My Most Complex Rainbow Glitter Mosaic Yet

It's no secret that when I get bored, I troll ebay for glitter.  I set myself a $10 budget, search for "holo hex glitter" or something, sort by buy it now and lowest price + shipping and go nuts.  I got a new package in the mail today and turns out we all have different definitions of "rhombus" as my rhombus glitter was distinctly hexagonally shaped.  Whatever, it's an excuse to the most rainbowy nails I've ever done.  They're so sparkly they're actually casting little rainbows on my keyboard as I type this.  Sure, they took a long time to do but look how sparkly in these static images!

To start, I did my usual base, two coats of Rimmel Black Satin.  It cleans up well and doesn't do weird things to my glitter so it's a good base.  Then, using my usual technique and Sally Hansen Invisible top coat, I got to work with my glitter.  I've been having a lot of luck lately with starting with a column of glitter straight down the middle of a nail then building out from there.  I can usually find half pieces of glitter in my little pile to fill in around the cuticles.  I do love a neat line of glitter.  In case you're wondering what I'm holding, yes, that's my fabulous peacock bracelet I never wear because it's the wrong shape for my wrist but like having around anyway.  Makes for a good sparkle complement. 

Oh, and if you do do this (heh, do do), I did a walk-through on how to fix glitter mosaics after you've had them on a few days.  It's here, if you're interested :)

 The Verdict:  I know a lot of you don't have the time or the inclination to do a manicure as complicated as this, and that's ok.  I like to spend my evenings watching movies or TV so it's not like I'd be doing anything else.  Just don't post the "Ain't nobody got time for that" gif and I'll be happy.  That gif dogs me where-ever I go.  I have time for that!  One day the general public (not you guys, you're awesome) will accept my glittery lifestyle!

Scary Studded Nails, In Case You're That Kind of Valentine's Girl

Not into pink and hearts and flowers?  Me either!  Or, I tried to do a pink and hearts and flowers mani but turns out I can't draw even hearts for the life of me so it's the other end of the Valentine's spectrum for me!  I've been wanting to crack out the micro beads for a while now so let's take a look at my slightly scary studded nails.  Oh, and don't buy the caviar kits, just go to an arts and crafts store, you should be able to buy a bag that you will inevitably spill for about $1.

To start, what I should have done was fix the settings on my camera so the colours aren't so wonky but it's too late for that!  After applying two coats of American Apparel, I went through my usual process for applying glitter, just using super thick coats of top coat and making sure the beads are pressed all the way down into the polish.  I used a toothpick to pick up the beads, it seemed to work ok.  I kinda cheated here and didn't add my usual covering coats of top coat but I decided to live directly on the edge and skip it.  If you wanted this to last more than a night, I'd add lots of Seche Vite or the like though.

The Verdict: I like how this looks but it was almost impossible for me not to pick the beads off.  It's fun to do and looks cool though!  I also wanted to include my kitty cos I can.  She's an inside cat and I want her to share in the excitement of the nearly foot of snow we got in Toronto last week.  Look how cute she is!

Rainbow Glitter Pinstripe Nails!

You might remember in my last post I get the newest set of stamping plates from MASH nails.  That wasn't the only thing in the package, there was also a set of 12 holographic bar glitter pots.  I'm normally not the biggest fan of bar glitter.  It sticks up, it catches on things, it generally drives me a tiny bit crazy.  This set had the most perfect set of rainbow colours I had to try out a hand-placed glitter arrangement.  So I present rainbow glitter pin stripes!

To start, I applied my usual two coats of Rimmel Black Satin over a base coat.  I've just switched to Essie Protein Base Coat and it seems fine.  I've had a lot of nail breakages lately so figured I'd better try something a little more proper.  Next, using my slowest drying top coat, I painted a strip down the side of my nail and went to work with my toothpick.  Sure, it takes a while but nice neat pinstripes make up for it.  I found the best way was to start at the cuticle and work upwards because it's easier to just trim glitter off the ends of your nails than try to do it around the cuticle.  I added an extra coat of Seche Vite over normal because I hate bar glitter and it should be completely buried, and voila!  

The Verdict:  Of course I love this.  It's so sparkly!  I even made a vine because sparklies suit the six second video format.  LOOK:

That's all I have to say about that, other than my cuticles aren't doing so great right now, so please excuse the slightly dodgy pictures.  Turns out though, that if you run out of quick-dry oil, olive oil works too!

Rainbow Nails, Mixing Matte and Shiny Glitter Together for All That Texture

I'm not really sure how to introduce this manicure, other than I love it but am scared for my sanity over how long it took to do.  This took a long time to do.  Like, a LONG time.  Like, I'm not going to tell you how long, cos it's a long time.  I don't care though because I had the TV show Scandal to keep me company and now I have the most rainbow-y nails in this apartment.  Let's take a look at this monstrosity, shall we?

When I did my computer logo nails last week, I fell just a bit in love with the rainbow glitter as all the colours went together perfectly.  My brain of course then wanted to know what would happen if I mixed it with the matte glitter I received in the same order from Impulse Co.  Turns out, not only are the colours perfect but the contrast of the matte and shiny together looks awesome.  To start, I applied two coats of Rimmel Black Satin when went to work using my usual technique.  As usual, I started with a stripe down the middle of my nail then just built out either side.  Yes, I did also trim pieces to fit around my cuticle and tips.  By this point I'd already spent so much time on this what's a little more time to leave no gaps?

