Starry, Starry Night: Navy and Silver Glitter Ombre Nails

(For the fabulous Yina of The Velvet Dolls.)

Super simple, and pretty darned quick to do. This nail look requires no ready-made glitter polish and no mixing of pigments into clear polishes. All you need is:

• A dark blue nail polish (I used L.A. Girl Dance Club)
• Repositionable glue (below) or nail foil adhesive
• A silver glitter (fine-grained)
• A soft blue eyeshadow (I used MAC Shimmermint)

Step 1: First apply base coat and then a thick layer of navy blue polish. This one from the Disco Brites collection is one of my favorites because usually just a single thick coat is enough for the color to look opaque. 

Let dry for a couple of minutes.

Step 2: When the polish is dry, brush on a thin layer of repositionable glue or nail foil adhesive; these are the things that set clear and sticky, which is crucial for the next step.

Step 3: Once the glue goes completely clear, you can use a small paint brush to lightly dust silver glitter onto the "heel" of your nail in a rough semi-circle or triangle shape.

Step 4: Next, use the same dry brush to pick up some soft blue shadow and dust it around the edges of the silver. This creates that ombre "fade" effect.

Step 5: It's best to let everything rest for a few minutes before you apply topcoat, as it could cause the glue beneath to seize and wrinkle if you apply too soon. If you applied a lot of glitter, you might need to do about 2 coats for the surface to be smoothed out.

Very straightforward, and takes very little time (or expertise) to do!