Sponging as effect & gradients - Artsy Wednesday

Sponging is a favorite topic of mine, so it's a nice challenge for this week's Artsy Wednesday!  
I use sponging a lot, and for all sorts of things, mostly to create a background for some nail art like in yesterdays post. It’s a pity that many only use it for gradients, because sponging really is a useful tool!

I use a makeup vedge/sponge, very fine pored, and I often only use a corner. When I’m finished I either rip it of when dry, or clip it, creating lots of new corners to work with – so one single sponge lasts forever and forever…

The first I’ll show you is a classic sponged gradient, I used neons. The base color is Sation Loudest Color, then I sponged the middle area with China Glaze Sun-kissed, then closer towards the tip I used Pirate Polish Radioactive and for the very tip I used a mix of Radioactive and China Glaze I’m With The Lifeguard to make it more lime. Top coat is Seche vite.

Here you have examples of background and effect sponging left to right, 01-05 - all top coated with Seche Vite - click on the photos if you want to see them in a larger size.

01. I created a mossy ground with Butter London Wallis over Essence Exits on your right, and then I painted my flowers.

02. Over Essence Via Airmail I sponged a diagonal belt of lighter blue with Barry M Cyan Blue and I sponged a border on each side of that with Sinful Hottie (glitter) before I painted my flowers.

03. On Essence Destination Sunshine I sponged a mess of other colors – and it looked terrible, I was like ARRRGHHH, but then I took my black striper, and it turned out to be quite OK.

04. On Essence Sending You Kisses I sponged a middle area with Barry M Neon Pink, it’s difficult to see because of the boring flowers I painted, but it was a quite subtle effect…

05. On China Glaze frostbite I sponged one half with Sinful Hottie creating a diagonal line, that I marked with a silver glitter striper.
Check out what the other girls in Artsy Wednesday did in this weeks challenge: 
Michelle - Lab Muffin,  Alanna - Pretty Purple Polish, Tif - Polished Genious, Lyndsey - Nails by Ms. Lizard, Melanie - Nail & Polish, Jessica - Beauty Gnome,  Emily - An Accent Nail,  

NOT his week: Kamen - Kaka Beauty Blog, Catrine - Unnakednails,

Galahad's gradient dots + A-England Galahad, swatches & review - anmeldelse

Last post today, I promise ;) - I think ;)
Se swatches further below - se swatches længst nede.

The base color is 2 coats of A-England Galahad, and then I picked 4 colors for gradient dots. The first/darkest “Tiffany” color is China Glaze For Audrey, the next in row is China Glaze Sea Spray, the next is China Glaze Kinetic Candy and the last and lightest color is Essie Mint Candy Apple. I finished with a top coat.

Grundfarven er 2 lag A-England Galahad, og derefter valgte jeg 4 farver til gradient prikker. 

Den første/mørkeste er China Glaze For Audrey, den næste er China Glaze Sea Spray, derefter kommer China Glaze Kinetic Candy og den sidste og lyseste farve er Essie Mint Candy Apple, og jeg afsluttede med en toplak.

See swatches below...

A-England Galahad is a creme polish in a beautiful teal, or rather in my book a petrol blue. The pictures are not quite color-true, but almost. So please excuse that it made my skin tone look weird. 
Galahad is very well pigmented, but I felt 2 coats would give the best result. I added it over a ridge filler base coat, and used no top coat for these swatches. It’s easy to work with, but I find the dry time to be a bit slow.

A-England Galahad er en creme lak i en smuk teal, eller i min bog en petrolblå. Billederne viser ikke 100% farven, men næsten, og redigeringen fik min hud til at se mærkelig ud :)

Galahad er velpigmeteret, men jeg valgte at lægge to lag over en ridge filler grundlak, og jeg brugte ikke en top coat på disse billeder. Den er let at arbejde med, men tørrer lidt langsommere end jeg er vant til med China Glaze.

The color editing made my skin tone look weird, but at least the polish looks almost like it should.
Farveredigeringen fik min hud til at se mærkelig ud, men lakken ser ret rigtig ud.