FRANKEN: Bronze It Baby! (Tutorial) & Mani.

Firstly I would like to thank ♥beauxs mom  at her LoveBeanGirl blog for her help and advice. You can find her blog post here that prompted me to finally plum up the courage to make my first Franken.

PREVIEW

STEP 1

I decided to start off with a polish that dried clear but had lots of holographic glitter within it. Also a polish that I had previously used and was very happy with the finished application. So, I decided to use as a base:

NYC "Expert Last Nail Polish." 155 Gramercy Glitz.

I purchased a new bottle, but actually ended up using an existing polish that I had only used for a couple of mani's, simple because it had a little room in the top of the bottle. I thought that would make it easier for me to add my other product to it that way.

STEP 2

I did go shopping for eyeshadow to add to the above polish, but couldn't find a loose powder eyeshadow that I really liked, so instead I ended up picking up a Bronzer in the sale which caught my eye. I chose to use:

Above 3x pictures: Catrice "Limited Edition. Papagena." Gold Nuggets.

STEP 3

I opened my bottle of varnish from 'Step 1' and set the top/brush aside. Then, after I removed the cap, I moved some of the bronzing balls from the bronzer in 'Step 2' aside, so I could easily get to the loose bronzer powder in the container.

Then I used the opposite end of a pair of tweezers; the end that you usually hold when you're using them, and used that to transfer some of the bronzing powder into my bottle of polish. I held my bottle of nail polish over the bronzing powder container, that way, if I spilled any over the sides of my nail polish bottle they would then fall back into their original container.

I transferred 5x small heaped scoops of bronzing powder into my nail polish bottle. Then I tested it on one of my nails for opacity. I applied two coats.

I added a few more scoops and tested the opacity of the varnish on my nails a few more times before I settled for using a total of:

10x small heaped scoops of bronzing powder into nail polish bottle - for one coat application.

or,

6-7x small heaped scoops of bronzing powder into nail polish bottle - for two coat extremely smoother application.

STEP 4

I then screwed the cap onto my nail varnish bottle and shook the bottle for around ten minutes. Just to make sure the bronzer was completely mixed with the nail varnish.

RESULT

Here is the finished result, which is a picture taken at a different angle than the one in the preview picture at the very top of the page:

Franken: Bronze It Baby!

Name: Bronze It Baby!

Description: Bronze It Baby is a bright bronze colored shimmery polish with holographic glitter within it.

Coverage: One coat with my resulting bottle (or two coats if you chose my alternative mixture method).

Application: Dries quickly, and to a shiny finish.

PICTURES

Above 2x pictures: 1x coat of Bronze It Baby!

And finally, two pictures of my mani with 2x coats of Catrice "Quick Dry & High Shine" Top Coat.

I applied 2x coats of Top Coat, simply because it is a thin polish, and I wanted protection and to cover any glitter bumpies in my mani. I didn't quite achieve covering the bumpies, but did get a extra shiny finish that was quick drying to. I would have used my usual top coat: NYC 135 Classy Glassy, but I've ran out, and so has the store I usually get it from, and there's no other clear top coat in any stores near me. So, I'm stuck using the only option I have at the moment.

(APPLICATION: Evening of 3rd September 2011.)
(MANI LASTED UNTIL: 5th September 2011. Would have lasted longer if Top Coat was better. Also I cut and dyed my hair, so my mani chipped in a few more places.)

VERDICT

I really enjoyed making my new polish. It is called a Franken, right, even though I haven't mixed two polishes together?

Anywhoo, if I make a polish using bronzer balls or something similar again, then I will definitely mix it using my other method, so I would get a much smoother application in two coats instead of a smooth application in one coat.

And I have already made another polish, which I should be doing another tutorial for when I do my next mani.

I would love to here your thoughts on my first Franken polish, and any tips or/and suggestions that you have, and even experience/stories you have with making your own Franken's.