Last week I had the opportunity to take Sally Hansen’s Triple Shine nail color on a test drive.  This unique polish retails for an affordable $4.97 at Walmart but the best part is that it reportedly stays on for days without chipping or losing its shine.  That is quite the tall order considering that in the heat of the summer that means lasting through days at the pool and the beach, lots of sunscreen, time sweating (nay, glowing?) at the gym, and more.  Naturally, I knew that I had to put it to the test.

I didn’t want to just slap on a couple of coats of this and call it a day so I decided to try my hand at something that had caught my eye – ombré nails.  Ombré means “shaded” in French, and you’ve seen it on everything from Khloe Kardashian’s hair to those yummy looking ruffled wedding cakes – so why not on your nails?

I’ve seen some pretty cool color combos like this – from fingernails that look like the sunset to ones that look like something you’d find on a mermaid.  Instead of going too bold with my first experiment, I decided to try out two shades of the same color – pink.  Seems manageable, right?

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own ombré nails at home —

Two or three shades of nail polish – (I used Sally Hansen Triple Shine from Walmart)

Cosmetic sponges

Wax paper

Toothpicks

Before you get started, cover your surface in wax paper.  This will serve as a spot for mixing the two colors but also protect other surfaces from getting ruined.

First, paint your nails in the lighter of the colors, then let that dry completely.  While your nails are drying, pour a little of each color onto the wax paper (see photo above), then where the two colors meet, gently mix the two colors with the toothpick until there is no longer a solid line.

(I’m so sorry that I don’t have photos of this part, but my nails were wet and I was home alone – so I was out of hands!) 

Then using the back of the cosmetic sponge, dip it into your ombre mix so that you have a nice gradient of light to dark.

From here, you are essentially stamping your nails with the sponge, one by one, until you get the desired gradient.  Here’s where I discovered that this is much harder than it looks.  I am not going to lie and pretend like it was all unicorns and rainbows and that I’m just naturally good at ombreing my nails because I’m just that good.  Nope.  It took lots of patience and several tries.  In the end I think it was worth it – but please be gentle with your assessment because it was, after all, my first time.

For the next 3 days I spotted my ombre manicure with the Sally Hansen Triple Shine nail color, and I received several compliments!  It definitely held up well and maintained its shine even after several showers and a day at the beach!  On day 3 it finally chipped, but considering most polish seems to chip within the first day, I’d say 3 days is a vast improvement.

I can’t wait to try out the ombre nails again with a different color!