Shamrock Sparkle

Ok so before I even get going on this let me take you back... (cue fuzzy flashback sitcom waves)

The year is 1994. Robinson Elementary School's 1st Grade St. Patrick's Day Assembly is upon us. Mrs. Reedy has thrown the gauntlet down to her 1st grade class that we will be singing in front the entire school as well as all of our friends & families for this assembly.
 Just as I am about to squirm out of my desk with excitement, Mrs. Reedy pulls out the most beautiful piece of head wear I have ever seen. A green plastic top hat dripping in green craft glitter.
"we..wE GET TO WEAR THOSE!?!" Mrs. Reedy smiled & replied in her teacher voice "Not everyone will get to where these hats, these hats are for my special performers, the ones who can show me their best behavior & practice their hardest this week." 

....game changer. I now have to compete against these nuggs? Not an issue. So on my way out to lunch I casually make a pit stop at Mrs. Reedy's desk, just to.. you know.. say 'hello'. "I'm Irish you know?... Yeah well my Papa is Irish, so that makes me Irish....just thought you should know..." (look up subtle in the dictionary; you'll find a nugget sized picture of me tap dancing with a white feather boa on the coffee table) I had planted my bait, now all i had to do was outshine everyone at practice. So for the remainder of the week I did everything in my nugget power to earn 1 of the 3 green glitter bombed top hats. I even confirmed with Mrs. Reedy that my Irish Papa was coming to the assembly & then asked her if he could sit in the front row (simply because he was Irish and would appreciate the assembly to its fullest potential. duh.) 

Then the day arrived. Mrs. Reedy came into class holding a cardboard box filled with plain plastic hats, (umm.. WHERE ARE THE SPARKLES?) then she pulled out a smaller bag that had been tucked away in her desk. She began passing out the plain & special hats.  I knew this was the moment. Butterflies filled my stomach, my palms began to sweat, & then the moment came that she presented me with the emerald city of all hats. My 6 year old life was complete.

So these nails are a tribute to my famous Irish grandpa, Mrs. Reedy, & of course green glitter I hope you enjoy.

What you need:

Essie Navigate Her w Funky Fingers Tinsel Town w Sally Hansen Ista-Dri




I chose to do a base coat of Essie Navigate Her because the Tinsel Town glitter polish has a undertone of blue & I wanted to really showcase the green in this look. I found that Navigate Her really makes the green pop! 

Next thing I did was start progressively adding thin coats of glitter polish. Let the coats dry before you add on the next. All in all I put on 4 coats of glitter. The first coat starting at the base of my nail, & the last coat at the edge of my nail like a french. This will give you the 'ombre'/ 'gradation' effect (without having to add white)

Finally top off with with a nice helping of top coat to even out the layers and voilà your nails will be ready for Irish adventure.  

On Pinterest? Repin Here!

(Disclaimer: this glitter gradation effect does not work with every glitter nail polish out there. I've tried it  a handful of times mostly ending in a blur of glitter and a bottle of nail polish remover. So don't get discouraged if you try it and it doesn't come out right, it could just be the polish. Explore different polishes till you find the right one, it will be worth it!)