It is filled with blue, purple, and regular holographic glitters. I layered it over Blue Lagoon - about 3 coats.
My suspension base holds extremely well! The glitter has yet to sink down at all and it's been over 36 hours since I made it!
Milly's first glitter polish! This one is called Shark Bite.
It is filled with blue, purple, and regular holographic glitters. I layered it over Blue Lagoon - about 3 coats. My suspension base holds extremely well! The glitter has yet to sink down at all and it's been over 36 hours since I made it!
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It's official! I am starting my own line of polish called "milly." So far, I only have two colors but I've just put in an order for more supplies. I hope to be up and running with a shop in the next few weeks.
My goals is to provide a safe, high-quality, and beautiful product with unmatched customer service. All of the polishes made by milly are 5-free. This means they are free of formaldehyde resin, formaldehyde, camphor, dibutyl phthalate, and toluene. They are also cruelty-free. I mean, the only testing is done on myself and friends. Even if I tried to paint my cats toenails I would end up lying in a pool of my own blood. To the left you can see photos of my first color "Blue Lagoon" and my second "Revenge." Both are mica-based, so they have a shimmering effect. Of course, I topped them off with HK Girl Top Coat to get an amazing shine. I will be adding some glitter polishes and opaque polishes as well. This particular polish is different than any I've tried so far. Sinful Colors Nail Junkie is a glitter polish with a dark tint of color. Most glitter polishes are made with a clear base. It is what some would call a "crelly." A mix between a cream base and a jelly base. Though this one was heavier on the jelly.
What I liked
Stripes were the order of today! I used Sinful Colors Bottoms Up as the base color and Essie Lilacism as the stripe. Oh, and I finished it off with a heaping layer of HK Girl Top Coat.
Sinful Colors Bottoms Up is a part of their new GelTech collection. Basically, it's much thicker than their regular line and boasts more shine. Honestly, I really only need one coat - but where's the fun in that? I like Sinful as my "non-lacquer" go-to. It acts, feels, and looks almost as good as any other top-of-the-line brand like Essie, OPI, or Orly. The only difference? It's about $2. Glisten & Glow is known for selling a fantastic top coat. I had to see for myself...
The HK Girl Top Coat is absolutely, hands-down, the best top coat I have ever used. It dries extremely fast, hardens, doesn't shrink, seals in color, and blasts your nails with shine. I have a couple pictures to demonstrate. Go to their website and buy some today. Seriously. I put on two very thick coats of Essie Silken Cord lacquer and only waited about 3 minutes before applying HK Girl Top Coat. It was dry within 5 minutes. Rock solid dry. I hardly ever make a trip to the salon for a manicure. The only time I go is when my cuticles get out of control, and I can't get rid of them myself. Otherwise, I do it myself, and I'd like to share my process with you!
1. Remove any polish still on the nails. I suggest pure acetone remover. It's a bit harsher on the nail, but it seriously removes polish and, more specifically, lacquer - layers upon layers of lacquer. I am also a big fan of just peeling off the polish. I put on so many layers that I can practically peel off 99% of the polish without damaging my nails. Then, I only have to clean up the leftovers. 2. Use a treatment oil! In my opinion, any brand will do. Lately, I've been using Mary Kay's discontinued treatment oil. The point of using it - moisture and replenishment. It will make your cuticles nice and soft so they are easier to remove, and it will also give life to thirsty nails. 3. Using an orange stick or "cuticle pusher," make sure to push back and remove any excess cuticle tissue. Rub the treatment oil in really well and let it sit after you have done this - for at least 5 minutes. Make sure to wash it off with lots of soap so it is completely removed. 4. If you need to trim your nails, just use a regular nail clipper - be careful not to go crazy and cut too short. 5. Filing and buffing. This is another very important step. In my experience, everyone has always said that when you file, you should only file in one direction so as to avoid stripping the ends of your nails. However, I don't have time for that. I've found that I can file anyway I like, so long as I have my four-sided buffing tool handy. The buffer will smooth out your nail beds and, more importantly, the now scratchy ends of your nails. 