Nail Art Sunday

Dotticure Mani with Zoya Kendal and Essie Merino Cool

Hello peeps! Sorry I have been MIA for awhile, but for good reason (more on this later)! Today I bring you a simple dotticure mani I did using Zoya Kendal as the base, and Essie Merino Cool for the dots. Simple yet cute, and very easy to DIY too!

Dotticure Mani with Zoya Kendal and Essie Merino Cool

So I have been making my own polishes and frankening lately! I am mainly creating holographic polishes at this stage, since everybody loves holo! If you would like to see my collection so far, please visit and like my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/TooFancyLacquer. Can't wait to see you there!

Frankening Fun: SpectraFlair vs. Diamond Pigment

Today I have an epic post on some of the frankens I made with diamond pigment! What is diamond pigment (DP) you might ask? It is a cosmetic grade holographic pigment which could be an alternative to the now hard to get SpectraFlair (SF). But is it really as good as the real thing?

Diamond Holographic Pigment - 35 microns

So this is what diamond pigment looks like in a bag, looks a lot like SpectraFlair doesn't it? I quickly mixed some up in a clear base and compare it to SF:

Diamond Pigment vs. SpectraFlair

On the left is a tiny scoop of DP in clear base, and on the right we have SF in a clear base. Apologies for the poor photo quality, but you can see although both pigments show strong linear holo effect, the SF bottle has a smoother prismatic effect to it.

Diamond Pigment - one coat

I then applied one coat of the DP base to a purple creme, and am surprised at how pretty the holo looks! Yes, it is more of a scattered holo, but the rainbow effect is still quite vibrant!

Polishes made with Diamond Pigment & SpectraFlair

Here are some polishes that I made with DP. Firstly I created the base color by mixing up some oil based colorants, then I added a tiny scoop of DP to complete the look. A quick tip when you are working with holo pigments or shimmers. Always mix the powder/pigment in a jelly base so it can shine through the polish. If you mix it in a creme/opaque base, you will find you can barely see the holo/shimmer no matter how much you add into the mixture!

I am quite happy how they all turned out, especially the orange, pink, and the reddish grapefruit one. I have also included one that I made with SF into the collage for comparison, can you tell which one looks different? It is the bottom left one, where the holo effect is more linear and smoother.

Bottle shot of polishes made by moi :)

So there you have it, I hope you find this post helpful! Although Diamond Pigment is not a dead set dupe of SpectraFlair, it is a pretty good alternative, especially when it is much cheaper than SF! I got the DP at $8USD per gram, and if I am not mistaken, SF (mixed in clear base) is now being sold at as much as $15-$20USD per gram. Since a little bit of pigment goes a long way, one gram of DP would give you many hours of frankening fun, so it is definitely more cost effective if you are a franken newbie like me!

My First Attempt at Frankening!

Skittle mani of some frankens made by me

I have finally dabbled into the world of frankening, after getting a bunch of glitters and suspension bases online. It is so much fun! Although I am a newbie and still have much to learn, there are a couple of frankens that I am quite happy with, like the ones on my pointer and middle fingers!

Bottle Shot of my Frankens

Franken Mani

I actually wore the periwinkle one (with the pastel green one as accent) as a full mani, and it last four days without much tipwear or chipping! There is also no sinking or curling of the glitters as yet (after 10 days), but then I'd require more testing before I can declare my creation a success :P

So what do you think of my frankens? I will be making and posting more of them as I get inspired, so watch this space!

A Special Franken - Banana Eggs!

Banana Eggs - two coats with no top coat

Banana Eggs is a very unique franken made by a talented lady from one of my FB groups! You just feel special and privileged when you are own a custom polish, because you know it is handmade with love!

Suspended in a white creme base, Banana Eggs is packed with gold, fuchsia and blue glitters that come in various sizes and shapes. A bit like Robin eggs, this is such a cute and fun polish! The only down side is my skintone does not really agree with white polish, so otherwise I would definitely be wearing Banana Eggs more often!