shared a picture of my own pink ombré nails. It’s one of my absolute favorite nail designs because it’s simple and classy, but it still catches my eye every time I look at my nails. This is another trend that Lauren Conrad originated and I duplicated. It’s one of the easiest nail trends to recreate. All you need is five different colors of nail polish in the same hue. The key is getting different shades of the color so that your nails go from dark to light and look as though they belong together. For some reason, I have an obscene amount of pink nail polishes, so using pink was the easiest way for me to do this. LC has used browns and blues, however, showing that the trend is very versatile. If you can’t find five different colors that you think look perfect together, they’ve made the trend even easier to create: the nail polish line The New Black actually sells a set of nail polish in graduating shades!
One variation of ombré that I’m desperate to try is the full nail ombré. Pictured above, this trend has different shades of one color graduating on the nail itself. Again, this is actually an easy design to create! You need about three different shades of one color, a sponge makeup brush, and a clear coat or sparkle polish for the top layer. First get one color onto the sponge (I would probably start with the lightest color). Blot the sponge at the base of your nail, going about one-third of the way up. Next, add the middle shade to the sponge and blot this color in the middle-third of your nail, gently blending it with the lighter color until it seems graduated. Add the darkest shade to the top of your nail by blotting it with the sponge and again, blend it into the middle shade for graduation. When you are satisfied with the blending of the shades, paint a clear coat over the top, or, for extra pizazz, use a sparkle polish.
Another variation of ombré is one using glitter. Although I haven’t tried this method, again, it seems relatively simple. All you need is one color of nailpolish, some glitter, and a clear top coat. The first step is to paint one layer of nail polish on each nail. The next step is where it gets a little more difficult. Paint a second layer of polish on one nail. While the nail is still wet, grab a pinch of glitter in your opposite hand. Sprinkle the glitter from the base of your nail upwards, getting the heaviest concentration at the base and allowing the graduation to trickle down up your nail. Wait a minute or two and paint the clear coat. This will further blend the glitter up your nail, so the timing is important. If you do it too soon, the graduation will be ruined. Continue these steps on the rest of your nails, and your look is complete!
This look is similar to the one above, but instead of starting at the base of the nail, you start at the tip. There are a few ways to do this. One would be to use glitter, following the directions above but starting at the tip of the nail and gradually sprinkling the glitter towards the base. Another method is similar to the second type of ombré, using a sponge to create graduation. Use the sponge to really concentrate the color at the tip of the nail and gently blot down the nail. This look is great with glitter nail polish, like above, or a regular color, like below. As always, don’t forget to put a top coat to keep your ombré looking sharp.
On a rainy day like today, having different nail trends is a great way to pass the day indoors!
