Manicure: O.P.I. Dating A Royal blue polish with simple freehand ombre nail art

Some nail polishes make your nails and fingers look better. O.P.I'.'s Dating A Royal is a rich cobalt-royal blue polish that makes my nails - and fingers - do just that. I've done some basic freehand ombre nail art that even a beginner can pull off, but first, here are swatches of Dating A Royal, from O.P.I.'s Mod About Brights Collection.
O.P.I. cremes and blue polishes are always special, but Dating A Royal is something else. The formula is crelly, which means it is somewhere between a creme and a jelly (incidentally this is my first crelly polish). I had opacity in two coats, though the first coat was watery and streaked on some of the nails.

Just take a look at those swatches - we have in sunlight and in natural light. I'm getting mystery and sophistication here. Mind you, this glossy shine is without a topcoat, since Dating A Royal is a crelly polish. I'm going to show you too many swatch-photographs. Look at how the nail polish catches the sunlight in one dazzling dot! This is the "Scrangiest" my irregular, shapeless, stained nails have ever looked :)

Away from direct sunlight, Dating A Royal remains faithfully bright, but not in-your-face neon bright. The finish reminds me of good quality porcelain.

But this is part of a nail art challenge, so I had to go and ruin that stunning finish with my shenanigans. I decided to go in for a basic freehand manicure that is so simple that even a beginner can do this. All you need are a basic nail art brush - a pixel-brush for eyeliners will do in a pinch as long as you never use it for the eyes afterwards - and a nail polish or two, lighter than your base colour. Here's the result in natural light.

I used the brush to lightly paint Suzi Says Feng Shui in the middle of my nails, in irregular, sketch-strokes. And, immediately above that - once Suzi Says Feng Shui had dried - I did the same thing with China Glaze Flyin High, a beautiful light blue creme - light, deft strokes - also in the middle of the nails.

I then topped it off with Rimmel Ultra Shine Pro Top Coat. The idea was an ombre look - I hope I've achieved enough of a gradient effect here. But I didn't want it to turn into a proper ombre manicure so I put the lighter polishes in the middle of the nails rather than at the tips.

So this is my blue-themed entry to the Falling Through The Rainbow challenge. Two more to go. Since I'm travelling locally from Saturday to the following Thursday, it will have to be Blogger schedule for the rest. Meanwhile, take a look at some close-ups of the shading. 

And finally, here's another look at the swatch of O.P.I. Dating A Royal. Just so we're clear on why I love O.P.I. polishes so much.

I have a small story to share about this polish. Do you know I got it by accident? I was on the hunt for O.P.I. Yoga-ta Get This Blue (swatched here) which kept getting sold out over a period of two years. I lost patience and ordered this for the heck of it. Which is why the best things in life often come to you by sheer chance. Just a bit of nostalgia there about my first crelly polish. So I'm also sharing this with the Nostalgia Nails theme hosted by the lovely Jen.