DIY Make Nail Polish Using Eye shadow

I love nail polish.  I love nail polish so much that there are times I look at a colour on a shirt or a children’s book and wonder how it would look as a nail polish.  Seriously !

Well, till such time as I can actually do that, I am content creating nail polishes from my eye shadows.  It’s really simple and so much fun to do.  I’ll run you through the steps along with the DOs and DONTs

How to Make Nail Polish Using Eye shadow

1. Transparent nail polish – I used Maybelline color show.  Make sure the bottle is relatively new, as the polish must be smooth and flow easily.  Gluggy old polish will ruin the process.  You can use transparent polish, just make sure you DO NOT use a transparent base coat.  More on that later. 
2. Eyeshadow – Some work better than others, you really have to experiment with what you have.
3. A cuticle pusher or any sharp object
4. A small rolling pin or pencil . I used my daughters toy rolling pin
5. A small zip lock bag

Step 1

Choose the eyeshadow you are going to use.  Use a sharp object such as a cuticle pusher to break the shadow pan.  What I like about the cuticle pusher is that it has a small scoop like thing to pick up shadow as well.  Once you have broken the pan to bits, it is time to transfer the powder into a zip loc bag.  I carefully scoop out bits and put them in the bag.  It is easier to use a single shadow rather than a palette since you can maneuver it better and make sure there is no mixing with other shades.  I have used a palette.  (When I got this in a beauty box subscription, I was sure there was no way i would use these colours on my eyes and yet i kept thinking how great they would look on my tips)

Step 2

Using the small rolling pin roll over the powdered eyeshadow in the zip loc.  You will need to go over again and again since all lumps have to be gone.  You need one smooth consistency.

Step 3

Without opening the ziploc, make a small cut on the closed end of the bag.  Open the bottle of polish and transfer the powder slowly through the slit into the bottle of polish.   You will notice powder collecting at the mouth of the bottle, when this happens, put the stopper on and shake well before you add more eyeshadow.   Keep adding and shaking till you are done with all the eyeshadow.

This process will take some time and does tend to get messy.  No matter how careful you are, there will be stuff spilling over – keep an old newspaper under everything so you can mop up without much fuss.  Also, keep the fan off.   The bottle of polish will be open for a while and the fan can dry it up immediately.

Step 4

SHAKE really well….. and Voila… you have a brand new nail polish that you made yourself!    Its really that simple.  The whole process normally takes about 10 minutes only.

Proportions

I find that 1 gm of powder eyeshadow mixes well with a 5 – 6 ml bottle of polish to give you a nice cream finish nail polish.  If you have less eyeshadow, then the polish will have a more jelly effect and will be translucent – with visible nail line.

Some things to keep in mind are

Dos

1. When using the polish you will need to shake since the powder does tend to settle.  However once you shake it, it mixes really well
2. Use a base coat under your newly prepared polish.  This is to make sure that the nail bed does not get stained by the nail polish as you will not know the strength of the pigments used.
3. Use a new smooth flowing polish

Don’ts

1. Do not use a base coat as your transparent polish.  A base coat is made to stick to your nails and will make the pigments in the shadow adhere to your nails, something you do not want.  (Yes, I have tried this and learned the hard way…. it took a lot of effort to remove the pigment from my nails)
2. Make sure the eyeshadow is in relatively good condition.  Lumpy, very old eyeshadow will not work.

Finally, don’t expect this to be of the same quality as store bought nail polish.  There will be a difference.  Once you get the hang of it, you can mix shades to create your own signature shade.  You can even mix small glitter particles…it’s all up to you and how creative you can get.

Make Nail Polish Using Eye shadow !

*DIY Prepared By Dela