Thursday, November 5, 2015

Shattered Glass Nail Art Trend

Hey, everyone!

Here I am, jumping on the ever-growing and internationally popular bandwagon of "shattered glass" nails! I've actually been meaning to do these for a couple months now, and then this trend suddenly EXPLODED! So I guess it's the perfect excuse for me to finally try this look. Keep reading to find out more!


Shattered glass nails started their fashionable life in South Korea and have quickly become a worldwide sensation. Just yesterday, my cashier at Staples asked if I'd heard of the trend and I promptly showed her my take on it! Although I'm not 100% pleased with how these turned out, I still think they're interesting and will try them again sometime.


I started with a peel-off base coat on my thumb, middle, and ring fingers, and regular base coat (Nail Envy) on my index and pinky fingers. I realized after experimenting that peel-off is the way to go for these cellophane shards because (at least the ones I have) they DO NOT dissolve in acetone and are a paaaaaain to get off otherwise! For my polishes, I used Hare Polish Lost on Abalone Shores on my index and pinky, and OPI Planks a Lot on the nails with my peel-off base. I chose this polish combo to pull out the subtle purple shimmer in Lost on Abalone Shores, what do you think?


When my purple base was dry, I applied a coat of nail foil glue, since it stays tacky when it's dry. I figured this would help with securing the cellophane pieces. The cellophane I used, by the way, was actually gift wrapping from a family member's birthday last month, and would have been thrown away had a I not saved it. Because of this, there are some slight wrinkles in my shards, but I don't mind. After waiting for the foil glue to dry, I placed the shards using a wax pencil. I sealed with two coats of topcoat to finish the design, although the shards still aren't completely smooth. Drat.


After a lot of experimenting over different base colors, I've come to a couple conclusions about this shattered glass look. 1) I think you get the most dramatic effect over very pale or very dark polishes. 2) While foil glue is nice in that it stays tacky for a while after drying, I think I prefer using a cheap topcoat because it's more forgiving in terms of placement. 3) Generous amounts of topcoat are necessary for a super smooth glass-like finish on these nails, because the cellophane does have a degree of thickness to it. Also, here's a quick video I took to show how funky this is in person!


Materials Used
Hare Polish Lost on Abalone Shores
OPI Planks a Lot
Nail art foil glue
Iridescent cellophane shards

 I think this is a fantastic nail art trend and I'm excited to see and try more of it! What do you think of it? Thanks for stopping by!

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