The weather has been scorchio so the only way to celebrate was with a white-hot neon dotticure!

Starting off with a white base – I used about two and a half coats of Essie Blanc.  Two and a half coats is my latest method of getting a nude or white base looking good without too much polish or any VNL (visible nail line).  After OPI Nail Envy (matte) I put on a really thin coat of the white but only just up to the nail line. I followed this with my normal Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps for longevity and then two normal coats of Blanc.  The first coat blurs the VNL so that it’s properly covered.  You could probably get away with one and a half if you don’t use the intermediate layer which can thin the colour out a bit.

Nails Inc Notting Hill Gate

Nails Inc Portobello
NYC 294 Lexington Yellow

Next I did the ombre on ring and thumbs.  I still haven’t mastered a smooth transition between colours… This time I used a sponge, with the three stripes of colours painted on to transfer to the nail, but it was a really weak colour and a bit too sticky. I ended up topping up the colour straight from the bottle and blurring them together with topcoat.  I used Seche Vite but worked the brush hard to blend them a bit – mostly the coral-yellow as the pink-coral are a natural pairing.

Finally, dots! Four double-ended dotting tools dipped in the same neon colours made arcs and lines of dots on the white, one colour at a time until all the spaces were filled.  I used the same colours as the ombre and topped with Seche Vite after a few minutes to dry.

The Seche Vite pulled the pink at the nail bed on the ombre a bit, so a touch up as needed the following day, using a fine brush. But overall this was a quick design and perfect for the hot weather.

— edited post —
A few days later I’m still loving the dots, but that ombré really isn’t working. After spending ages trying to decide on a new look, I re-did the ring finger and thumb. Same base but persevered with the sponge technique with a little pre-blending on the yellow/orange. It looks *so* much better…!