Blue Cirque Reciprocal Gradient

Hello everyone! Today I have some quick nail art for you. For this mani I had the idea in mind to do a vertical reciprocal gradient using  X pattern stencils. I tried it on my other hand first and realized you couldn't really tell what was going on at all. So I tried a different approach, clipping off some of the Xs. I'm still not sure if it would have been better to remove some of the vinyl from the sides instead of the top. I guess I should have done more experimenting first. But the way that I went with made a big enough difference that I liked how it turned out. I hope you do too!


I used two contrasting shades of blue and sponged on a vertical gradient. Then I added a coat of Out The Door Northern Lights- a fast drying top coat with holographic glitter. Once that was all dry I clipped off some of the middle parts of the nail vinyls, then placed them on my nails. I sponged the gradient again, now in the opposite direction, over the vinyls. I quickly removed the vinyls (some removed more cleanly than others) and let dry for a couple minutes before finishing with a clear fast drying top coat.

Nice blurry closeup.

What I used:
Cirque Storm King- grey sky blue
Cirque Selvedge- deep blue
Out The Door Northern Lights- holo top coat
Seche Vite top coat
Whats Up Nails X pattern stencil


Let me know what you think in the comments!