Well, I’ve bought yet another eyeshadow that I’ll probably never use..but this one is glittertastic. It’s MAC Young Punk, a purple Mineralized shadow. It’s basically purple microglitter in a very fine black base. When I wear it, it looks like I got beat up. Somehow it looked better on the model.
But, it found new life as a nail polish..and what a polish! I used an eyeshadow brush to get a little pile of loose shadow, added some clear polish and mixed, and voila! A deep purple with a slightly black base! It did look purple, even in low light.
But when I added a coat of Essie’s Matte About You to turn this into a matte, wowee!
What do you think? It reminds me of something, but I can’t remember what. Some kind of volcanic pottery or something that I saw in Indonesia, maybe. I think it’s much more suitable for nails than eyes, but these glittery shadows get me every time. I buy them knowing I probably won’t wear them but I just can’t resist.
UPDATE:
Hello everyone and a big welcome to everyone who came over from Pinterest (over 75K hits and counting!) I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the process to create these mixed polishes and I wanted to share some more details and a step-by-step guide.
Check out my Pigment Tutorial Part 1 and Pigment Tutorial Part 2 here for a more in-depth how-to! And as always, feel free to ask any questions anytime!
And here’s another fresh eyeshadow-to-nailpolish post: https://nevertoomuchglitter.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/another-eyeshadow-turns-into-nail-polish/
NeverTooMuchGlitter Nail Wonderland 
This is soooo pretty
I missed all your franken posts while you were busy
Aww, thanks! I missed everyone too, but now I’ve got a boatload of fun frankens!
absolutely beautiful! one of your best frankens.
Thank you! At least I found a way to use yet another eyeshadow..too expensive to throw away, too bruise-y to wear…
Lol i’m projecting myself into your shadow and I can tell you that it looks like it would be fantastic on darker skin.
i sort of figured out that i generally need a darker color pallet when i bought a much sought after mac blush that looked like…. nothing on me. just kind of shimmery.
i swapped it on MUA.
then i read MUA reviews of my favorite blush and most complained that it was way too harsh and dark.
That’s so pretty! The matte version reminds me of the OPI Suede colors. I’m glad you found a new life for the eye shadow.
Thank you! It does look a bit Suede-y, but the black base makes the purple pop. I wish OPI had done some other colors in suede, like a suede holo! I’m working on it, but not quite there yet.
Love this shade on you. I know what you mean about the eye shadow. I also love the purple shades and some of them look like I was knocked out. Good idea to use them for polish. It’s so annoying to buy the shadows that look beautiful on the model. I also love it matted. The polish does look llike the suede polishes by OPI.
This color is gorgeous either way but I like the matte best! This color reminds me of grape Kool-Aid.
Simply GORGEOUS I like the matte so much! And I do enjoy your blog, so glad you’re back.
As for the eyeshadow…have you tried applying it wet? Sometimes, those intense colors lose something in the translation until you apply them with a little water…would also make an excellent liner too. What a great idea though, using eye shadows to franken! I have a wonderful blue from Christian Dior that is about to be transformed. 🙂
Oooo, love that matte!!! almost reminds me of MAC Baby Goth Girl.
When you put larger size nails on your etsy, can you please let us know?? I’d love to buy something but I’d rather not have them custom made. =]
Hi there! I did put up some sets of 20 long nails, so take a look when you have a chance and let me know if there’s anything special you’re looking for!
SUCH a stunning color!!
Amber
http://ambersmouthwash.blogspot.com/
wowser!! Matte this polish is taken to a whole new level – perfection.
I have to say, I LOVE this. I own this eyeshadow and love it for a dark gothy look but, I may have to turn half of it into polish material! Thanks for the idea!!
looks AMAZINNG!! love the matte
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Looks great! i especially ike the matte version 🙂
THis looks fantastic! W-o-w! 😀 Just beautiful!
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It looks like christmas bulb in the matt version =) Great idea!
Thanks for stopping by and so glad you liked the nails!
That’s a genius idea!
Thanks very much, I’m so glad you liked it! 😀
looks like lincoln park after midnight
Oh, the Lincoln Park After Dark Suede? It does, but it’s missing the silverish bits in the finish since the MAC eyeshadow had no silver.
This is so cool! How much polish and shadow did you have to use, and in what sort of ratio?
I’m so glad you liked it! The ratio depends on how sheer you’d like the polish and also on the shadow itself. I usually pour a quarter-sized dollop of polish in a silicone baking cup, and then run an soft makeup brush over the shadow to make it fall onto the clear polish. From there, mix it up and check the color, either adding more clear polish or more shadow. Eyeshadows without a lot of mineral oil in them (ie very dry ones) work best. Have fun!
Just saw this via Pinterest. What a beautiful polish! The matte gives it a gorgeous finish. Hmmm, I have a couple of plonker shadows myself, and I think I’ll have to try this.
Oh, give it a try and let us know how it goes!
Saw this via Pinterest, I took and scrapped a small amount (pea sized) of eye shadow into a plastic bag and dipped my clear polish brush into the shadow. When I applied it to my nail I had to go over and break a few clumps, but when it dried it was matte and beautiful! I guess dipping into the shadow verses mixing the shadow results in a different finish! Thanks for the inspiration!
I think what it reminds you of is called raku, a japanese pottery firing style. I love it and I love your nails 🙂
I love it! I just did my nails like this- how did you get yours to look so smooth? Mine look lumpy from the eyeshadow.
was this like the loose eyeshadow that u just mix with clear nail polish?
