The Makeup Box

Mermaid “Glequin” Fish-scale Manicure: Ciate Apples and Custard polish with Blue Acrylic Paint and Aqua Hexagon Glitter

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I love, love, love the look of hexagonal glitter on the nails, and the dramatic “sequin nails” look.

But I especially like the honey-combed look where instead of dunking your entire finger in glitter, you carefully dot each piece of glitter on with a pointed object so it looks like fish scales.

Key to the look is a translucent larger sized glitter. If you choose an opaque glitter the ombre colors beneath won’t show through. If they are too small, you can’t place them on properly. You can find hex glitters from most art stores, but they don’t always stock larger sizes, so you can also search for sets like these on Lightinthebox.com ($6.99 with free international shipping!) or ebay.

WARNING: this nail look takes a LONG time to do…

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Starry, Starry Night: Navy and Silver Glitter Ombre Nails

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(For the fabulous Yina of The Velvet Dolls.)

Super simple, and pretty darned quick to do. I did this nail look for a themed dinner; it requires no ready-made glitter polish and isn’t much hassle at all. All you need is:

• A dark blue nail polish (I used L.A. Girl Dance Club)
• Repositionable glue (below) or nail foil adhesive
• A silver glitter (fine-grained)
• A soft blue eyeshadow (I used MAC Shimmermint)
• Basecoat and topcoat

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Cola Candy: Bronze and Brown Glitter-Blitz Manicure

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I’ve been going a little crazy with the nails this past week or so; I swear Elmer’s glue basecoat has changed my nail life because I can switch them out ANYTIME I want, just by carefully scraping and peeling them off. No more fuzzy, messy  cotton pads and tons of stinky nail polish remover.

Best of all, no waiting and scrubbing to get rid of glitter polishes, so it means I can go as crazy as I want with the sparkle, and save tons of money because instead of buying glitter polishes and nail polish remover, the same money can get you tons of glue and craft glitter.

This nail tutorial is super-simple and super-glam for a party. 

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Butterfly Blues: Blue Foiled Monarch Butterfly Manicure (plus tips for nail foiling)

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Foils look amazing but are hard to wear on their own (they kinda start looking raggedy within a day) but as an accent to jazz up your nail art, they’re fantastic. 

Today, I adapted an ever-popular nail art design (the Monarch butterfly) and instead of doing it in orange, I did a bright cyan blue and added a spectral effect to the “wings” with a blue holographic nail foil.

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Brushed Metal “Chrome” Nails: How to Use Your Eyeshadows in your Manicure!

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Imagine turning your favorite eye shadows into nail polish shades without having to tip tons of pigment into a whole bottle of clear polish or make a mess mixing it on a dish. You just dust it on, topcoat it, and go.

Stay posted for the eye look shown above in the next couple of days!

You just need to add 1 item into your collection; the Repositionable Glue. I don’t need to remind you to look for one that is water-based and non-toxic. Repositionable glues are used to make cut-outs. What these glues do is they go on milky, then dry clear and TACKY, so you can use them like a sticker. (Remember you read it here before some brand repackages it in a smaller bottle, gives it a fancy name and sells it to you for a fancy price LOL!)

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Simple Easter French Manicure!

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A super quick tutorial for pastel Easter-themed nails that don’t take a whole lot of “expertise” to do.

You will need:

• A basic nail color, preferably pastel colored and in a creme (non-shimmery) finish
• 2 metallic acrylic paints or nail polishes
• A nail dotting tool (below) or a used-up ball point pen (make sure there is no ink left on the tip)
• A small flat paint brush

Nail polish or acrylic paint?

I do prefer acrylic paints to nail polish for detail work because you get more time before it dries, and the clean-up is SO much easier. Only water and soap needed. If you use nail polish, you’ll need to soak your brushes and dotting tools in nail polish remover.

Plus, acrylic paints are incredibly cheap. I used 2 shades from the Martha Stewart Crafts range:

• A Pearl Blue paint - “Gazing Ball”
• A Metallic Bronze - “Copper”

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