Materials I used:
Base Coat - Yellow Stopper (because this is a peel off base I typically only use it for glitter designs or designs I don't intend to wear for long).
Latex Mani Mask - Ellagee 'Lickity Split Latex Mani Mask'
Glitter polish - Ciate 'Confetti'
DIY Tints - I used Sinful Colors 'Clear Coat,' 'Dream On' (purple), 'Endless Blue,' 'Happy Ending' (green), 'Let's Meet' (yellow), and Sephora by OPI 'What Aura Gonna Wear?' (pink).
Black polish - Sinful Colors 'Black on Black'
Make up sponge
Small brush
Small dotting tool
Top coat - Rica 'Glam Gloss'
I just wanted to take a minute and give you a pointer on applying glitter polishes. I personally have a love-hate relationship with polishes. I hate applying them and I hate taking them off, but I love the way they look. Well, when I first applied this glitter polish I Friday I was too lazy to get all my nail art stuff out so I just went ahead and applied it using the applicator brush in the bottle. After four coats I finally had the opacity I was happy with... (Please excuse the dark picture, I didn't have any of my photo set up out either.)
In my opinion four coats of any polish is way too much, three is usually pushing it for me. So, when I re-applied this glitter polish today I started off by prepping my fingers with my favorite latex mani mask from Ellagee. Just a note on latex, don't let your fingers touch where the latex is applied. It sticks together (duh!). I had to re-apply the latex after this picture because it pealed off most of my fingers when I separated them.
I then used a makeup sponge and sponged the glitter onto my nails, pretty much in the same manner that you would sponge a gradient. Except I was aiming to apply glitter to my entire nail. How is this any better or easier than using the applicator brush? Well, the sponge absorbs much of the suspension base that the glitter is in, so when you apply it to your nail you get more glitter and less base. With the sponged application I applied two coats versus the four with the previous application.
Because I don't own any tints I had to create my own. This is very easy to do, and doesn't require many supplies. You simply need a clear polish and colored polishes of your choice. Some people mix the tints right in the bottle. However, I am not that committed to anyone or few colors, so I just mixed mine in a painters pallet.
With my colors mixed and ready to go, I used a small detail brush and randomly applied tint over various areas. I didn't do a specific pattern and I didn't worry about colors overlapping.
When my top coat was dry, I used the smallest dotting tool I own and created a leopard print. This is essentially random weird circles, most of them open as well as some oblong random dots.
On my ring finger I created the print on my entire nail but on the rest did a cascading pattern. After a couple minutes of drying time I applied a final layer of topcoat.
Sadly, because I am falling behind on my nail art challenges I only did one hand for this nail art design. I usually do both hands and wear them for a couple of days but I don't want to get much further behind on my challenges. But I did put together a little macro collage to give you a close up of the glitter, glitter tint, and glitter tint with leopard print.
I really like the nail art design, it is something I'll definitely be recreating again in the future. I really wish I had more time to wear it. I hope you enjoyed this nail art design as much as me. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.
Your Fellow Plebe,
