CIRCULAR GLITTER EVERYBODY LOOK

Ahhhhhhhh I'm a bit excited because I just got a dozen sampler bags of glitter mixes in the mail and it's so sparkly and so many options I can't even words.  I had success ordering glitter off Etsy before so I thought I'd step it up, get more, because sparkly.  I ordered a ton of stuff from Borough Babe Supply mostly because I've been literally dying to play with circular glitter for a while now. Let's take a look, shall we?

It's surprisingly hard to find a strong colour complement to silver.  With gold it looks dynamite with pinks and purples.  There's just not the same pop with silver.  So I went with black for the base because it's the safe choice.  Ignore my thumb here, it was an experiment that didn't really work.  Look at how sparkly the circles are instead!  I used my usual technique here, stripe of top coat, line down the middle placed with a toothpick/orange stick, build out the sides then seal with Seche Vite.  The result was almost blindingly sparkly.  My favourite thing to do with this was to hold it really close to one eye and just stared at the bokeh rainbows.  Mmm sparklies.

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The Verdict:  WHAT DID I TELL YOU, SPARKLLLLYYY YESSS SO GOOD.  And it's nice to have not hexes on my nails.  Or super tiny and annoying squares.  As you can see, the glitter itself is pretty good, nice and even pieces.  Which is all I ever want, really. 

Sunset Gradient Nails with Gold Holo Circle Glitter!

Of course my obsession with my new circle glitter is going to continue.  Especially when faced with a whole day at Canada's Wonderland, I'm going to need something sparkly to look at while I'm waiting for the rides.  By the way, if you ever get the chance, go to Wonderland and go on either Leviathan or Behemoth because they are so amazing I don't even have words.  So high, so fast, so smooth, it's totally amazing.  Oh, and since I've been asked three times in two days, I'm now on Instagram on top of everything else.  You can find me @polishallthenails   Back to nails!

Even though I should have been sleeping, I wanted to a bright neon gradient to go with my circle glitter.  To start, I applied two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls then went to town with a makeup sponge and three stripes of Urban Outfitters Hottub, Tiny Shorts and Ringo.  Three coats seemed to do the trick.  Once done, I applied my gold circle glitter using my usual technique - one column down the middle then building out either side.  With these bigger pieces of glitter, make sure your top coat is laid on reasonably thick.  This will let you sink the glitter into it and will stop it catching.  Make sure you two coats of Seche Vite - remembering to go to the edges and to wrap your tips - and you should get a good amount of wear. 

The Verdict: Of course I love this.  It has the neon colours, holo and circles that pleases me.  It's so bright it actually looks good in the shade - the colours almost seem to glow.  My kingdom for a blacklight. Sparkly!

More Circle Glitter! Because I Can!

I can't even write an intro here about how I can't write an intro about glitter any more because there's not much else to say because I've written that too.... let's just look at the sparklies, shall we?  I swear I'm not sick of doing this yet, let's hope you aren't either :)

Usual deal with this mani.  Three coats of Urban Outfitters Sunshine because it's a really great yellow, then get to work with the slow drying top coat and the circle glitter.  This was a bit of an experiment for me.  Doing a 100% glitter coverage mani is difficult, mostly because the final top coat doesn't play nice when it doesn't have any actual polish to stick to.  The bonus of doing triangle half moons is that you can seal it all as the glitter area isn't too big.  Start at the cuticle on a nice thick layer of top coat and lay a row of glitter.  Fill in the spaces with the next row, working up to the point at the top.  As this doesn't try fast, you should be able to shuffle all the bits around until it all lines up nicely. 

The Verdict: Urgh, this mani is sparkly and good but yet another lesson in why you should clean up more in the actual mani, not do a botched job of it in editing afterwards.  I never photoshop my nails themselves, only my cuticles as they've taken years and years of abuse and need some help sometimes.  Hot damn I love this glitter though.  It's this glitter from Borough Babe Supply, if you're interested.

Sparkly Circle Glitter Nails Because I Have to Match Chalkboard Nails!

For the longest time, I've admired Sarah's work over at ChalkboardNails.com.  Her technique is flawless, her photography is flawless and I basically hate/love her for being so amazing.  So I was just casually reading Tumblr last night and I see a post of hers, a gorgeous mani with holographic charcoal glitter for her 17th day of the 30 day challenge.  I squee-d a bit then once recovered I clicked through to her site.  There, right at the top, is this:

If there's one day to tackle a glitter placement manicure, it's the "Glitter" day of the 31 Day Challenge. So I put on my big girl pants and said a prayer to the god of glitter placement, Polish All the Nails.