6. Give your hands another wash with soap and water and you're ready for polish! 7. Start with a "good" base coat. This is a product you don't want to skimp on. The base coat will not only even out your nails (if needed), but they keep your nails from getting stained. If you've read my blog at all you know I swear by Sally Hansen products for base and top coats. OPI and Essie also make fantastic base coats as well. I usually put on two coats of base. Wait about 3-5 minutes before moving on to color. 8. Color time! I typically stick to nail lacquer as opposed to nail enamel (except for Sinful Colors - they're the exception). Lacquer glides on and settles more evenly than enamel. Plus, it lasts longer and usually just looks better when finished. I always start with one stripe down the middle and then one on each side. It's not easy as a beginner, but you'll master it with some practice. Use 1-3 coats, depending on the thickness and coverage of the color, waiting about 3 minutes between each coat. 9. Let the color sit for a good 5 minutes. At this point, you might be thinking, "my nails are never going to dry!" That's why you absolutely need to use a stellar top coat. A great top coat will dry quickly and "set" and protect your polish. I always use Sally Hansen Mega Shine, always. Two coats of top coat is usually sufficient. 10. Give your nails about 30 minutes to rest before trying to "do stuff." I wouldn't go and open soda cans or do anything that requires the usage of your nails for at least an hour and half. Yes, this sounds like a long time, but it's better to be safe. So that's MY process. It may sound cumbersome, but after some practice it really doesn't take much time and you'll have beautiful nails! Please feel free to leave your comments and best practices! Today I used Essie Pretty Edgy, Essie Mint Candy Apple, and Essie Warm & Toasty Turtleneck for my design. I'm fairly certain that Pretty Edgy has been discontinued, but I found it on TransDesign. They have a HUGE selection of unbelievably cheap nail polish/lacquer.
I used two coats of Pretty Edgy for the base and waited several hours before the accent. I simply placed scotch tape to the desired angle and painted! It's good to wait about 5 minutes before taking off the tape - and peel it in the same, angled direction. For the second stripe, I waited about an hour before applying more tape. Same process, different direction! Finished it off with Sally Hansen Mega Shine, as usual! Today I used Sinful Colors Nouveau Purple as a base and Essie Fiji for the dot accents.
This is a terribly easy and beautiful design. All you need is a "nail dotter" or a ballpoint pen. You can get a dotter at any Walgreens/CVS/etc. or beauty supply store. If you have a ballpoint pen that is out of ink, it works almost as well. The dots - drop a bit of polish onto a piece of thick paper or cardboard and dip your dotting tool. The biggest snag I ran into was the pool of polish drying rather quickly. It will start to become goopy and leave unwanted strings after each dot. Just make sure to use a fresh pool after every two nails or so. I waited at least 15 minutes after the dots were on to apply my top coat. If you apply it too quickly, the design will run and look sloppy. Today was an interesting nail endeavor. I used Essie Mesmerized as a base color and Essie Mint Candy Apple as an accent. Yes, Mint Candy Apple is actually more of a blue color than you would think.
The accent was done because I royally screwed up the tips. So I thought, "well let's see what I can do with this brush." I wanted to make it look like a paint brush had attacked my nails. I'd say I succeeded in doing so. I just took the end of the brush and kept dabbing it over and over again until I reached my desired level of satisfaction. So it's not always terrible if you mess up. Just start getting creative and you can almost always cover up mistakes! Today I used Sinful Colors Hazard with Essie Fiji for an accent stripe. I'm a huge fan of both brands. However, Essie is slightly better in quality. It glides on smoother and never leaves streaks. Sinful is great though because it's so unbelievably cheap! I used one base coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine, two coats of Sinful, two more coats of Sally MS, two coats of Essie, and finished it off with two more coats of Sally MS. Yes. I use a "top coat" as a base. I swear by Sally Hansen Mega Shine. As a base, it provides a smooth surface to work with and helps with any unevenness on the nail. As a top coat, it dries extremely fast and provides a sort of shell over all the layers. |