Gilding the Lily – My First Polish Franken!

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 28 - 2012

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I can’t remember what the context would have been, I’ve never been a crafty/arty person so I’m assuming it was probably something silly like decorating biscuits.  No doubt, I was pouring sprinkles ontop of silver balls on top of pink icing.

Anyway, that phrase came to mind when I had to physically restrain myself from adding MOAR pigments/polishes/sparkles to my first polish Franken – and so the name has stuck.

For my first, I used some stuffs that I didn’t mind wasting.  An old ASOS by Ciate paint called Pixie… a jade creme that is infinitely dupable.  A Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Night Lights that looks amazing in the bottle (holo) but is watery and pretty crappy on the nails.  Then I decided I wanted to give the green a warm, golden edge and dug out a pair of pigments that I hoped would do just that.

The result works.  Almost.  The BellaPierre pigment in Celebration (the copper one) isn’t as finely-milled as I would have hoped and gives the polish a lumpy feel which is a shame.  The other, golden-olive pigment which I believe was from a now-defunct indie brand worked beautifully in the polish and gave it a mossy, golden sheen.

The above shows two coats and a layer of top coat.  The scattered holo is really understated and gives more of a multi-dimensional, multi-coloured sparkle than any holo ‘effect’.  Now, I need to do some more!  I want some Spectraflair pigment!  Oh God, not another addiction!

What do you think?  Be kind, it’s my first!


35 Responses to “Gilding the Lily – My First Polish Franken!”

  1. Danielle says:

    I’ve never thought about doing this! The polish looks lovely and especially the Spectraflair.

  2. AMAZING!

    Did you have any difficulty mixing the pigments with the nail polish? Or did you just kind of dump them into the bottle together and gave it a swirl?

  3. Robyn says:

    Ooooh, good effort! It came out really nice! I want to get some Spectraflair as well but I think it’d all go downhill from there…

  4. Ann says:

    Sounds like an awesome excuse to buy some of those ManGlaze franken bottles.

    (These are the ones I mean: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nvgVm40dL._SS500_.jpg )

  5. Julianne says:

    I think it looks fantastic!

  6. Julia says:

    beautypool 🙂 <3

  7. Leah says:

    I’m not much of a fan of green but you did a good job. It’s something I might wear at Christmas. x

  8. Helen says:

    Gorgeous – would definitely buy this if it were available. x

  9. Victoria says:

    I really want to try frankening too but I feel too scared to create a whole bottle each time! Maybe I’ll find some WnW polishes on sale to franken with

  10. seii says:

    Haha it’s fun..especially with glitter polishes. Though I’ve found that if you add too much pigment the overall effect will be a “matte”. Clear + fyrinnae arcane magic = awesome.

    • Arcane Magic, you say? I have a few of those…. HMMM.

      • haha I can see the cogs turning! 😉

        • seii says:

          Hah, just need to be careful because some of the darker ones like glitterboi have this dark base which looks odd if you just have the clear polish on, so I layer it over dark colours and it rocks. I guess you could add it straight to coloured ones but I haven’t tried that yet…

          I think someone mentioned a “suspending agent” to stop pigment glooping in the polish but I admit I haven’t looked into it in detail. I just mix and go :x.

    • Ooooh, thanks for the tips! I shall be more frugal with my pigments and I’m not sure if I have Arcane Magic but I’ll be looking for it tonight!

  11. Ooh, this is really pretty! I mix polishes on a sheet of paper – just a couple drops at a time sometimes, but I’ve never made a whole bottle.

  12. Athena says:

    whoa, where did all your followers come from?

  13. Fiona says:

    Ooooh, never thought of adding pigment to a whole bottle. I’ve got some glitter polishes that are a bit rubbish that I can bring to life!

  14. Nargis says:

    My first franken was made by adding purple eye dust to a streaky Avon nail polish called Romance- it was iridescent white and had a slight purple duochrome, but was an utter nightmare to use. The result is definitely funny- its lilac and dries semi-matte and yet looks somewhat metallic, and lasts all of 1 hour on the nail with no topcoat. But my mum was very impressed with it for some reason 🙂
    I don’t know how to mix different polishes together- do you just pour one into another?

    • That sounds awesome (except for the crappy wear) – yeah, I just literally poured directly from one bottle into the empty bottle, with as much care as I could manage. No spillages! Phew.

  15. Alicia says:

    I like it! It’s definitely awesome for your first try. My first attempts at frankening were pretty abysmal! I used pigment in a clear top coat for my first attempt, and for some reason, the pigment wouldn’t disperse…it was all gloppy and stuff! I think the trick is to have those little ball bearings that mix the polish when you shake the bottle.

  16. Kat M says:

    I’ve never thought to do this, but the result looks interesting, so may have to have a little experiment. I actually have a glittery pigment that I never, ever use that I think would be perfect for this 🙂

  17. So COOL. I never thought about doing this! Now I’m going to go and start mixing up polishes. Hehe-it’ll be like when I was a kid and mixing potions in the bathroom to make up all kinds of concoctions. 🙂

  18. Emma says:

    Love this idea! Great way to give old polishes some life (and make room for MORE new polishes!)

Leave a Reply

RANDOM

Shiseido Integrate Gracy Cream Foundation Moist SPF22 PA++ in PO-10

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Lipglossiping guest blogs for Simple!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Going dotty for China Glaze Whirled Away!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Orly Rock It Nail Polish NOTD

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Elemis Pro-Collagen Body Cream (and the poor relation)

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Products I’m loving – December 2009

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Confessions of a Beauty Blogger... #thingsivenever

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Photo Diary: An afternoon in Brighton!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

My new wig and the browniest FOTD you ever did see!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Nailene So Real False Nails - Review

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

POPULAR

CLOSED: Competition Time: Givenchy Very Irresistible L'eau en Rose Perfume!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

CLOSED - Win it! The Body Shop Expert Brush Collection

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Win a gorgeous "glow" trio with prizes from Urban Decay, New CID, & Arbonne!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Hello? Is this thing on?

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Avoid the brush off with Oral-B Pro-Expert

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Big savings on French Pharmacy brands, win my Escentual.com top picks!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Win it! 3 EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer Brushes to win!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

FOTD Busting out of the comfort zone!

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Dear Obesity...

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

Urban Decay The Black Palette - Photos & Swatches

I always remember my Mum accusing me of ‘gilding the lily’ – taking something that was already lovely and needlessly attempting to improve it.  I …

COMMENTS

  • Categories

  • Archives

  • Admin

  • Ads