This was pressed in a pan. First, I used a tiny silicone baking up and poured in some clear polish. I then held the pan of polish above and ran an eyeshadow brush across the shadow to loosen it. It sshould fall directly into the silicone baking cup, or you brush it over a piece of paper if you prefer. From there, I mixed the shadow dust into the clear polish. Mix a lot, round and round and then in a figure-8 motion. Let the mix sit a minute to get rid of the air bubbles, then paint on!
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I have the exact same eye shadow, I think I might have worn it once but I don’t think I could live without it because it’s so pretty! Now I know how to use it!! Thanks!!
Yay! I’m glad you found a use for it!
One of the best ideas I’ve seen yet for using eyeshadow that can’t be used any longer or even to coordinate eye shadow and nails… yea!
Yay! I’m glad you liked it- let us know if you try it and how it works out! >)
I’m the same way when it comes to glitter eye color. I love that you turned it into really pretty polish~!
I’m glad you liked it! I am a junkie for glitter (but you’ve probably already guessed that from the blog name!) Glitter sisters unite!
Wowee indeed! I’m so inspired now to experiment with clear polish and eyeshadow I’m never going to wear again!
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Pretty Cool Idea! 🙂
that is so awesome! never would’ve thought of using eyeshadow as polish
I just tried this and it’s very cool! Just wondering about cleaning the clear polish brush…any tips or is it ruined after mixing with shadow?
This is stunning! I think you were thinking of raku fired pottery.
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Well, I have a drawer full of these eyeshadows I can try out.
Give it a try and give those lonely eyeshadows new life! 😉
i love this and i am spreading it around, giving you credit and posting your blog. = kerrie
http://www.gorgeousglamblog.com
fb gorgeous-glamour
:p
makeupartistkerrie@gmail.com
I made a beautiful peach shade with nude eye shadow. But it was tough to remove. Had to rub a long time with polish remover.
Sometimes, depending on the eyeshadow, the polish will wear like iron. It’s good for pedicures, or try removing it with a piece of felt soaked in polish remover. It works better than cotton balls or tissue. If it’s really hard to remove (ie glitter polish), use a polish-remover saturated cotton ball and wrap it all up in a little square of tinfoil on each nail for 5 minutes. Looks funny but it gets the polish off with less scrubbing.
I just read something (off of Pinterest) about unrolling a cotton ball, tearing the unrolled section into pieces, putting nail polish remover on the pieces, wrapping your nails in the soaked pieces and leaving on for a minute or two, and polish will come off with minimal rubbing. You should check it out since glitter polishes are notoriously hard to remove!
I tried this myself, and I got amazing matte nails! I used a pretty vibrant blue Lancome eyeshadow, mixed with clear polish and it gave me a matte finish! Thanks so much for the idea!
Oh, I’m glad it worked out well for you! A lot of eyeshadow does make matte nail polish- top it off with a really glossy topcoat like Poshe or Seche Vite after it’s all dry if you want gloss. Or you can even layer a thin coat of glitter polish over it if you want to change up the look. (As you can imagine, I’m all for glitter!)
I bought some dark blue urban decay eye shadow i can’t wear either, I will have to try this with that!
Ooh, give it a try and let us know how it looks! I love Urban Decay but I sometimes have a hard time with their eyeshadows and the glitter fallout.
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Neat idea!
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Love this!
Thanks- I’m glad you liked it and hope you have fun mixing up your own colors!
I love it i would like to learn how to do them!!
Check out the tutorial for a step by step!
I did this with a MAC mineralize eyeshadow, but in green (don’t remember the name), and it actually looks great, just apply a topcoat and it looks sooo shiny. The bad thing is that it cracks faster than actual nail polish so it won’t last more than a day looking perfect, and you can’t have it in your purse for touch-ups. But it does work quite well.
To use these as eyeshadow, a good tip is to apply it over a creamy base, like a khol pencil or a dark lipstick, ideally with your fingertips or with a sponge, this will make the eyeshadow to set and to look more glittery.
they probably used something else on the model’s eyes
I love the color on the nails and with the matte WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ❤
that’s so pretty! I wanna try!
Give it a try and let us know how it goes! 🙂
Honestly… the idea is cool but they look like press-on nails…
Thanks for your comment! Why don’t you try it on your own nails?
ANOTHER WAY TO FIX BROKEN POWDERS. Mix in a few drops of rubbing alcohol into powder and mix it till its a smooth thick paste. Leave it sit overnight or till dry and POOF its perfect again!!!! 🙂
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its Raku pottery!
Love the idea of using it as a polish!!
side note, how to use that colour but not look like you got knocked out: apply with a fine shadow brush (i also use an small, angled eyebrow brush) and apply a line where you would apply liner and from the far corner following the line of the crease (until about half of the eye lid). Kinda hard to describe but it should look like a weird half circle (or half of a half circle). Then blend a nuetral colour on the inside half of your lid (i use powder foundation but go a smidge darker than you think you need to i.e. bronzer). then using a fluffly shadow brush, blend the crap out of the line you created with the dark colour just dont take the colour farther out that that line (up towards your eyebrow… this will get you the black eye kind of look). Then reapply the same like of dark colour again, and blend and re apply until its as dark as you’d like.
Hope that novel helps!!
Thanks for the in-depth tip! I’ll give it a try but I’m still a disaster on eye makeup- I’m sticking to the nails for sure! 😉
Reblogged this on HeyBeDDa.
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Do you always use press on nails to test your polishes?
Nope, I paint them on my natural nails first but for aesthetics sake, fill in with press in nails if mine are not looking their happiest.
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