My This and That 83: Green Gradient Nails for Nation Depression Awareness Month + Knitting Project Update!

Happy Saturday! I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. As promised, I have a quick knitting update. The first thigh high is already 25 inches long. Once again my wonderful hubby James is modeling it for me on his arm. It is very loose on his arm. Also, the ribbing makes it very stretchy so it should fit snugly around the leg. I have about 6 more repeats of the 13-row pattern and then the bottom cuff to finish off. Maybe another 2 weeks or so of knitting, depending on how quickly I move.

I have a bonus today as well. It occurred to me, why wait until next year to post a nail design for some of the other causes mentioned in my last blog post? There was still enough time left this October to squeeze in another design or two. So I decided to do a green gradient nail in recognition of National Depression Awareness Month. I used Sinful Colors Basecoat to start. The polish goes on slightly white, but dries clear.

I chose three shades of green, all Sinful Colors. The lightest shade on the left is 'Innocent' (it looks a little yellowish in the picture, but it is more of a lime green), middle is 'Happy Ending' and the darkest color is 'Pine Away'.

I applied a single coat of the 'Innocent' as a primer coat and then let it dry completely. I applied the gradient with a sponge technique. I used regular cosmetic sponges like you can find at any drugstore. I applied the polish directly to the sponge so that the colors overlapped just slightly but were still distinct. Then I pressed the sponge to the nail. I applied more polish to the sponge as needed and did three coats of the stamped polish to each nail.

Once they had dried completely, I applied my top coat and then used a q-tip soaked in acetone to clean up around my cuticles. This process is a little bit messier than a normal manicure so if you really don't like having to clean up as much, you could tape off your fingers or Vaseline/cuticle oil like you would for a water marble. It's really not that much extra work though, so whichever you prefer. Below are the pictures of my finished look. As always, thanks for reading and have a great weekend!