Overlaid Red, Black and White Gradient Nails!

Ever since I did this mani recently I've been wanting to do a better version.  The colours seemed like they would work together but it just didn't turn out how I wanted.  I wanted to try again and decided to learn from my original mistakes.  For example, make sure you use a super opaque creme polish on your top layer, don't bother with horizontal stripes and using thicker lines looks cool too.

To start, I applied three coats of Rimmel Stiletto Red.  Once it was dry, I used a makeup sponge, painting three quarters of a nail's worth in Sally Hansen Pat on the Black (ironically really a dark maroon) and a thin strip of Stiletto Red to help it blend in.  After letting it and the coat of Seche Vite dry completely, I cut thin strips of masking tape and layered on OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Rimmel Black Satin.  I found Black Satin a little sheer so I ended up blobbing on the black first with the brush then gradient-ing over the top.  Another coat of Seche Vite and it's done.

 The Verdict: I'm happy with how the gradients came up but I think I'm still on the fence about how the end result looks.  It reminds me of something I can't quite put my finger on.  It certainly is eye-catching though, so I guess that's a good sign?  I don't know, I think I'm going to try one more time, maybe with striping tape, see what super thin stripes look like.  Yeah.