Nail polish candy selection boxes

Not a clue what to wear tonight, but my nails are sorted thanks to the most amazing early xmas pressie from my wonderful friend. I am such a lucky girl,  it's like a sweetshop of nail candy! Neons, metallics, foil wraps, 3D effects and nail gems

Don't know where to start - but will update you on my polish pic 'n' mixing....

Adding a touch of sparkle

I have experimented with blended a shimmer coat over a block base and I'm very impressed with the results! This look is acheived by combining OPI 'He's My Boo' polish (part of OPI's Spookettes halloween collection) with Barbara Daley's Nail Polish in Lustre (£5)

I often find that paler nail polish colours can often have a more translucent look on the finger nails, especially when they get a bit older. I bought this OPI 'He's My Boo' miniature as part of a OPI's Spookettes halloween set 2 years ago (usually about £12 for the set) also the OPI miniatures although mega cute, they have a smaller brush which doesn't have quite the same amount of coverage as full-size brushes do. I couldn't find any links to the OPI Spookette set as it’s their 2011 collection, but found this fab OPI Spookettes Halloween 2011 and Jack o'lantern nail art blog post from blogger ThatLeanne, definitely worth a look.

OPI's 'He's My Boo' nail polish
- used as basecoat before shimmer

I find shimmer nail polishes alone a bit 'meh' they look beautiful in the bottle - but once on the nail they look nothing like that block colour. Barbara Daley's Nail Polish in Lustre (£5) has a milky shimmer and is lovely on nails alone if you want to make natural nails look a little less dull.

Combining the shimmer polish on top of the base colour gives a rather luxurious look - pastelising (I think I’ve made that word up) the block base colour and adding a rich sparkle to the shade.

Looking forward to experimenting this method with other shades...