Bettina Tulipani And WnW I Need A Refresh Mint Gradient with Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks

Purchased

Hello my dears! I'm still trying to get back on track but it's been difficult with LO lately.  This weekend we spent a lot of time with in-laws, but I think LO was either teething or had a bitten tongue because she was really fussy and didn't want to eat.  Luckily today she finally started being her normal cute self and managed to eat quite a bit for dinner.  I was getting worried too, especially when MIL started googling fever blisters which brought up a multitude of diagnosis which included the likes of herpes simplex virus.  Oy!  That is a big reason why non-medically educated people should not be googling medical conditions.  Ain't nobody got time to be scaird like that!

I've been trying to figure out how to wear Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks, but could not come up with any base color that I thought would highlight the multitude of glitters in the clear base.  Then it occurred to me that I do a gradient to match the colored glitters, so that they would pop against the complimentary background.  I pulled out some oldies but goodies, Wet 'n' Wild I Need A Refresh Mint and Bettina Tulipani and sponged away.  I love the way gradients look, but the cleanup is always a PITA.  I wish I knew an easy way of doing that!  Here's those results, pardon the slight uneveness.  I love the way that the bubblegum pink and cool blue combined in the middle to create a hint of purple.  Word of advice that's always important to remember:  make sure you let the layers dry before sponging on the next, otherwise you will pull up that previous layer and cause balding.

Bettina Tulipani And SH I Need A Refresh Mint Gradient

Bettina Tulipani And SH I Need A Refresh Mint Gradient

Bettina Tulipani And SH I Need A Refresh Mint Gradient

 Next, I happily laid down my Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks, a bright matte blue, pink, black, and white glitter topcoat with a sprinkle of holographic hexes.  I love the tiny microgitter in black and white and the shards of black to help tied in the name of Punked Up Kicks.  I'm not sure if my gradient really did a lot to bring out all the colors in this glitter topcoat, but overall, I don't think I did too bad!  Punked Up Kicks had a formula that was thicker than I like, and it wasn't easy getting a good balance of polish on the brush to apply on the nail.  I kept getting too much on the brush which would then flood my nail.  Luckily it dries down easily enough and cleanup wasn't any more difficult than the gradient.  This was all finished with a quick layer of topcoat.

 Gradient with Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks

 Gradient with Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks

 Gradient with Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks

 Gradient with Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks

 Gradient with Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks

 Gradient with Hit Polish Punked Up Kicks

There's a lot going on in this glitter topcoat, but with the gradient background, it does seem to go hand in hand pretty welll.   The black and white matte glitter are most predominant but the matte blue and pink glitters show up easily too.  I've got a few Hit Polish in my collection that I need to finish swatching, and I'm glad I finally pulled out this fun little guy to try. Are you a fan of matte glitters like this, or do you think it ends up looking too juvenile?

Purchased