Like, just kill me now.  I was so excited I fluttered a couple of laps around my apartment, woke up my boyfriend to tell him then tracked down all the places she posted it and gushed praise all over everything.  It's so excited, I can't really words good right now.  It was already 11.30pm at this point but the evil part of my brain that doesn't like me sleeping thought it would be good idea to do a circle glitter mani too! With the smallest circles I have!  Cos sleep is for suckers!  I'm tired :(

It was a hard choice with my glitter. Of course I went for the small one because I'm crazy.  To start, I applied three coats of Urban Outfitters Storm then went to work with an orange stick and my current cheap top coat, Love & Beauty Top Coat.  Bear Grylls kept me company as I stuck all my glitter on.  I went back afterward to fill in the gaps around my cuticles and tips.  It makes me so happy that Sarah did the same with trimming pieces to fit.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes total coverage.  She even trimmed studs to fit!

My poor attempt at doing Sarah's pose.  I don't have the right camera set up :(

The Verdict:  I'm so happy right now.  My nails are sparkly, everyone is lovely, all is right with the world.  I don't care how late I stayed up and how tired I am now, all is well.  SPARKLIES FOR EVERYONE!

Rimmel Barmy Blue with Gold Holo Glitter Dots

I swear I'm a bit broken.  I get home from my weekly Tuesday movie (yay /r/torontoevents!) and have my exciting Dollish Polish package waiting for me.  Eleven polishes!  Including the gaming collection I've been lusting over for, like, a year!  But no, midnight is a silly time to do just a simple glitter swatch, it must be sparklier!   And more time consuming!

I guess I could have worse comfort zone than glitter.  It's been a reasonable amount of time since I used my gold holo circle glitter so that was the winner.  I started out as usual, with two coats of Rimmel Salon Pro Barmy Blue, a gorgeous blurple creme.  The good thing about this medium-large sized glitter is that you can use the base colour as the adhesive, it's so quick to do.  I painted the third coat, then went to work with my glitter and orange stick.  You have to be careful with the circles, they have a tendency to stick together.  For my cuticle pieces, I waited til then end, cut a bunch of pieces in half with my sewing scissors and stuck them on with top coat.  The edge pieces I just left to overhang, then I trimmed the excess off.

The Verdict:  I really like how this came out.  Gold and blurple always look amazing together and sometimes it's nice to have a simple glitter placement mani.  I'm finding that Lemony Flutter is really helping my nails as well.  I have really dry hands and messy cuticles I have a hard time leaving alone.  It's even faster to do the other hand: same third coat, just pick up some glitter on your finger and place randomly on your nail.  No one will be able to tell, I swear. 

When All Else Fails, Use Massive Glitter!

I apologise for yelling at you yesterday.  I was super frustrated that all my pictures came out a different colour.  Today is better because I used glitter.  Everything is better with glitter.  Especially massive holographic circular glitter that is not only sparkly but so big it actually goes rainbows in all lighting conditions.  Shall we?

It's been a couple days since I did glitter last so I think it's ok to do it again. I wanted to use my huge circle glitter so brought out Bourjois Paris Turquoise - a gorgeous turquoise creme polish that has a really great brush.  It's touted as being "1 sec" as in it applies that quickly and it's actually not far off.  It's really opaque, right from the get go, and the formula wears nicely.  So that's all good.  Once I'd done my three coats I wanted to give my glitter a nice deep base, I went to work with my cheap top coat and orange stick.  The key with such large pieces is to press each piece down into the polish on all sides, and to cut pieces in half for around your cuticles.  I use a pair of sewing scissors but you could use any sharp pair.  Top with two coats of Seche Vite to really seal everything in and you're done. 

The Verdict: I kinda love how this came out, in terms of the finish on the glitter.  I don't have much in this large a size and I really like the almost iridescent effect the top coat makes over the glitter.  It's super shiny and sparkly too, which is always a plus.  It's 4pm and I've already picked off the half bits of glitter from the ends of my nails because they were annoying me but all the other pieces are stuck down nicely.  Sparky!

A-England Bridal Veil with Circle Glitter Dots!

Can I ask you guys a question?  What do you like to see here on my blog?  Do you like swatches, glitter placements, taping, acrylic free-hand painting, dots, watermarbling or a general mixture?  Cos I do a lot of glitter placements, obviously, because that's what I like.  Do you like them too or should I make an effort to do other things?  I'll <3 you forever if you leave a comment below.  

With that being said, let's take a look at another glitter placement! At least it's with a holo base colour, and half moon chevrons!

I felt like using an A-England polish so I used three coats of Bridal Veil.  It really only needs one and a bit but you guys know I like a deep base for my glitter.  I then went to town with an orange stick, gold, silver holo and blue circle glitter from LoveNailz and went to town with my top coat that is currently half Love & Beauty top coat and half one that came with a set of nail stickers I got a while back.  Bad at being a top coat but good for being a glitter adhesive.  I started with the usual column down the middle then filled out each side as appropriate.  Then Seche Vite.  DONE.

