China Glaze First Mate gradient mani

Hm, First Mate au naturel on the little finger and then white added to attempt a gradient mani. But I got the balance wrong so, if the digits go 12345 where 1 is the thumb, digits 4 and 3 are either too close to call or even the 'wrong way round'. Look, I know what I mean!

I really don't wear a lot of blue but this polish is a nice, dirty shade. Looks a bit royal/French blue in my pic. This is my blending method (below) and I can't recommend it really. Just put drops of polish on a plastic lid and try to blend them...Nah. It's not as streaky IRL as it looks here btw.

Please give me any tips. I don't want to franken a whole bottle but I hope there's a better way than I've figured out.

The orange splodge is where I tried to do an orange gradient on the other hand but the consistency was dire so that is plain orange (almost) as you will see tomorrow.

Any advice on blending shades/frankening that doesn't involve sacrificing a whole bottle (and I only have a mini of First Mate in any case)? Thanks.

Jenni