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Creating Your Own Polish - Frankening DIY

Firstly no I don't have any new Barry M polishes, haha but I have made my very own exclusive limited edition Barry M polishes and thats almost as exciting!

I suspect all polish lovers imagine themselves creating their own line of polishes. However the idea of setting up an independent, indie polish company is just beyond the realms of possibility for me at least.

So I thought, why not start small scale and create a couple of polishes at home.

Three simple but different ways of frankening:
1. Mixing old bottles of nail polish to create new colours.
2. Crushing up eyeshadow pigments and mixing it with clear polish to create a polish that matches your makeup.
3. Mixing glitter into old bottles of polish to create your own glitter wonder.

I decided that I would start with the latter as I had a couple of spare bottles of Barry M lying around and some pretty glitter that I was itching to add to some polish.

Equipment:
  • Nail Polish
  • Glitter
  • Card
  • Scissors
  • Sticky tape

I bought my glitter from various sellers on eBay (of course). Some you get just one colour in large lots which are quite cheap and others you can buy pre-mixed for around £1 a pot. You can also buy pigments and pretty much anything else you may want to add to your polish. Until recently it was difficult to get a good variety of glitters, but a lot of sellers are now selling different shapes, colours and finishes which is awesome.

Its as easy as:
  1. Create a card cone.
  2. Open polish bottle and stick in cone.
  3. Pour in glitter (add glitter bit by bit).
  4. Shake the bottle until arm hurts and glitter is mixed through.

Do not add in loads of glitter straight away like I did. The polish can only handle a certain amount before it turns into a gloopy mess, so add a little bit, shake, test and repeat until you're happy.

Now my first foray into the world of an indie polish maker yielded one massive success and a little flop. I will put some of the things I have learnt at the end but here are the 2 finished creations! No names, just glittery goodness.


Strawberry Ice Cream Barry M Franken. I used 2 coats of polish and took a photo with clear topcoat and then with matte topcoat.



Bright Pink Barry M Franken. I used 2 coats of polish and took a photo with clear topcoat and then with matte topcoat.



Hints & Tips:
Do not over glitter your polish, it leads to clumpy application (see Bright Pink polish pics).
Light glitters do not show up very easily in darker/richly pigmented polishes.
Wear gloves otherwise you'll be washing glitter off your hands, face etc for the rest of your life.

Finally be brave, have fun and create something.
Let me know if you create your own polish or have any other tips etc

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