This was also something I used to do a lot, but then I got really tired of that extra hassle of removing the glitter, even if it's quicker with the foil method, which I'll explain after. Regardless, it's a forever favorite and it's extremely fast and easy (literally, I did this one in about 5 minutes), and fool proof because if you happen to mess up, you can just cover your entire nail with glitter and no one would ever know your original intent.
Holy giant fingers, batman.
Orly Bonder base coat // Seche Vite top coat // Essie - Tart Deco // Essie - Set In Stones
Orly Bonder is probably the best base coat I've ever tried, and I doubt I'll ever sway from it because it's a rubberized base coat so the polish will last much longer. And of course, Seche Vite is my holy grail for top coat. Dries incredibly fast and the shine is amazing. It does get gloopy over time, but it's worth it. Another alternative I've heard of is Essie's Good to Go, but I've never tried it so I can't say. Like Michelle, I'm a lot more loyal to OPI, but I'm really into Tart Deco right now. It's the perfect summer coral polish, and the formula is amazing- a perfect 2 coats. I feel like Essie does brights really well, so it's no wonder I flock to them for spring/summer colors. Set in Stones is a larger glitter, which is what you want, or you can have smaller glitter particles but it needs to be fairly densely packed. Which is why it's a little harder to execute with cheaper glitter polishes since they are less dense, and generally have less "floating" glitter and more "sinking" ones.
I broke the corner of my index finger a day before this. Still pressed about it.
- Start applying your glitter. You'll want to apply a very light layer at the top of your nails and spread it about no more than halfway. Let it dry for 3-5 seconds.
- Apply your second layer, with a little more glitter at the top and apply no more than past 1/4th of your nail.
- Apply your last layer. Try to glob on a little more and pack it in so that it's denser at the top, and lighter towards the middle. There should be no glitter at the last quarter of your nail.
- If it's not as dense as you'd like at the top, feel free to apply more glitter. Try to be a little more precise with the glitter instead of globbing more on though. I usually dip my brush in the polish, scrape off the sides and then use the sides of the inner opening to grab some glitter that's left over from my initial scrape.
- It'll be obvious when you haven't spread it out enough because there's always a pretty noticeable "line" where there hasn't been enough of a glitter fade, and in that case you can always dab a little past that line so that it looks more like a gradient instead of half glitter, half polish.
Yay! You just did a reverse glitter gradient. The original glitter gradient is exactly this way except you want to pack on the glitter at the end of the nail instead of the top. For that you'll just follow these instructions but instead of stating at the top of your nail, you'll be starting from the middle of your nail instead.
For the foil method I mentioned (which you will want to do once you remove this, trust me), soak a cotton pad (I cut one into fours to fit my nails so I don't waste any) in acetone nail polish remover (best, to be honest, you'll remove polish much faster with acetone) and place on your nails. Then wrap a small piece of foil all around each fingernail and wait 2-3 minutes. Remove foil, polish should be gone. If not, it'll still be much easier to remove than if you hadn't used it at all.
Here are two of my all time favorite glitter gradients I've done:
I really hope that was understandable and helpful! Send us an email at withincolor@gmail.com to show off your glitter nails and we'll post them up on our Instagram!
What are your favorite polishes for spring and summer? Do you have any other "nail art" that you like to do? Show us!
