Today I have some polish + iridescent pigment frankens to show you. These pigments have a whitish base with a certain color flash in the correct light. They’re sometimes called “aurora” or “interference pigments.” Many of these iridescent pigments look quite similar until they are added over a darker color, then the color really pops out. On their own, they’ll produce a highlight or kind of fairy dust effect.
Here’s some of these pigments from TKB Trading:
The quality is very good and I like these a lot, but I’m not crazy about the bags. They are really hard to open, and I always get a large glitter cloud when I manage to pull the bag open. Wear a dust mask- you can buy them at the drugstore for cheap and that will help protect your lungs. You don’t want Glitter Lung! All jokes aside, these very fine pigments are not good to breathe in.
Here’s a photo of these pigments mixed in with a dark burgundy jelly (LA Girl Plum Wine, shown at the very bottom).
Using my silicone baking cup, I just mixed a pea-size amount of pigment into a quarter-sized dollop of the polish. I mixed it up using a spare brush from a bottle of clear nail polish. Shown is 2 coats.The mixed polish will dry to a satin finish, so I added a coat of Seche Vite topcoat.
Here it is labelled, in close up:
The pigments all look fairly similar in color by themselves, but you can see how dramatically it changes the base color of the polish. These pigments are made for general cosmetic use, so they can also be mixed into lipstick, etc. I find they work best with darker colors, but I have some lighter ones to show you too, just to give an idea of the different effects. Once you have a good working knowledge of how the colors react together, you’ll be able to make an infinite variety of different shades.
NeverTooMuchGlitter Nail Wonderland 
I thought about buying some pigments from TKB about 6 mos. ago but was too intimidated to try frankening. I love the colors here and I think I would like to give this a shot. By the way, I love your etsy shop!
I like the TKB ones a lot, but there are a lot of similar ones on the market as well. They’re pretty easy to use, and they can also be mixed in with body lotion, lipgloss, etc. for a little shimmer. Some products can be used in the eye area and some cannot, but there’s still a lot of uses for the pigments even if you don’t feel quite up to a nail polish franken.
I’m really glad you like the Etsy shop- thanks very much! 🙂