Hex glitters are so fun

You might remember when I was talking about my nail wheels, I showed you some polish layering I was experimenting with. A couple were inspired by Deborah Lippmann polishes, the master of hex glitters.

Lippmann polishes are high-end and some are limited edition. Their formula is said to be excellent, even with regards to the normally difficult-to-handle chunky hex glitter. Me, I don't have a lot of cash and I'm willing to tackle something fiddly in exchange for saving the dosh on the polishes. So, instead of shelling out $40+ for the limited edition Lippman polish set that includes Lady Sings the Blues, a gawgeuss navy blue polish with silver hex glitters, I'm shamelessly copying the idea with my own polishes.

I don't mean to exactly dupe these polishes, because if I set out to do that I would be failing hard. This is just a look inspired by Lippmann, differing in several ways. For one, LSTB is a single polish, and the glitter tends to get drowned out in the base (from what I've heard). I have a layer of glitter on top of a layer of blue, so that isn't a problem. LSTB's base is also a navy jelly, while mine is a navy shimmer (Barry M nail paints Navy). Still, it captures just the look of Lady Sings the Blues that I like: The image of silver stars on a dark blue sky.

My hex glitter was from a company by the name of Saffron, which produces a large number of glitter polishes and hex glitters in both silver and gold. I got them from Blush1, and they were a pound apiece. I've already ordered another silver one for frankening.

The Saffron glitter is different from the Lippmann glitter in one other important way: Lippman chunky glitter polishes contain large hex glitter and small round glitter. These Saffron polishes have small round glitter, as well as large AND medium hexagons.

After I did my nails, I decided to do a coordinating pedi. Warning: horrible pre-cleanup foot picture ahead. It's Barry M Red Black with gold glitter over it. I REALLY love this, it reminds me of Christmas presents. I'm thinking about doing it on my hands for my Christmas mani.

The hex glitter application was a little challenging, and I think I laid it too thickly. I would have preferred the glitter to be a little more sparse. It'll get better with practice.

Of course, as much as I adore the chunky hexagonal glitter look, cleanup will be a biatch. Not looking forward to that...

Nailgirl