How To Make Your Own Matte Glitter Nail Polish

DIY bath and beauty projects are easily one of my favorite pastimes. I was all over Alle's kinder surprise bath bombs and made, like, 10 of them the second her tutorial went up. I also love to raid my pantry to see what kinds of things I can mix up and slather on my skin or hair. 

 

Today, though, we're talking DIY nail polish. Matte glitter nail polish, to be exact. 

 

I've seen tutorials in the past that basically combined eyeshadow with a top coat, but those were typically just mixed on a paper plate and applied immediately. I haven't seen a tutorial that utilized loose glitter, so I decided to walk on the wild side with this one. 

 

The result to my "let's just see what happens" DIY nail polish experiment? Well, you can ask my cats, who I've been saying things like "Dang, I'm so proud of myself for how this turned out!" to since my manicure dried. 

 

If anyone heard the way I talk to my cats, they'd probably commit me.

 

 

Let's get to the lacquer. To create this polish, I used a tub of NYX Glitter on the Go in Luxurious Lavender (loose glitter). I used half the tub, so roughly .1 ounces. I also used an entire pan of Rimmel London Glam Eyes eyeshadow in Royal Violet (.085 oz). Both of these were products that've been hibernating in the cosmetic dust of my makeup drawer for months, so I decided to put them to use. 

 

For the polish, I went with something ultra-cheap: NYC's Long Wearing Nail Enamel Extra Shiny Topcoat. I found it for 94 cents at Target.

 

So to reiterate, you'll need: eyeshadow, loose glitter and a top coat. 

 

 

 

 

You can buy a tiny disposable funnel, or you can just create your own with some standard A4 paper like I did. To do this, cut out a square piece of paper (roughly 2x2 inches) and then roll into a funnel. Plop it right into your nail polish bottle. 

 

 

 

Step 2: CRUSH EYESHADOW

 

 

If you already have a broken eyeshadow, you're all set. If you're using one that's still pressed, you'll want to turn it into loose powder. I used the tip of a straight pin and gently scraped back and forth. 

 

Step 3: COMBINE SHADOW AND POLISH

 

 

Add your eyeshadow to your nail polish bottle. I added the entire eyeshadow pan's worth of Rimmel London's Glam Eyes eyeshadow. 

 

 

Next, shake your bottle really well. You want an even consistency. 

 

The finished product, sans glitter.

 

Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what the polish looked like before I added the glitter to it. I applied two thin coats to each nail. 

 

 

Here's how my DIY matte nail polish looks without the glitter added to it. The color is super pretty, don't you think?

 

 

 

Using my funnel, I added roughly .1 ounces of NYX Glitter on the Go to the bottle. Once you've done this, shake the bottle really well again until the glitter is evenly dispersed. 

 

 

I applied an additional coat on top of my already-painted matte nails. If you wait to apply nail polish until after you've already added the glitter, you'll probably want two thin coats. FYI: If you have too much excess polish on your brush, you'll probably end up with some pooling.

 

 

As with any other manicure, try to avoid doing anything with your hands until it's completely dry. (Embarrassing confession: after a particularly time-consuming manicure months ago, my husband had to actually unbutton and pull down my pants for me so I could use the restroom). 

 

Don't apply a top coat! This will ruin the matte effect. 

 

 

Let me know if you try it!