NAILS | Going Mirror Chrome for NYE!

My last manicure of 2016! How momentous! I did my nails a lot this month mainly because my husband was visiting family for half the month and I basically just worked, watched Netflix and did my nails. It was the ultimate girl time, but I am glad he is finally home for New Year's! I have been on a bit of a gel polish kick lately after discovering the ease of using J & S Nails Gel Polish and decided it was time to try chrome nails! This is the powder that has been sweeping the nail world for the last half of this year and though I know there are a ton of places to get the chrome powder pigments, I always know that the Born Pretty Store has got my back! They have a RIDICULOUS amount of chrome, holographic and metallic pigments right now and let's just say I have a bajillion other colours to show you, but NYE is all about shine so tonight I'm going to be your disco ball!

I received the Silver Chrome Pigment Kit* ($3.99 USD) which contains 2g of chrome pigment, sponge eyeshadow applicator and a 5mL bottle of "no wipe gel top coat". With any of these new pigments, use of a no wipe top coat is necessary as it must be one that allows the pigments to "grip" on to surface. Usually, gel top coats cure tacky so you have to wipe the surface with alcohol so be sure to get the no wipe version!

As you can see from the pictures below, the pigments get EVERYWHERE so be sure to work on a paper towel as even wiping my dining table with water was not enough to get rid of the glitter. This whole process can seem very complicated and though there are a number of videos out there, everyone has a different way of getting these pigments to work as a lot of it is trial and error.

The first thing I did is cure two coats of black gel polish. You can use regular polish, but these pigments really are intended for use with gel polish. I used two coats of J&S Nails Gel Polish in J1BLK* and then the included Born Pretty gel top coat (curing for 45 seconds between coats). Here is where the fun begins! Using an eyeshadow or angled silicone applicator, take a small amount of powder (like MINISCULE) and start buffing in circles or up and down onto the polish surface. You should notice the chrome mirror effect almost right away! You can see that the surface of my nail still isn't completely mirror-like which I can only attribute to the granularity of the pigment. I have seen videos with much finer pigments giving a smoother look, but for 10x the price! For $3.99, I am more than happy with the results from this particular chrome pigment.

Once you are satisfied with your shine, top coat and cure one more time to seal it all in. I did not do this the first time and ALL of the glitter came off in my pillow while I slept. Now, I am finding chrome pigment in my hair and on my face and will most likely continue to do so until 2018.

I am very pleased with how easy this was to use as well as the price for the amount of powder I got because 2g may not sound like a lot, but it really is for this purpose! I was literally picking up what was on the lid and that was enough for almost one hand! This is such a fun product as I could not believe that I could see my own reflection in my nails!

Pick up this chrome pigment and other nail art supplies at Born Pretty Store!

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