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Shellac Glitter Nails

MUST HAVE SPARKLES!

There is this awesome fad going around that has many different names. Rockstar Nails, Glitter toes, Glitzy Nails… and so on. Basically it is an acrylic gel with glitter cured into it with a hard polish on top to make it smooth. This is a great trend but it has three downfalls. First, the nail must be filed down so it will adhere, in turn, damaging the natural nail. Second, it is very hard to remove. It must either be filed off or grow out. It can also be chipped of piece by piece, which also damages the natural nail. Third it cannot be duplicated as a manicure because of the flexibility of some nails makes the gel pop right off. The trend is so adorable that most are able to look past the negatives.

I have found a way to fix all those problems! I thought… why not use shellac as a base and top coat for the glitter? The Shellac polish I used was Hotski To Tchotchke and the glitter was Lapis by Martha Stewart. I picked two colors that closely resembled each other.

So what I did first was prep the nail like I would for a regular shellac manicure, then I applied the base coat and cured it for 10 seconds.

After that, I painted a thin layer of color on the nail (a color that would match the glitter I wanted to use). Before I cured the shellac, I powdered the glitter on the nail lightly but evenly on the nail bed then lightly patted it down into the polish to secure it before curing.

I tapped off the excess glitter and cured it for 2 minutes.

shellac-glitter-nails picture

After the nails set for 2 minutes in the lamp, I brushed off the excess glitter with a brush and put two coats of Shellac top coat on with a 2 minute cure in between. I finished the nails off with a quick rub down of alcohol to remove the sticky top layer and BAM… GLITTER SHELLAC NAILS!!! They look absolutely AMAZING and my sister is going to wear this blue color to match her Highschool Homecoming Dance.

5 Responses to Shellac Glitter Nails

  1. Kirby Ives on February 4, 2013 at 4:43 am

    Hi there this sounds like a awesome idea!! I would like to know do u end up getting glitter stuck in your shellac top coat brush? So if I was going to do a plain colour next time my top coat may end up with glitter in it?

    • polishpedia
      polishpedia on March 8, 2013 at 1:51 pm

      Kirby,

      Yes you do. I have a seperate shellac top coat just for shellac glitter nails.

      ~Jocelyn (Nail Artist @ Polishpedia)

  2. KRAFTY KAREN on January 23, 2013 at 10:05 am

    Hi sweetie.
    Thank you so much for this fabulous idea!! Smiles..

    I am new to Shellac and nail art in general but I do love my sparkle! :0)

    I created my very own white flowers with diamantes in the centre last night – applied over hot pink Shellac… looks amazing!

    I cannot wait to try out normal glitter along with my new Shellac colours.. being a crafter I have pots and pots of fine glitter.. so this post here has made me yay happy!!

    Hugs to you,
    Karen.xx
    http://kraftykarens.blogspot.com/

  3. Germaine Cubbon on December 12, 2012 at 5:36 pm

    Hi
    Thanks for your glitzy top tips!
    I was really looking for one of the cnd Shellac glitter style polishes (silver or gold) to apply to colour for my clients nails, ready for Xmas! I like what you have suggested though….do u recommend any nail glitter on shellac or does it have to be a certain brand like Martha Stewart or applicable to gel application? ie. not enamel polish on top of gel colour? Also is Martha Stewart UK or abroad based?

    I urgently need a reply tomorrow if poss as got clients for shellac glitter nails on Friday! HELP!!!!

    Many thanks 🙂
    G

    • polishpedia
      polishpedia on December 12, 2012 at 5:42 pm

      Germaine,

      I have used various glitter and they all worked just fine. It doesn’t matter if it is Martha Stewart glitter. I do suggest that you use a fine glitter because the large glitter flakes don’t always turn out as well.

      Please explain “ie. not enamel polish on top of gel colour?”

      I don’t know if Martha Stewarts glitter is sold everywhere. I live in the U.S. and I buy it off amazon. Let me know if you have any other questions.

      Sincerely,

      ~Jocelyn (Nail Artist @ Polishpedia)

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