Icy Translucent Blue Color Mixing Tutorial — Custom Jelly Gel Shades
Learn how to custom mix icy translucent blue, sky blue, smoke grey, and Morandi blue gel shades for a gorgeous jelly finish nail set.
Creating custom jelly gel shades is a fantastic way to achieve unique, high-end looks right at home. By blending vibrant pigments with clear transparent gel, you can easily control the opacity and create stunning watercolor gradients and dimensional nail designs.
Steps
- 1Dispense water blue and transparent gel
Dispense clean drops of water blue gel and transparent gel side by side onto your white mixing palette to prepare for dilution and custom gradient mixing. Keeping the drops well-separated gives you precise control over the ratio of color to clear gel.
Tip: Always dispense more transparent gel than colored gel if you want an icy, translucent jelly effect. - 2Mix water blue with transparent gel
Take a dotting pen tool and use it to combine water blue gel with a clear transparent gel on your palette. Stir them together thoroughly until the mixture becomes a uniform, soft, and translucent shade of icy water blue.
Tip: Add the transparent gel gradually so you can easily control the translucency and depth of your custom shade. - 3Mix sky blue with transparent gel
Dispense a fresh drop of sky blue gel next to your previous mixture. Use the dotting pen tool to blend it evenly with another drop of transparent gel to achieve a lighter, vibrant sky blue translucent tone.
Tip: Keep your color puddles well-separated on the palette to prevent accidental muddying between different shades. - 4Mix sky blue and transparent gel
Take your dotting pen or mixing tool and thoroughly blend the sky blue gel with the transparent gel until fully combined. This creates a soft, luminous icy sky blue shade with a translucent jelly finish.
Tip: Gently swirl the tool in circles rather than stirring aggressively to avoid trapping air bubbles in the gel. - 5Blend grey and transparent gel
Dispense a drop of grey gel next to a fresh drop of transparent gel on your palette, then use your mixing tool to bridge them together. Blend them smoothly to dilute the pigment and achieve a wearable, cool-toned hue.
Tip: Add the transparent gel gradually to the grey so you can monitor the opacity and stop right when it reaches the desired translucency. - 6Form icy smoke grey shade
Continue mixing the grey and transparent gel until the mixture is uniform and smooth, forming a sheer icy smoke grey shade. This cool neutral tone acts as a perfect balance for the vibrant blues in your translucent set.
Tip: Check the mixture under good lighting to ensure there are no unblended streaks of pure grey remaining. - 7Mix dark Morandi blue with transparent gel
Place a drop of dark Morandi blue gel onto the palette and incorporate transparent gel using your dotting pen. Blend the two components together until you form a muted, smoky, and translucent deep blue hue.
Tip: Morandi tones have gray undertones, so mixing them with transparent gel gives a gorgeous vintage watercolor effect. - 8Refine the deep icy translucent blue
Continue blending the dark Morandi blue and transparent gel mixture using smooth strokes to ensure an even consistency. This creates a rich, deep icy translucent blue color ready for application.
Tip: Ensure there are no unmixed pigment streaks left in the puddle for a flawless finish on the nails.
