Under an Hour: 3D Glitter Cubes

I'm still brainstorming ways to show you glitter mosaic manicures that don't take a million years to do and one of my favourites are the 3D glitter cubes.  I had the light bulb moment about a year ago that you could fit diamond-shaped glitter to look like baby's blocks and I've been a bit obsessed ever since.  It's super easy to do and is super sparkly, especially if you're using larger, holographic pieces.  Let's take a closer look, shall we?

The hardest part about this particular mani was choosing the base colour.  Nothing really goes with blue, pink and green so I resorted to one of my favourites, Urban Outfitters Blue Velvet.  Using my usual technique, I cracked out my cheap top coat and went to town.  It's about at this point I remember why I usually try to let my base colour dry before adding glitter.  See how there's gunk all over the glitter?  That's because in trying to get the glitter in deep enough not to stick up, the not-quite-dry blue squelched up along with the clear top coat.  I hate this so much I nearly didn't post this.  You deserve only the most crisp, clean glitter!  Anyway, use slightly smaller glitter and it won't stick up, you'll get the same effect and you won't be sad about the messiness.

The Verdict:  As much as the execution could use work, I still love this as an under-an-hour glitter sparkly.  If you have even less time, just do the one cube at the end of each nail and marvel at how well it catches the light and is generally interesting.  It's so fast I even did my other hand!  Again! This is how adults must feel :D