Let me start by saying that there is no decent portmanteau out there that combines ombre with cats. I was going to make the title “Nail Friday: Ombrat Edition” but that just sounds like I’m drawing tiny, trendy, spoiled hipsters on my nails. On the other hand, “Combre Nails” sounds like a snooty, french comb. In the end I gave up and decided to be straightforward for possibly the first time in my life. This tutorial is exactly as it seems: ombre nails with the added benefit of cats. I’ll be doing nail tutorials like this every Friday from now until I die. If you’d like to see me try anything fun, wackadoodle, or with even more cats, just holler at me in the comments.

First, you will need some things. I decided to do “nude” with white ombre so that the cats would show up. If you’re doing regular ombre, use whatever colors speak to you. You will also need makeup sponges, which I unscrupulously stole from Sephora. They’re the sponges that are at the “Try on our makeup! Go Ahead!” stations, so I don’t really consider it stealing.

First, paint all of your nails with a base coat that lies about making them more healthy. I use something by ORLY that doesn’t work. Next, paint them the color that will be used as the foundation for your ombre. For me, this was Revlon’s “Gray Suede.” It’s a bit disconcerting that this nail polish matches my skin tone almost exactly, but is described as gray. I must have the beautiful complexion of Voldemort.

That is my cat, Shadow, who consequently is Gray Suede. She also hates the smell of nail polish and looks hilariously terrified. I had to include her to jive with the cat theme. I used a coat of Seche Vite to get the base color to dry faster (you don’t want to start sponging any color on until the bottom coat is dry), but you can also just be patient. Next, take one of the sponges and dab the color you’re going to use for your ombre-ing onto the end. I used OPI’s “Alpine Snow.”

Let it soak in an eency-weency bit and then start lightly dabbing it onto your nail. Start at the tip and move down toward the cuticle (stopping about 3/5ths down to let a little of the color underneath show). You want it more opaque towards the tip and then to blend down into the base color towards to cuticle. Feel free to go back over your nail multiple times to achieve this.

Beautiful! Now do this on the rest of your nails as well. Make sure to use a light hand and only a tiny amount of polish where you want the top color to be lighter/more blended. Pretend your hand is a hummingbird, a feather, or other incredibly gentle things. This is key! Afterwards, use the actual nail brush to go across the very tip of your nail and make it 100% opaque. This will make the ombre even more dramatic.

Let them dry for a little bit and then go over each nail with a top coat (again, I used Seche Vite because it delivers fast-drying results to those who are impatient and frequently have to pee).

Don’t worry about getting nail polish everywhere. The sponge will always make a mess and you can just touch it up later with some nail polish remover and a q-tip. I won’t even front, I’ve been doing my nails all fancy for years now and before I clean it up, it always looks like a blindfolded infant painted them.

The last step is the cat sticker (the most important step, if you ask me). I got my stickers from eBay, and all you need to do is peel one off and plant it right where you want it (on your heart). Another top coat over the bestickered finger will do the trick.

Let’s get a closeup of that gorgeous cat mug, shall we?

It’s okay to cry tears of joy at this point in the tutorial. The last step is just to clean up the edges with the aforementioned nail polish remover and q-tip and make everything look neat, tidy, and professional. Then everyone can “oooh” and “aaah” at your nail photos on Instagram.

I hope you enjoyed this first installation of Nail Friday (and my first Feminspire post ever!) and are super jazzed for the nail-related antics to come. I know my boyfriend is excited to smell even more noxious fumes than usual permeating the entire apartment. I feel like I’m immune to the smell by now; like Iocane Powder in “The Princess Bride.” If you follow the tutorial, your nails should look like the main image for this post and be pretty damn impressive, if you ask me. You can even lie to your friends and say you hand-painted the cats on. I won’t tell.

What do you think of ombre cat nails? Was this tutorial helpful? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Written by Taylor Blakin
Follow this nail expert and avocado-enthusiast on Blogspot and Tumblr!