Manicure with glitter: types of material, features and application techniques

Nail design uses a variety of materials, and these are not only stamping plates, craquelure, magnetic, metallic, exotic, gel polishes, stickers, stencils, etc. Among all this “manicure abundance” there is a place for sparkles, which are called nail glitters. There are certain rules for their use that must be strictly observed. After all, a “shiny” manicure is sometimes out of place, and carelessly applied glitter will ruin the impression and cause a lot of inconvenience.

What are glitters?

If you translate the word Glitter from English, then in Russian it will sound simple and clear - glitter. Essentially, glitter is finely chopped foil of different colors and even shapes, which can also be used for makeup. It is noteworthy that the word “foil” is not an entirely accurate designation of the source material. Because modern glitters are made not from the thinnest layers of aluminum, but from polyethylene terephthalate film with a metallized coating.

The particles can be quite large or, on the contrary, dusty. And this glittery dust is called shimmer, creating a mysterious shimmer or mirror effect. Nowadays you can buy sparkles of all colors and sizes, but previously girls had to cut chocolate chips into tiny pieces with their own hands in order to surprise others with an atypical manicure. But, despite the abundance of shades, the classics of the genre are: “gold”, “silver” and “bronze”, and the fourth place is occupied by “hologram”.

Tips for choosing glitter for eye makeup

When planning to purchase a decorative cosmetic product, listen to the advice of makeup experts:

1. Shiny particle size

   – the larger they are, the narrower their scope of application becomes. Large sparkles look flashy; they will need to be used in minimal quantities and in exceptional cases.

2. Material from which glitter particles are made

   . If it is plastic and similar substances that do not decompose in nature, it is better not to use such a product. If glitter is made from biodegradable components, is safe and environmentally friendly, it is better to give preference to such preparations. Biodegradable components include mica and cellulose. Such products are produced by EcoStardust, Bio-Glitter, EcoSparkles, 4CandlesUK, Bay House Ingredients, Cosmic Shimmer, and can be found in the assortment of any online cosmetics store.

3. Components of the product

   . It is desirable that the glitter be made from natural ingredients that do not cause an allergic reaction. If a cosmetic product contains oils, vitamins, or plant extracts, this is an additional argument for the purchase.

4. And not the last selection criterion - price of decorative cosmetics.

   In this matter, each girl should start from her own financial capabilities and preferences. Experts say that expensive products are not necessarily better than budget options. They are simply aimed at a certain circle of people. So, if you use mass market cosmetics, and you are satisfied with the quality of the products of a certain brand, you can safely buy glitter from this brand.

Types of glitter

Despite all the variety of these products, there are only two main types - dry and liquid. Dry glitter is more diverse in classification, and is usually divided into:

Large. The particles are quite large in size, and the shape can be regular or irregular. This material is intended for creating patterns in the form of a mosaic, but its use is only appropriate on long nails, because it has a “shortening” effect.

Glitter sand. It has a high density, thanks to which you can give the nail plates additional volume. It is applied to the nails in a fairly thick layer, which makes it seem as if they are strewn with shining sand.

Glitter powder or shimmer. People call this material “sprinkling” or “rubbing”. Shimmers can be used at your own discretion, although there are only two options: to create makeup or manicure, and they are applied to a sticky layer of varnish (base).

Glimmer. This is something between glitter and shimmer, and it’s easy to guess that the term was formed by merging two words. At its core, this is a large shimmer.

Liquid glitter is a regular transparent varnish with glitter that can contain different amounts of shiny particles. Here a lot depends on the manufacturer, but in any case: the effect of applying one layer of such varnish will be insignificant. And there were cases when girls had to apply up to 10 layers of liquid glitter to get a dense shiny layer. It remains to add that manufacturers of cosmetic products are constantly experimenting and offering new options. For example, now you can buy “sprinkles” with a mirror effect or “glitters” in the shape of hearts, stars, sticks, rounds and squares, but you don’t even have to talk about colors, the color range is so wide.

Tips from makeup artists - when applying glitter is not appropriate

Eyelid glitter is a specific type of decorative cosmetics, which is not always possible to use at will. Advice from our experts will help you determine in which cases it is better to avoid using glitter:

1. The woman's age is over 40-45 years. By this time, age-related changes in the skin on the face are already beginning to appear. Crow's feet appear around the eyes and wrinkles in other areas. Glitter draws attention to aesthetic defects, so it is better to refrain from applying glitter. The only case when a woman of this age can use a small amount of glitter eyeshadow in light shades is when applying evening makeup.
2. The presence of aesthetic defects such as pimples, comedones, blackheads, scars, scars on the skin of the face. Glitter products are not used for the same reason as stated in paragraph 1.
3. Strict daytime makeup that you wear to work or school does not involve the use of glitter.
4. Use of contact lenses. Micro particles of the product can get under the lens and cause severe discomfort, even pain. If you still don’t want to give up applying glitter, then choose products with a creamy texture.

