Tuesday, September 17, 2013

31DC2013 Day 17: Midnight Mermaid Glitter Placement

If there's one day to tackle a glitter placement manicure, it's the "Glitter" day of the 31 Day Challenge. So I put on my big girl pants and said a prayer to the god of glitter placement, Polish All the Nails.

I had some loose circle glitter that I hadn't used yet, so I decided to start with that. I picked a pot of holographic black glitters and set to work placing them all over a black base.


I used a white wax pencil to do the actual placement. This thing is seriously a lifesaver -- it allows you to grab and place the glitter precisely with no leftover residue. If you ever do 3D or placement nail art and you don't have one of these yet, I highly recommend them.

The glitter is attached with topcoat. I painted stripes of topcoat before attaching each vertical row of glitter, and the entire manicure is topped with an additional three coats of Seche Vite.



The circular shape of these glitters make them look like fish scales, and so I've been calling this manicure "the midnight mermaid." It's insanely sparkly.



Since this manicure was essentially black on black, it was tough to photograph, especially in direct light. I did want to make an effort though, so you could get a better idea of the holographic nature of the glitter!



Then finally, I wanted to do something I've never tried before... an animated GIF!

PRETTY DARN FUN IF YOU ASK ME! Look at that glitter light up! You can also check out the InstaVideo that I posted of this manicure to watch even MORE footage of the glitter in action.

Share:

44 comments

  1. Um, that wax pencil tip would have REALLY come in handy last night! Maybe I wouldn't have been up until 3am. Seriously though, thanks for the tip! :) Oh, and I think this is amazing and looks really unique with the round glitter!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Loving the GIF and how it shows off how gorgeous this mani is! Beautiful job, I really love the whole "midnight mermaid" idea - sexy and mysterious all at once!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ahhhhhhhh omg this is incredible. I've already posted comments on Instagram and Tumblr, I think I'm just going to follow this post around and continue to be amazed and so grateful you like my designs! I can't even tell you how much I love you even trimmed your glitter to fit to the edges :D:D:D:D

    ReplyDelete
  4. How could someone NOT like your designs? And of course I trimmed the glitter, it wouldn't be complete without it! I cut the studs on my stud armor nail too... we can't have those little gaps at the edge!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Of course you can't have gaps! I totally agree, I've trimmed even the smallest pieces because when you get it right, at the cuticle and the ends, it just makes it that much better.


    I have to say, I've been trying to emulate you for well over a year. I just cannot get over how high quality all your work is. It's just flawless, always. Glitter, painting, swatches, all of it, just perfect.


    <3<3<3<3


    I was just about to do something boring like a swatch for tonight but I think I might have to do another circle glitter mani now :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you! I was worried it would be too subtle but thankfully I was wrong!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, your manicure is AMAZING! Enjoy your life with the wax pencils! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aw, thank you so so much. You're too kind, really! Looking forward to seeing your circle glitter manicure!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Perfect! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dammit, it's 1.30 and I've just done my thumb, thanks a bunch! :P

    ReplyDelete
  11. Haha well I bet it's gonna be legit!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Amazing - I must try one of these, though probably need to schedule in about six hours to do it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. WOW! Stunning beyond words! :D I think you named it well! I can totally imagine a rare beauty or it be part of some dark mysterious species of mermaids (in games terms or fantasy stories.. hahaha!) looking at your nails! Absolutely love this glitter mani!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This looks so awesome!
    And I agree, "Polish All The Nails" is the god of glitter placement, hahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Haha, I know it seems daunting but the wax pencils cuts down the time by a TON

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yeah, that has to exist in sci fi somewhere, right??

    ReplyDelete
  17. That GIF is trippy! Lol Love the mani though! The placement is perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sooo pretty - love your inpiration, she truly is the queen of hand placed glitter manis!

    ReplyDelete
  19. ooh, I love it! Dark and eye-catching and seductive and BRILLIANT.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love it! But i'm not patient enough to make something like this, haha

    ReplyDelete
  21. That is so neat! It almost looks like a disco ball in the GIF.

    ReplyDelete
  22. And done! http://www.polishallthenails.com/2013/09/sparkly-circle-glitter-nails-because-i.html

    Why on earth did I think this would be a good idea to start at midnight?

    ReplyDelete
  23. It looks soo good! I love glitter placement manis, but I've never tried it because it seems like way too much work haha. It's hard enough for me to place one rhinestone on an accent nail :P

    ReplyDelete
  24. This is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Perfect. This is the only glitter placement manicure I've ever lusted over!! Lush! Nice one! GxXx

    ReplyDelete
  26. Looks like bokeh! Beautiful! :D

    ReplyDelete
  27. gorgeous!!!! i want to try this

    ReplyDelete
  28. THANK YOU!! I had waaaay too much fun with my fashion shoot. Should I feel weird how giddy I got about it? I have to try the round glitter now. I don't think I've even seen that before. Must get wax pencils now, and I will enjoy the crap out of them!

    ReplyDelete
  29. That glitter is amazing, I need it!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Even something so simple you make so beautiful! I'll have to try this design out.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Love, love, LOVE this mani! I want to try one, but I can't even tie my own shoes.

    ReplyDelete
  32. you did a perfect job!

    ReplyDelete
  33. GORGEOUS! What a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Gooooorgeous!!!
    And also, I'm wondering how you manage not to get shrinkage at the cuticle when using SV?

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hey Lisa! I don't actually have problems with SV when it's been taken care of properly. Usually when I get shrinkage it's because the SV has thickened up and I haven't thinned it recently enough. Seche makes a thinner called Restore, which would work, or you could also go with the generic at Sally's called Beauty Secrets Nail Polish Thinner. I use the Beauty Secrets one.

    ReplyDelete
  36. NICE! love how this is still quite.. conservative? depending on the light it becomes a party :D

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment! Please avoid link dropping and spamming. I reserve the right to remove any comments that I feel violate this policy.

© Chalkboard Nails | Phoenix, Arizona Nail Artist | All rights reserved.
Blog Design Handcrafted by pipdig