Perfectly Polished Tips 110 - Franken Polish Extravaganza

Before I was able to get my hands on Essie Starry Starry Night I was determined to make my own replica. I went on to make pink and purple versions, but not realizing only certain sparkles worked they were a bust. Last fall NARS had a sale on several of their polishes and I grabbed three. I ended up hating them, the smell, the formula, and I got terrible wear from them. I decided that Midnight Express would make a great base for my SSN dupe. However because I wasn't big on glitter at the time I didn't have much to work with. I used China Glaze Kalidescope Him Out to acheive the glittery goodness of this polish. I believe the Kaliescope collection was recently discontinued, so get them while you still can.

A jelly navy blue with glitter.

I like that the glitter isn't over the top because that's not me.

This concludes my Franken Polish Extravaganza. Mixing polishes is a great way to make to make your self a unique signature color. It's also a good way to (temporarily) satisfy a very very very hard to find lemming.

Perfectly Polished Tips 109 - Franken Polish Extravaganza

A posts back I wrote about how if there was a smokey orange polish, a la Metro Chic and Parlez- vous OPI? that I would wear orange. I attempted to make one and got this:

I used CND Feista as well as a grey franken. I did orange first and then the grey. I then added a bit of Color Club Heart to Heart which is an orange based red.

It's not as brown in real life, think of the Crayola burnt orange crayon. That is one, right?

Any ideas of what to do to improve it? I think I need to add a whole lot more orange. Or does anyone know of an easily accessable smokey orange polish that already exists? I would prefer a creme but I suppose it doesn't really matter.

Perfectly Polished Tips 108 - Franken Polish Extravaganza

For whatever reason my Sally Beauty doesn't have China Glaze Recycle. I've been craving that polish since it was released. My first franken polish was a grey creme but it bubbles like crazy, and unfortunately causes all the polishes I've since mixed it with to bubble as well. I don't have a photograph of it because who wants to look at a bubbled up manicure? Not I. Here is what I did make.

looks much nicer in the bottle, and is bumpy on the nail.

to make this I used CND Voodoo, Essie Below the Belt, BB Couture for Nail Diamond Dust, and Cutex Crocodile. The Cutex has to be an oldie because the chemical stench is almost unbearable.

This is made from CND Voodoo and CQ French White. I apologize for the smudge on my middle finger, I hit it just before taking the photo. This grey is a lot lighter than my first franken.

I didn't test the first one with a base coat but I think it might be wearable. The second is right up my alley but I feel like it might be a little too light.

Perfectly Polished Tips 107 - Franken Polish Extravaganza

Every now and then I get a lemming for a polish that I either cannot find or doesn't exist. When this happens I turn to my stash to see what I can combine. I try to use cheaper polishes or ones I don't love to franken though. Sometimes I will sacrifice (I used some Zulu once) the favorites though. Over the next few days I will be sharing my personal home creations. This polish is probably going to be my NOTWeekend. I already need a break from using up my untrieds.

with flash.

artificial lighting.

To make this polish I combined: China Glaze Shower Together, Color Club Naughtycal Navy, China Glaze Tinsel, and Pure Ice Oh Baby. I don't have exact measurements because I am a messy franken-er. All of the polishes should be very easy to find.

Perfectly Polished Tips 91 - Election Day Nails & A Gift

For my election day nails I chose Icing After Midnight. It's a deep blackened navy blue with a ton of micro shimmer. You can't see it on the nail but you can see it in the bottle. It's like CND Blue Blood but not as sparkly. This was pretty much my first encounter with an Icing nail polish. I am impressed. The bottle and brush remind me a lot of China Glaze so no complaints there. The formula was great too, it took two coats to achieve the color in the bottle and there were no streaks. I used Color Club Vita base coat and INM Out the Door top coat for this. I got almost 5 days of wear out of it. This is pretty much unheard of from me but I haven't been doing my nails as often. The picture below is from tonight and as you can see I have minimal tip wear and no chips.

This year I participated in a Halloween gift exchange with some of the ladies from Make Up Alley. Jenn aka SpeakerPunk was my Ghoul and she sent me an amazing package.

OPI Designer Series Shimmer - silver holographic.


OPI Designer Series Sapphire - this photo does not do the color justice. It's a muted periwinkle almost in real life. It's already a favorite.

A SpeakerPunk orignal franken that I swear is a duochrome/holo. It has a green flash in the bottle but not on the nail.


OPI Ink - this color is amazing, I have no idea why I swapped it when I owned it before. It's full of sparkley goodness and leans more towards purple on me than blue. Again the photo doesn't capture it well at all.

And last but not least, one of the biggest lemmings I've had since joining the MUA nail board:

China Glaze Denim & Diamonds. If you click the picture you will see it's gloriousness. I almost didn't want to swatch it because I didn't want to waste it. It's a beautiful blue with silver and blue glitter. I never thought in a million years that I would have this polish.

Please excuse the state of my nails/cuticles. I relapsed (again!) and bit my nails all off, way too far down. I wasn't left with much to file either. I tried to make the best of it!

Perfectly Polished Tips 34 - Franken Polish

It's alive! A franken polish is a personalized mixture. You can mix up anything you'd like. It's helpful for recreating long gone hard to find polishes, country specific releases that you can't get your hands on, and those over the top pricey ones. If you are like me and cannot justify spending $$ on Rescue Beauty Lounge's new color Teal you can make your own.

To make this polish pictured here I used a mixture of half China Glaze Shower Together and half Color Club Naughtycal Navy. I also added a few drops of Revlon Color Stay top coat to give it a jelly look. If you don't have those colors exactly any other creme teal & navy should work.

To make a franken polish: Make sure you cover your work surface and that you aren't wearing a new mani. It will get ruined.

1. Start with a clean, dry nail polish bottle. If you need to clean one out, dump the old polish into a paper towel in a plastic cup or an empty soda can. I usually fill the bottle with remover and shake for a few minutes. Adding a bit of salt and warm water to the bottle will help loosen any extra bits of polish. Make sure the bottle is completely dry before starting or you will ruin the polish! Or you can start with a bottle of polish as well, just make sure there is enough room in the bottle to add new polish.

2. I like to mix drops of the color on paper to figure out my ratio and see how it's going to look before I commit.

3. When you have your recipe begin pouring. Go slowly, stop and shake every now and then to check the color. **I have never had this happen but remember you are mixing chemicals and they might not always mix smoothly! I've never had one explode but you never know!**

4. Add colors/sparkles/glitter until you have your desired shade of polish. Adding balls (or BBs) helps mix the color. I think there is an ebay seller with them, I can find out the name if anyone needs it.

5. Enjoy your new polish!