Nail extension with glitter

This is a step-by-step process:

1. Prepare your nails by removing all excess – cuticles and hangnails. To do this, you can use manicure tools or special products containing acids.
2. Apply the base gel and wait for it to dry, which will be indicated by its matte appearance.
3. Apply modeling gel to your nails, to which dry glitter has previously been added. Its amount depends on the expected effect, and to avoid the appearance of lumps, it is necessary to mix the components thoroughly. This is done on a plastic palette and the ideal mixture should be gel, glitter and shimmer.
4. After drying in a UV lamp, it becomes necessary to create a glossy surface, for which a finishing coating is used.
5. If you need to increase the concentration of glitter or create a certain pattern, this is done using an orange wood stick. Afterwards, you need to add another layer of modeling gel and gloss.
6. The entire “structure” is fixed with a transparent gel.

Important! The design should be thought out in advance! The use of sequins, rhinestones, beads and other decorative elements is not prohibited.

What you need for a brilliant manicure

We want to get a stylish and durable manicure at home, so we’ll learn how to properly apply dry glitter to gel polish . First, let's prepare equipment, manicure tools and consumables:

• curing UV lamp;
• files and buffs for polishing the plate and giving shape, cuticle sticks;
• degreaser, primer to improve the adhesion of the plate to the coating;
• base for gel, shellac and top;
• flat and fan brushes with soft bristles for applying glitter, tweezers, thin brushes;
• dry glitters.

Large sequins are applied to the gel polish with a thin designer pencil (dots), medium sequins with a drawing brush, small sequins with soft fan brushes.

Nail polish with holographic glitter

“Holographic” has been popular for several years because this varnish has an interesting optical effect: when two shades are mixed, a third is obtained. To do this, it contains holographic powder, which is glitter crushed to a dusty state.

Often such varnishes are called “chameleons” - for their ability to change color depending on the angle. For example, it was green, but became blue. If you use large glitter, rhinestones or other decorative elements as an addition to such a manicure, then such nail art will clearly not go unnoticed.

How to apply liquid glitter Shiny nail art is not the preserve of professionals. But for everything to work out, you must follow the basic rules. If you mean using regular polish with glitter, then the main task comes down to its uniform distribution over the surface of the nail plate. To create a “thick, shiny coating,” the particles have to be literally fished out of the bottle with a brush. But when you want to create a subtle shimmer effect, one layer is enough.

Rules for applying dry glitter Here everything is much more complicated, because the crumbly material is capricious and requires certain skills. There may be several options:

1. Nail plates with freshly applied, wet varnish are sprinkled. Glitter will inevitably get on the skin around it, which will have to be removed, because its excess will give the manicure a sloppy look.
2. Loose glitter can be applied with a brush or applicator, and then you don’t have to cleanse the skin of shimmering particles. The use of such tools is especially important if you need to decorate certain areas of the nail plate or if you need to create some kind of pattern.
3. Dip your fingertips into the jar of glitter, and the base should be freshly applied and not dry. The method is uneconomical and generally not the best, which is explained by the excessive consumption of material and the need to remove particles that stick to the skin.

Important! In order not to strew the apartment with glitter and ensure economical use of material, it is recommended to lay a sheet of paper - ordinary A4 office paper - on the surface where the “sacred ceremony” will take place. After completing the procedure, all spilled particles can be carefully poured back into the jar.

Tips for doing simple nail art with liquid glitter

Let's say you have several jars of nail polish with glitter in it, you can use them in different ways. Here are some tips from the professionals:

1. Process the nail plates, giving them the desired shape. Apply base and glitter varnish in several layers. It is recommended to dry each layer of cosmetic preparations under a lamp.
2. Carry out preparatory measures, apply a base for varnish. Next comes the application of clear or colored varnish without glitter. The nails are dried, after which a pattern is laid out on their surface with medium and large glitter. Then you need to apply a fixative, the drying of which completes the nail art.

Shiny particles for the last version of the manicure can be purchased separately or removed from a jar of varnish using a thin wooden stick.

