I'm an admitted nail polish addict.  Now,  I've seen people who have it uber bad for all things polish, hundreds of colours from eight million brands.  I've not yet made it to that level.  Almost, but not quite.  Not that there's anything wrong with that...

If you know me, I challenge you to think of the last time you saw my nails, fingers or toes, sans polish.  There are really only three possible responses:
1) you can't
2) you grew up with me, so the last time would have been in childhood
3) you happened to be with me for one of the few times I've had surgery and those pesky nurses required me to be without nail polish so they could monitor my blood oxygen levels via my finger tip.

Yes, that's how serious I am about having my nails covered with pretty polish at all times.

Sadly, the more I wear it, the more I HAVE to wear it.  My nails are now yellowed thanks to years worth of coverage and they just aren't esthetically appealing for the eye to behold sans varnish.  Hence why I have to keep wearing it.  Hence why they stay yellow.  On and on the circle goes.

Since they're always covered, I do enjoy playing with different colours, etc, as the seasons come and go, and have fun experimenting where appropriate with different nail treatments as the situation warrants.

There are my holiday nails and special events nails (the sideways one was when Canada was playing for hockey gold in the Olympics)....


 ...and my running nails.  The 1-10 was for my very first 10k race and the 21.1 for my one and only half marathon.

• Paint nails with either a white polish or a nice nude.  I prefer the nude, actually.  More forgiving if you miss a small section or dab off more than you want to whereas the white really shines through.  White can give you a greater colour pop though, so entirely your personal preference.  I really like Sand Tropez by Essie as below for my base.  Two coats are a must.  Ensure both coats are fully dry before the next step.

• Choose your colours.  Some people like three, I'm more of a two colour gal myself.  I have small nail beds, so two is about as much as they can take.  Grab a makeup sponge and get ready to go. 
• Apply the polish to the edge of the makeup sponge.  Doesn't really matter which one you choose, some like the sides, others prefer the bottom, it's all about what's easiest for you to grip.  I prefer to start with the darkest colour on the bottom - again, personal preference.  I've done it both ways and like the look of darker on the bottom.  Apply the second colour directly above the first so the two colours touch.  

credit to @SabrinaNails - great tutorial

• Roll/stamp the sponge along your nail, ensuring you line up the bottom of the sponge with the base of your nail.  Yes, the sides will become a sloppy mess.  Deal with it.  :)
• If you want, dab a few times to bring some of the base colour up and into the top colour so it's not a straight line.  Don't dab too much - you'll start pulling the polish up. 
• Reapply polish to sponge between each nail application.  Yes, you'll use a lot of polish.  You just will. 
• Once you've finished your first coat, apply a second.  Watch for any exposed white/nude spots. Again, don't dab too much - a few dabs'll do ya.  I'd also suggest switching sides of the sponge or even starting with a new one so you don't glob up. 
• As you finish the second coat on one hand, don't go immediately to the other hand.  Instead, apply your top coat right away to the completed hand to help smooth everything out.  I LOVE Essie Good To Go - my fave quick drying top coat evar in life. 
• Finish your second hand with polish and apply top coat. 
• Now it's clean up time. Dip a q-tip in polish remover and gently clean up the sponge marks at the side of your finger and under your nails.  Yes, polish will end up there, too.  And on your finger tips.  And your polish caps.  A bit of clean up but well worth it.  Note here - if you hate the clean up you can also google some funky nail taping, with regular ole Scotch tape, techniques to keep the excess off the sides.  I'm of the firm mind that ain't nobody got time for that, but would be remiss in not mentioning it if you're not up for the mess. 
• And you're done!  Beautiful, individual, unique ombre nails.  

This was my first attempt using Julep's Kam (green) and Jules (pink).  Turned out rather well for my first go, I thought.  I liked the contrast of colours - and it looked even better in person than in the photo.


And finally, here's my most recent attempt which I quite like.  This is really only two colours but actually looks like three where they meet in the middle.  The bottom colour is Essie Mod Square and the top is once again Julep's Kam - can you tell I really like that green?

I find these ombre nails more challenging to photograph so here are two pics with different backgrounds to give you an idea of how they can change depending on the light.



So there you have it!  Easy peasy, I swear!  And you'll get lots of comments and compliments on them, I most certainly have.  People have asked where I got them done or if they were Jamberry applique nails and they're always shocked when I say I did them myself.  But as you can see, there aren't that many steps and, best of all, this is not a technique where perfection is required!!

Give it a try yourself.  Would love to see what colour combinations you come up with.