Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Nail Art Wednesday: A Study in Textures with Glitter and Shattered Nails

After sporting caviar (aka fish egg or confetti) nails from last week, it got me thinking about textures. See, I enjoyed the different texture so much that I pulled out another polish that's another take on texture: shatter. It's not exactly news as we've seen practically every brand out there churn out their own take on it and calling it every single possible name that denotes the exact same thing. Crackle, shatter, cracked, break up, texture. The list goes on. If you're anything like me, I probably only got a of couple uses out of my shatter polishes. It fizzled out early on for me but lately, in the guise of trying to use what I already have, I found myself rethinking the idea of shatter. It's generally used over the entire nail but what if I just used it as an accent of sorts? Well, it's that kind of thinking that produced these:

Shimmer, shatter and sparkle!

What I Used:
Red base: A England Perceval
Black shatter: China Glaze Black Mesh
Glitter: Color Club Sugar Plum Fairy (or some other similarly dense glitter)

How I Did It:


This is easily another of those nail art designs where creating the graphic for the how-to part took longer than the actual execution. I find that this is another great way to jazz up an existing manicure with polishes you're bound to already have in your stash. Hammie definitely approves of this thrifty way of going about nail art! To be honest, I haven't even sported a full shatter mani since last year but doing my Game of Thrones inspired nails gave me an idea of using shatter in a different way that would make it look...well, different. Sort of. I guess it's the different textures that somehow work together that makes this particular design a stand out. You could probably do a whole bunch of other different color combinations, as well as play around with all the different glitter options out there.

For your viewing pleasure, here's A England Perceval on its own. This one's definitely giving Zoya Isla a run for its money! (I managed to photograph this step then got completely engrossed that I forgot to photograph the other steps. Oops.)

Here's the completed design.

It's such a bold contrast to the dainty fabric rose!

The red keeps it grounded while the shatter and glitter take it a notch higher.

 Note to self: Make sure base polish is completely dry before applying shatter polish.
Notice how it pulled the base polish on the thumb?

So there you have it, what I like to call my bejeweled shatter nails. When was the last time you sported shatter? Is it a nail trend that you totally embraced or completely shunned? Which nail trend is your favorite thus far (mine's flakies!)?

12 comments:

  1. Looooovveee flakies! I'm a huge fan of textured nails too. Anything that involves rhinestones, studs or anything of the like I love the feel of that on my nails.

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  2. This looks really elegant :)

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  3. This is such a fun mani!! I love the combo of textures, such a great idea! And Perceval is such a stunning red!! I love it on you. I really need to try mine.

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  4. The colour combination and the different textures really are amazing. You've knocked it out of the park, Carmela! :)

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  5. Aren't they just awesome? I think what I like so much about them is how versatile they are, and how they instantly add that touch of bling without paying the glitter price (gah, I can't tell you how much I hate taking glitter off!). Where do you get your studs? I've been wanting to play with those, too! :) Thanks, Stephanie!

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  6. Thank you so much, Tishana! I wasn't quite sure how they'd turn out but I knew adding the shatter would definitely take it in edgy territory. :) I'm so glad you like it!

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  7. Thanks, Marisa! The best part is how super easy this one was to do! Will you be trying your hand at it (pun intended)? :) Perceval is one gorgeous red shimmer, for sure. I always say that Zoya Isla is my absolute favorite red shimmer but now I'm not so sure! Gosh, I think it'll look even better on you; you wear red and pink so well! :)

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  8. I agree! Taking glitter off is a bissshhh. But that dosen't detur me from wearing it! lol! I get all my studs from Born Pretty Store. You can find the rhinestones and such on ebay, but I haven't ever seen studs on ebay. :) Hope that helps girl! :)

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  9. Thank you so much, Mary! I'm relieved it actually came out pretty well. You know how sometimes something looks awesome in your head but execution leaves much to be desired? I actually did a different version of this using one of those Revlon 2-sided polishes with crackle and it wasn't exactly what I was envisioning at all. It didn't help that the Revlon crackle didn't crackle properly, either. So I'm thrilled this actually worked out! :D

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  10. Thanks so much Carmela!! They're two of my favorite polish colors.

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  11. I think this is the only shatter manicure I have ever liked. I have 4 bottles of shatter polish unopened as yet, I see potential in my future!

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  12. *blushes* Oh, wow! Shelli, that's such a huge compliment, thank you so much! :D I'd love to see photos if you have any. :)

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