Useful tips

1. It is better to pick up large particles with tweezers.
2. If you do not use a fixative or at least a transparent varnish, the glitter manicure will quickly fade, and the rough glitter will cling to your hair and clothes.
3. When using glitter powder with a mirror or holographic effect, it is recommended to use a sponge. The nail plate with the varnish that has not yet dried is covered with glitter powder.
4. For nail art using glitter sand, you need to use a small plastic spoon. By the way, this material is best combined with gel polish.
5. It is best to get rid of excess shiny particles with a brush.
6. The patterns are created like this: an ornament is drawn with a base varnish using a thin brush, and immediately sprinkled with glitter.

Where to apply glitter - expert advice

Eyeshadow with glitter particles can be applied in many ways. One of the options is a simple make-up using glitter on the area of ​​the movable eyelid. And if you use matte shadows on the moving eyelid and make an accent with glitter in the center of the upper eyelid, you can give your eyes more volume and give your look depth and expressiveness.

One of the most dramatic ways to use glitter is to layer it over a base of cream eyeshadow. Contrasting combinations have proven themselves well. For example, a combination of black shadows and silver glitter.

An option for quickly turning everyday makeup into evening makeup is to draw an arrow on the upper eyelid with glitter on top of the makeup that was done earlier, for example, in the morning, before going to work. Glitter products stick well to a gel leash. Shiny particles are applied to the gel arrow using a thin or small flat brush.

Another option for evening or holiday makeup is to apply pearlescent shadows, say, beige-chocolate tones, to your eyelids. And then make a graceful arrow with an upward tip, using black eyeliner. Two more lines are drawn on top of the arrow and on the crease above the moving eyelid, this time glitter of the same color as the shadow is used.

You can experiment with glitter yourself, come up with new ways of applying them and combining them with other cosmetic preparations for eyelid makeup. Such shiny cosmetics are applied to the lower eyelid, and eyelashes, and even to other parts of the face and body.

Manicure with glitter for short nails

This year's trend is the measured use of shiny elements. This means that when using liquid glitter you should not be overzealous, because one or two layers applied to the base will be enough. Owners of short nails are not prohibited from any variants of glitter nail art, with the exception of the version with large particles. It is allowed to combine shimmer and glitter, and the latter can be applied either to the hole or to the tip.

You can get a manicure according to Feng Shui - this is when only the ring finger nail is accented with glitter. If you move away from fashion trends and heavily cover short nails with glitter, then no one will accuse their owner of vulgarity, because such nail art looks great. But it doesn’t correlate in any way with long nails. If the nails are of moderate length, then you can do a French manicure, where the place of the white stripe should be replaced by a shiny one.

Features of nail glitter

In modern works of fashionable nail designers you can see sparkles applied around the nail, halves of beads glued in the form of all kinds of applications and even whole pearls. All this looks attractive only if the details and shades are correctly combined.

There are many varieties of so-called sparkles, which have their own names in specialist circles. They differ from each other in the size and volume of shiny particles. Glitter is a varnish with a shiny texture, where the sparkles themselves are quite large. They can even be the size of a large rhinestone. The shape of sparkling particles also varies: round, rectangular, straws, stars and even snowflakes. The varnish itself can be transparent or have a tint. This decorative product is the easiest way to create a festive manicure. It is enough to apply it to the nail plate in one or two layers.

Shimmer is a product similar in properties to glitter, but the shiny particles here are small in size, down to the state of shimmering dust. This definition applies only to manicure products, since the word “shimmer” has its own meaning for each situation. For example, a shimmer in cosmetics is a foundation with a shimmering effect. You can also achieve shimmer using rhinestones, dry crumbly glitter, nail rub and other means.

How to remove glitter?

There are 3 proven methods:

1. Moisten a cotton pad with remover and apply it to the nail plate, and wrap it with foil on top, making something like a cap. After a few minutes, you can try to remove the softened layer of glitter coating in one movement. If this does not work, then you should use a wooden stick.
2. Use Peel Off coating or its equivalent. Used as a base layer. Glitter manicure is removed mechanically, using a wooden spatula in the process.
3. Instead of the expensive Peel Off, you can use regular PVA glue, which is also applied instead of a base. The only condition is that it must dry well.

How to remove glitter from eyelids - expert advice

Glitter is a spectacular, but capricious product that is difficult not only to apply beautifully, but also to completely wash off. If plain water doesn't help remove your makeup, try these expert tips:

1. Wash off your makeup with micellar water

   . Most products in this group do a good job of removing all types of cosmetics.

2. Remove makeup with a two-phase makeup remover.

   You can also try using hydrophilic oil or regular vegetable oil - sunflower, olive.

If you have used eyelid primer, these products will definitely help you get rid of glitter. Just don’t forget to change cotton pads contaminated with glitter more often so as not to smear the product on your eyelids and facial skin.