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

Essie After School Boy Blazer with Red, Gold and Silver 3D Glitter Cubes!

Even though it's August, super excited about fall because that means new nail polish yayyyyy.  I went on a bit of a rampage at my local beauty supply store.  They have so many new dark blues, it hurts my brain.  Not the best considering I thought it would be fun to lay out all my nail polish on our dining table and it looks like this... Anyway, it was the Reddit Toronto Monthly Meetup on Saturday so of course I had to do sparkly nails to maximise the attention I'd get.  Had to do cubes because they're the most sparkly. 

To start, I applied three coats of the absolutely gorgeous new Essie polish, After School Boy Blazer, a nearly black navy blue.  This polish is super shiny - ignore the weird finish in these pictures, my bottle of Seche Vite was misbehaving.  I went for three coats over two because I needed a nice thick base for my diamond shaped glitter.  I went with my usual technique, picking up each piece of glitter with an orange stick and gently pressing it into a thin coat of non quick-dry top coat.  Remind me to update that tutorial, it's a bit old now.  I found it easiest, when doing cubes, to start at the cuticle and build upwards, one cube at a time.  It's fun letting them meander up your nail.  Top it with two coats of Seche Vite - remembering to wrap those tips - and you're good to bask in all the attention you get when you hold a drink displaying your sparkly nails.

The Verdict: I LOVE how this came out.  Finally, I managed to not get the base colour to bleed over the glitter.  Sure, no one can really tell but I can and it bugs me.  The diamond shaped holo glitter is super flashy as well.  Really should have taken a Vine....

HAHAHAH I'M NOT CRAY DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN THESE ARE NORMAL NAILS

Ok so for a while there I wasn't working.  Love that, it's the best, cos sleeping is awesome.  While I should have been using the time to pump out the nails, I used it to go through all 283 pages of the nail art supplies section of aliexpress.com. This site is really amazing, cos it's so cheap.  You can get 10,000 rhinestones for $3.  So I bought a bunch of 3D nail charms.  I then decided it would be a good idea to put them all on at one.  TACKYTIME YAY ADHERE ALL THE THINGS! 

Ok so my boyfriend HATES these.  Like, HATES them.  He's pretty tolerant of my nails but this apparently the line.  Like, he yelped when he saw them.  DON'T CARE, THESE ARE NOT FOR YOU.  So I did a rainbow ombre thing with Urban Outfitters Ringo, Claire's Neon Green, and others - I can't remember and I don't really want to get up to check so there.  I then just stuck all these on with nail glue. The charms will come off but I have no idea how I'm going to get the glue off.  I just love these though because it's the most tacky and loud and so very much me.  And I'm ok with that.  

 

The Verdict: Typing is hard right now cos the hearts on my thumbs stick out a lot but DON'T CARE.  These are the craziest nails I've ever done and I'm quite proud of myself.  Worth it!

3D Glitter Cubes Over Orly Smoked Out

Ok!  So.  Stuff.  I've had an interesting few weeks lately.  My mum came to visit and we got to surprise her with a trip to Curacao and it was so awesome.  I saw soo many fish, seriously, if you like diving or snorkeling even a little it's like paradise.  All this plus work means blogging is hard so here's something I did a little while ago.  It's glitter, but it doesn't take a million years to do.  Hooray! Sparklies, stuff, blah let's go. 

I started this mani off with the very interesting Orly Smoked Out, a sparkly blackened teal polish that dries a cool semi-matte which is ultimately irrelevant cos it's covered in top coat but yeah there's that.  Once I'd applied two coats I went to town with my silver, blue and green diamond glitter to make the cubes.  I find it easiest to start by making a cube in the middle of the nail at the cuticle and then just building out a meandering pattern.  Make sure you apply lots of your adhesive base coat so that the glitter sinks in otherwise you will have pieces catch on things.  Finish off with a coat or two of Seche Vite or the like and done.

The Verdict:  The spacing could be better, as could the exposure levels but all in all it's not bad.  I do like my 3D glitter cubes and now I want to do it again soooo yeah sparklies.