Copper Shard Nails

It seems like most people are going for patriotic nails this week for the 4th of July.

I have a couple of ideas that I might do later this week, but this time I decided to do something else. 

I have been wanting to do this ever since I got the bottle of Nailtini Champagne in my Ipsy bag. It took a lot of work, but I think it turned out pretty cool.

I didn't want a sheer base this time. I started out with a coat of OPI Natural Nail Strengthener and then two coats of Pure Ice Pretty 'N Patriotic, a matte white polish that reminded me of painting my nails with white out in Jr. High. I had no idea this was a matte polish when I got it. There isn't anything on the bottle to signify that it's a matte, so be warned. It's really not very pretty by itself, I'm pretty sure I'll only be using this as a base for other things. Nothing against matte polishes, a lot of them are really cool, this one just doesn't do anything for me. 

After two coats of the white I thought I'd have a pretty good base for the coppery Nailtini 124 Champagne and I wasn't wrong. One coat over the white looked really weird, but the second coat gave me exactly the color I wanted. 

I finished up the design with two coats of OPI Gaining Mole-Mentum. I did the first coat in a daubing technique to distribute the shards the way I wanted them. Then I used the second coat to really fill it all in. This is such a fun polish. If you don't already have it in your collection you really need to go get it! GO!

I think it turned out pretty cool. This was one of the times that I started one day and finished later. I started out on Friday night painting the base and two coats of white, Saturday I spent hours doing the champagne and glitter, then I finished up with one coat of OPI Top Coat on Sunday morning. Whew!