Give your regular red manicure the iridescent broken-glass treatment

Cleaning up the pieces after a glass shatters isn’t easy. The shards are sharp, angular and dangerous. In your day-to-day life, you’d never appreciate broken glass, but as an artistic detail, the effect is stunning.
Iridescent glass paper can bring an ordinary manicure to life. In the tutorial below, dark red polish forms the base, so that the multicolored hues shine through. Snipping the paper into angular shapes will make the look more realistic. Leave some space between each piece to mimic the way glass separates on impact.
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Materials
- Dark red gel polish (OPI, Mr. Right Now)
- UV or LED lamp (Lumcrissy, not shown)
- Iridescent glass paper
- Sharp scissors
- Clear base coat nail gel (Gelish Foundation)
- Dotting tool
- Clear structure gel (Gelish Structure)
- Clear gel top coat (Cheri Non-Wipe)
Fierce League
Instructions
1. Apply two coats of dark red polish to your nails. Cure the wet gel with the UV or LED lamp between coats.
2. Snip several pieces of iridescent glass paper into angular shapes with the scissors, and set them aside.
3. Apply a single layer of clear gel base coat to the nails, but don’t cure it immediately.
4. Dab the tip of the dotting tool against the wet gel. This will make it easier to pick up the glass paper. Press the now-wet tip of the tool against the iridescent paper, and position it onto the nail. Repeat with additional pieces, and cure the gel with the lamp.
5. Apply a layer of structure gel to the entire nail surface, and cure again with the lamp. The gel will create an even surface and fill in the areas between the glass paper.
6. Protect the design by applying a layer of clear gel top coat to the nails. Cure it one final time with the lamp.
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