Blue and Gold Hand-Placed Glitter Mani!

A lot of you won't understand this particular type of manicure.  Not because you don't like it, but that you can't understand the amount of time it takes to do.  That's ok.  I happen to have time in the evenings that I like to spend watching TV shows (currently on Intervention, not really sure why I like it so much).  It's pretty easy then to just whack my glitter on.  Think of it like knitting or cross-stitch, but sparklier. 

I wanted a nice contrast colour to the gold holo glitter so I started here with three coats of Urban Outfitters Blue Velvet.  I really like UA polishes, they're super cheap at $4 each, have a nice consistency, have an awesome square bottle that fits in my drawers well and are really great colours.  Anyway, I went with three coats here because you want all of your glitter to have polish to sink into, just a little.  Makes it stay on better.  Once dry, I went to town with my usual technique, using Wet 'n' Wild top coat to adhere the glitter.  Any top coat will do, as long as it doesn't dry fast.  Once done, I topped it off with two coats of Seche Vite.

And for the mani in action (please excuse my thumb, it's a nervous habit I'm trying to kick):

The Verdict:  I love how this came out, both close up and from a distance.  Up close you got all the detail and sparklies, from a distance it looks almost purple with intense gold flashes.  It's doing this that I wish my nails weren't quite as long as it takes longer but I'm ok with it.  As a side note, I have no idea how I managed to get my nails this long and this even.  It's never happened like this before.  Just when they start looking good, either my index or middle nails will nope out.  Let's hope that doesn't happen!

P.S. I'll love you forever if you don't post the "Ain't nobody got time for that" gif. Cos I have time!  I swear it doesn't hit a nerve though!

Rainbow Circus Mermaid Nails! Cos naming is hard...

After having so much fun on Saturday playing with polish with Kristin and Lindsey, my real-life Instagram BBFs, I had to have just as fancy nails for myself as I did for them.  Given Lindsey got rainbow mermaid scales and Kristin got 3D glitter cubes, I knew i had to be pretty sparkly to beat...myself? in sparkliness?  I don't know, I just wanted to be sparkly too.  Good job introduction writing, Laura. 

I didn't want to go for a black base because I've done that a million times before so China Glaze Sun Worshipper was my glitter undies.  It was nearly too bright for the rainbow colours but I think I got away with it.  After applying three coats, I go to work with my base coat, glitter and orange stick.  I couldn't decide between hexes or diamonds, so why not both? I started with the usual stripe of top coat down the middle, then worked the centre column from the cuticle up, then building out each side.  Once all my whole pieces fit, I trimmed my various pieces and filled in the gaps.  I have a Instagram video on how I do that below.  Trying something out there, let me know if it's helpful in explaining what's happening.  Before you ask, this glitter came from an indie polish seller as a favour a million years ago, so I can't really help sourcing it now.  Ebay is probably your best bet.  Or etsy.

The Verdict:  I like how this came out, and the contrast between the different glitter shapes is interesting.  And sparkly.  Which is the important thing.  It is a bit scratchy though.  Sparkly > scratchy.  Sparklies!