A is for Aztec: Rainbow Kinda Aztec Nails

I swear glitter talks to me.  "Hey, you don't need to try anything new!  You can just use us again!  Who cares you've already done a bunch of glitter mosaics this week!  Doooo eeet" So of course I relent because glitter is amazing.  It's getting harder and harder to find an interesting base colour so I tend to fall back on my favourites.  That's how this ridiculous rainbow aztec-y mani came about.

To start, I applied three coats of the always amazing China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise.  It's just such a brilliant colour I can overlook the fact it gets a little streaky in the first few coats.  Evens out so it's ok.  I then went to work with the square glitter that came in the same pot as the hex matte glitter I've been using recently.  I found it easiest to start at the cuticle with your bottom colour then build a column straight up.  It's straightforward to then build out each side and seal with top coat.  This counts as aztec, right?  I want to get in on that sweet, sweet A-Z challenge going on over at RedditLaqueristas.

The Verdict:  Some of the glitter is a bit wonky but I'm happy with the overall result.  Certainly eye-catching for a non-holo mani, even though the green blends in more than I'd like.  Yay glitter!

Neon Tribal Triangle Glitter Nails!

Can I just first up how grateful I am to everyone being so supportive of The Sparkly Shop?  We've just passed our first monthaversary and it's just been amazing.  So thank you!  The triangle glitter sets though, hot damn.  I had a feeling they might be popular just because you don't see it very often but the orders have been ridiculous!  Since I did a full coverage one the other day, I thought I'd show you something you can do with it that doesn't take quite as much time. 

To start, I applied three coats of China Glaze Japanese Koi, a brilliant neon orange.  Like, offensively orange.  That's just how I roll.  Then, taking glitter from the Glamourous Gorgeous Glitter and Sunny Fun in the Summer Sun,  I created my tribal/aztec pattern.  Using a slow-drying top coat - any will do - I started in the middle at the bottom of each nail and just kind organically built my pattern out.  The black, white, silver and yellow glitter all mix really nicely so any pattern is sure to look awesome.  Making that line down the middle of your nail does help though.  Seal it with top coat and you're done.

The Verdict: I loved this combo so much and it's so much easier than trying to paint this kind of thing by hand.  And it gets to be sparkly.  And aggressively neon.  Woo!

Aztec Nails! That are Rainbow! And Don't Involve Whole Rolls of Striping Tape!

I've been working with hex-shaped glitter for years now and let me tell you, switching to triangles is quite the revelation.  There are so many new patterns and shapes to make, especially when you have fifteen colours to play with.  My current favourite thing to do is to make aztec-inspired patterns, mostly because the triangles in said pattern are such a PITA to create by hand.  So, let's take a look at my latest triangle thing, shall we?

It doesn't really matter what kind of base colour you use when you're going with so many different colours in a glitter placement.  I have found that too-bright colours look weird but that just might be me.  For this mani I started off with two coats of Nails Inc Disco Lane which is a pretty black polish filled with micro holo silver glitter.  I really like it cos it's an alternative to just straight black.   I then applied my usual stripe of slow-drying top coat and went to work with my glitter from the cuticle up.  This design is really quick to do as it doesn't actually have a lot of pieces in it.  When done I covered it with two coats of the gel top coat in the Nailene Ultra Quick Brush-On Gel kit.  I'm very hard on my nails and this actually has decent staying power and is shiny.  So that's a thing.  Any top coat is fine too of course. 

The Verdict: I really like how this came out.  Mixing matte and holo glitter together always looks cool and triangles are awesome.  This is not just because I sell triangle glitter sets.  I sell it because it's awesome and no one else sells non-wholesale amounts of triangle glitter that doesn't require you to spend $20 in shipping and to buy bags of glitter at time.

This glitter is available from The Sparkly Shop from $6.99.