If you want to know where to get the cellophane I used to complete my shattered glass nails, click here.
Shattered glass nail art is super easy. However, it requires a lot of patience. I have tried the shattered look twice now, and it took me at least 45 minutes minimum to finish the technique on each nail. The look can be broken down into these simple steps:1. Cut your cellophane
2. Basecoat
3. Nail colour of any choice
4. Application of the foil while polish is still tacky
5. Topcoat
For the application, you're going to want to cut your foil into really small, angular shapes. I found that triangular shapes were most preferable. And let me tell you, cutting the foil is a tedious task. It took a long time, and it's a bit of a challenge to cut the foil into such tiny shapes. With my first go at shattered glass nails, I found that the foil shards that I cut were a little too large for my liking. So if you attempt this look at home and are cutting your foil, imagine this: think your shards are the perfect size? Try cutting them smaller than that. Or at least, that's how it was for me. I cut the shards smaller than my first attempt for my second one, and I found that it worked out better for me.
When it comes to transferring your shards onto your nails, nail artists suggest using a wax pencil or a toothpick dipped into water. I tried using a toothpick dipped in water first, and good gracious, just don't do it. It was just not working for me. I don't own a wax pencil, so I substituted that with a white eyeliner pencil that I don't use very often, and it worked out great (they're kind of the same thing, right?).
I found that the finished look was absolutely stunning. However, the foil peeled on the first day of wear, several foil bits just had to be peeled off because I was so fed up with the peeling, and to top it off, I even used a gel topcoat to prevent all this and it still happened. For optimum wear, here are some tips:
- Press down on every corner of your foil shards when you apply them to keep them adhered and prevent peeling of the corners.
- Apply your topcoat as soon as you're done each nail. Don't wait for all of your nails to be done and then apply a topcoat. Applying a topcoat as soon as you're done a nail means that you're sealing in the design and not giving the foil time to start peeling.
- For the love of all that is good, use a peel-off basecoat. Removal is grating. If you don't have a peel-off basecoat, you should invest in one. New York Color has a really cheap one that is usually 2/$3 at my local Walmart.
I hope that you all found this helpful!
