Rainbow Dots with CND Additives

I’m learning about additives and how to use them to create different nail art effects. A friend was kind enough to share her CND additive collection with me, so now I have a whole new set of goodies to play with.  Additives are pigmented powders that you can layer over gel polish to create different effects (there are other uses, but this is how I will likely be using them most).  She showed me this technique using additives to create a dotted manicure with a rainbow gradient. This was my first attempt at it.  It’s not perfect, but it looks so cool!

I started with two coats of Ink Glacier and I used a brush to apply different color additives on top of the tacky layer. I used a dotting tool to add dots of Gelish TIO on top. After curing for 30 seconds, I used an alcohol wipe to wipe off the exposed additives and was left with this effect.  You can see that some of my dots ran together.  Next time I’ll flash cure each finger to keep the TIO from running together.  Pretty cool, huh?

Here’s what my nails looked like before I wiped off the excess.  I’m really impressed with the coverage of the additives.  You can’t even tell there’s white polish underneath.

And here’s a quick shot of my new additive collection.  Linda was kind enough to send me little pots of each color with handwritten labels.  A little really goes a long way with these powders, so this will last me a LONG time.  Thank you, Linda!!