The Verdict:  This is nice but nothing earth shattering.  I've accidently had it on for two days as I fell asleep on the couch last night and didn't do my nails as usual.  I don't like having the same nails two days in a row.  It is sparkly, and holding up well, at least.  

Review: Sephora Formula X Jolt with Black Matte, White Pearl and Silver Dazzle Glitter!

Ooooo I'm excited today because I have the fruits of late-night eBay binge to show you!  I got so carried away the envelope the glitter came in was HEAVY.  My boyfriend handed it to me like it was bomb, going to explode glittery all over him.  Inside, FIVE new circle glitters, three of which have that amazing finish the OPI I Snow You Love Me has.  I FOUND THAT GLITTER GUYS.  So of course I had to bung a bunch on my nails.  Over an amazing hot pink, no less. 

I think I might have to do a whole post on the base colour I used here, the amazing Sephora Formula X Jolt.  There's just so many flakie particles in the hot pink base, it's just stunning up close.  The blue shimmer in the bottle doesn't translate on the nail the strongest but the matte finish is great.  Anyway, after applying three coats of Jolt, I went nuts with my black matte, white pearl and silver dazzler circle glitter.  When working with such big pieces, you have to apply a really thick base of your slow drying top coat.  You then need to press each piece deep into the top coat - without it spilling over the glitter - so that it sits flush.  As usual I started with a column down the middle and worked outwards.  Because I pressed the glitter deep, the finish here is amazingly smooth after two coats of Seche Vite.  I haven't lost any pieces yet!

The Verdict:  I'm kinda loving the colour combo and how the different finishes interact with each other.  From a distance it looks like I have studs and rhinestones on my nails and that's always awesome.  The fact I FINALLY got circle glitter this big to sit flat is awesome too.  So winning all around!

All glitter is from The Glitter Store UK on eBay.  I bought all the glitter here myself :)

I Think This is it: My Sparkliest Nails Ever (So Far)

For almost two years and five hundred posts, I've been working to be the most sparkly I can be.  I love glitter and nothing makes me happy quite like having sparkly nails.  I was delighted to see OPI I Snow You Love Me as not only did it have circle glitter but it has that dazzle finish that's so very sparkly.  I'm not the biggest fan of fishing glitter out of a polish so I went one better - I found similar dazzle glitter on eBay.  Let me therefore present to you what might be the most sparkly mani I've ever done.  

I did actually do a full mani with the OPI polish.  I wasn't totally happen with the finish or the photos, mostly because I used a black polish for the base and it didn't totally work.  This time I decided on a matching silver base to blend it all together.  So after applying the usual three coats of Sally Hansen Celeb City - two would do but I like a deep base for the larger glitters - and went to town with my glitter.  I did the usual stripe of top coat down the middle of each nail and placed the glitter as close together as possible.  When the gap was too small to fit a full piece of glitter in, I cut a piece in half using my little sewing scissors and fit it in.  I let the end pieces hang over the edge of my nail, and trimmed them off when they were dry.  Cap it off with a coat or two of Seche Vite and I'm done.

The Verdict:  I love how this turned out although I'm a little sad because where the hell do I go from here?? Although I am thinking I could put smaller glitter pieces in the gaps between the circles....

The Sparkliest Nails I've Ever Done, But in Red! Cos Why Not!

Ok so considering I did what might have been my most sparkly nails ever the other day and that I have that same glitter in two other colours, there is hardly surprising I'm going to do the same thing again.  I just like looking at this glitter.  It's just so interesting in it's dazzle finish, and so sparkly.  It's much better to talk about the sparklies rather than how angry I am at my inability to take photos of red things.  Look how blown out my fingers are here!  Admittedly it's better than my last attempt at red nails but still bugs me.  Oh well, sparkly!  

I've found that when working with circle glitter, it works better to pair the glitter with a matching base, rather than a contrasting one.  It helps hide any placement issues and from a distance just helps it look all over sparkly.  Which is generally the goal.  My glitter is a deep, rich red so I started off with three coats of Essie Toggle to the Top.  Turns out it's just about a perfect match.  I went with three coats because this glitter is just so big and thick.  You want a nice thick base to press each piece down into.  Working with my usual slow drying top coat, I applied a thick stripe down the middle of each nail, laid the centre column of glitter and worked out to each edge, trimming pieces to fit as necessary.  There's a video at the bottom, if you're curious about the trimming.  Sparkly!

The Verdict: Of course I love how this came out.  I'm even happy it doesn't look like I've been in a fight in my cuticles.  I had to do this to show off to Lindsey (my now IRL friend I met on Instagram who also does nails) because who would I be if not someone to maximise any and all attention, especially in person? Sparkly!