The Verdict:  I don't know how to words for this.  I love them so much, even though I suspect a few people won't understand why I'd spend so much time doing this.  It's totally worth it for me, especially close up.  The mixture of textures is perfect and I love them.  I only wish the shiny glitter was holographic but we can't always get everything we want.  I think I might be leaving these ones on for more than a day :)

I Can Be Subtle Sometimes

If you've been here more than five seconds, or can even see the lovely background my friend Erica made for me, you can see I like sparkly, neon, bright, sparkly nails.  Makes my bank account sad because I buy so many things just because they're sparkly, but it makes me happy.  Very occasionally though, I like to go subtle.  So subtle you can't tell I spent a couple hours placing glitter on my nails.  Perversely, this also makes me happy because no one can tell from a distance how long this took.  They just look white.  YESSS.

To start, I applied two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls then sponged on a gradient with the same white and Orly Pure Porcelain.  This came out in just the very minorly noticeable gradient I wanted.  I then went to work with my white square(ish) glitter.  I swear, if anyone knows of a place I can get larger square glitter that is cut evenly, please tell me because everytime I try the pieces all have bits making them not square.  And this makes me sad.  Anyway, I went to work with my usual process, stripe of top coat and a zig-zag column of glitter down the middle, then building out either side.  Then lots of top coat.  Please ignore how weird my skin looks, I didn't clean off the white from the sponging properly and thought it would be easier to photoshop out the white bits than just take the photos again.  SURPRISE that's a bad idea too bad.

The Verdict:  I really love how this came out, especially how it feels like a secret.  This could so easily have just been stickers, or stamps, or whatever, but only I (and now you know) that NOPE it took forever with glitter.  This makes me happy.  Yay subtlety!

Teeny Tiny Glitter Quilted Nails

You guys know I'm a little bit cray about glitter by now so I'll spare you the defensive excuses-so-you-don't-judge-me bit and move straight to the glitter.  Because holy crap, look at this glitter would you.  I ordered some new glitter from LoveNailz and just *die*.  I got a whole mess of glitter but the ones that really stood out for me were the tiny holo squares in red, blue, purple and pink.  I had some free time the other day and knew I had to use this glitter, to its full potential.  I think I did that. 

Let me say up front that this was not a quick process.  You need a lot of patience, and that's fine, because I have that.  This was so time-consuming I only did two fingers.  TWO.  But if you have less time, the other three fingers don't take long at all.  This is what you do, for both complex and simple designs: to start, apply your two coats of base colour.  I keep using Rimmel Black Satin because it keeps being on sale and it applies nicely and is shiny.  Using a slow-drying top coat - I'm using Maybelline Color Show clear right now but it really doesn't matter - apply a stripe of top coat down the middle of your nail and lay down your first line of glitter.  If you're going to be particular about the positioning, it should be with this first line because you'll build out either side, using this as a guild.  Just keep doing it til you're sick of doing it, make sure you have something on each nail and call it good.  I have a tutorial (with video!) here, if you want to see more detail.

The Verdict:  I love this so much I can't even think straight, not the least because I finally have square glitter that's actually square and is reasonably straight cut.  Sure, this took forever to do but the holo glitter is so sparkly, it's so complex-looking, it's worth it.  If any of you are quilters as well, I just had to do a bargello pattern with the colours :)

Real Mermaid Glitter Nails

Once in awhile, I get the urge to do what most would consider insane levels of glitter.  I do it because I love it and I love sparklies.  This took a really long time to do - two night in fact - but it's totally worth it because it's just so very, very sparkly.  The glitter from LoveNailz etsy store goes so well together too.  I hope I get reincarnated as a mermaid, and my tail looks like this.  That would be nice...

To start, I applied two coat of Chanel Blue Satin, a dark blue shimmery creme.  Not that the base colour really matters because I completely covered it in glitter but there you go anyway.  Next, using my usual technique, I painted a thin stripe of top coat down the center of my first nail.  When you're planning on doing so much glitter, it's important to do thin stripes otherwise the outer edges will be too thick with top coat.  Then, taking an orange stick and four little piles of my glitter, I went to work, starting with a column of glitter that sets my spacing for the whole nail.  I then worked out to each side.  Don't worry if pieces stick off the edge of your nail, they can be trimmed to get the perfect edge-to-edge effect.  I even cut pieces in half so I wouldn't have gaps around my cuticles.  I don't like that. Top it with two coats of Seche Vite - making sure to wrap your tips - and you're done! 

The Verdict:  Not only is this the most glitter I've ever stuck to my nails, I think it might just be my favourite.  More rainbow is always better but the colour graduation here is so smooth that it just wins.  Not to mention how there aren't any areas I'm unhappy with the application, and it's the most sparkly.  So yay!

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!

Black and Gold Glitter Placement Art Deco Nails that I'm Angry At.

I've had this little bag of gold holographic square glitter sitting on my desk for a little while now, taunting me.  "I'm not that small!", it says. "You can totally start a mani with me now, at 11.45pm, and you'll totally be done by 1am!".  IT'S A LIAR AND I SHOULDN'T LISTEN TO GLITTER.   I was talking to my new friend Antonia and she had the great idea of doing an art deco mani with glitter instead of tape.  See how these two things came together?  Yeah, well, I love the idea and hate the glitter.  And my execution. 

My usual tactic with glitter is to start with three coats of base colour to give myself a nice deep starting point, then lay down stripes of top coat and stick my glitter on.  This bloody glitter is so small that this doesn't work.  You get too thick a base and it just disappears and is generally uneven.  So as well as being so small it sent me cross-eyed, it can't even stay straight.  I had to baby my top coat with the thinnest coats.  This just isn't as crisp as I'd like it to be.  It is sparkly but as soon as I took these photos I wanged my thumb so it's all warped and then broke the corner off my middle nail this morning.  I swear this whole thing is cursed :C

The Verdict:  I like the idea here but my execution sucks and the glitter is just way too small.  I'll try this again with bigger glitter, see if I can't get patterns like this going for a better art deco mani.  Sorry Antonia.