It’s been all over the internet for ages, yes, girls making their own polishes, and even selling them on Etsy {how fun!} so I thought why not give it a try for myself. Really, it’s more of a response to the two tiny bottles of clear polish I got free with purchase as a Sephora Beauty Insider, that I knew I’d never use. It’s not that they’re bad, I just have a favorite top coat, rarely use a base coat, and have never “run” out of either. So they’d just sit there all sad, among my other polishes and top coats, hoping I’d choose them each time I opened the cabinet looking for inspiration. Well yesterday was their lucky day. I adopted them and changed them into something I wanted… glitter nail polishes.
* Find another tutorial for DIY nail polish here she used eyeshadows as well to create colors.
Here’s What I Used…
* Clear nail polish. I used one top coat and one base coat {and made 2} because that’s what I had. The top coat is thicker. I’m no expert, but that seems to be the only difference.
* Glitter. You can use any glitter you like. I chose to go with the Martha Stewart Glitter {& neon glitter pack} because it’s very very fine and I knew it wouldn’t make my nails thick and chunky.
* A large piece of paper to work on.
* A small piece of thick paper or paper stock {like a notecard}
* Tape or a stapler
* A toothpick
Here’s How I Did It…
* First, create a funnel with your small notecard and your tape or stapler by turning the corners in and setting in place. Make sure your hole is small enough to fit in your bottle opening.
* Open your clear nail polish, remove excess from brush, and set to the side. Set your funnel in place, and carefully tap in your glitter. Use as many colors as you like.
* Occasionally the glitter would accumulate along the top without settling into the polish, then make a little mess. This only happened with the thicker top coat. The base coat seemed better overall.
* Use your toothpick to stir it around & wipe off the mess with a tissue.
* Twist on your cap and shake it up as you would any nail polish. You can add a glass bead to the mix to help it stir a bit easier.
1. Shake before each use… I could do a major shake, then paint my entire hand but I’d have to shake it again before starting on the other hand.
2. After One coat… was very faint. I could have added more glitter but I still knew these light colors weren’t getting me anywhere.
3. I added another coat, then shook a bunch of loose glitter right onto my nail.
4. Then just added another coat of my new polish right over it and it was exactly what I was looking for.
* I wasn’t completely satisfied with the light/neon colors so I went for some of my favorite gray, silver, graphite, and a hint of neon pink for a little pizazz! Yup.
* And did the same thing I did above… but added more colors.
* Much less mess with this one.
1. After one coat
2. After two coats… good, but it wasn’t as all-consuming as I was looking for it to be.
3. I added a sprinkle of pink, just to one side of each nail…
4. One more coat of my new Spectacular Silver polish.
I’m super happy with the way this one turned out.
Since this was the base coat, even though I added three coats of it, I still applied a top coat of Seche Vite over each nail. And with all the glitter, there is no thickness really to my nails. A bit of texture, but soft really.
Seriously, this is super easy.
Think of all the color combos you could make!
Voila… Voila!
Have Fun!
* See all my nail art tutorials here.
