Polished Professionals: Weekday to Weekend

The weekend is nearly upon us, a three-day weekend at that, and I don't know about you, but I'm SO ready! So here's a little weekend-themed post as part of the Polished Professionals series. If you missed last week's post, you can check out my Beauty Survival Kit!

With Labor Day weekend officially here, I'm sure that many of you, like myself, have plans for a party or barbecue. Weekend plans can often throw a little bit of a wrench into things when it comes to your nails.

Maybe you've just gotten a manicure at the start of the week and it's tough to part with your perfect polish job. Or maybe you have gel polish in a neutral color that's just not going to cut it for a party. You could have last minute plans. Or perhaps, as this is often the case for me, you're too lazy/tired to take off your polish, put on new, and wait for it to dry. After all, it's a long process!

Today, I'm going to show you a few weekday to weekend looks that can be accomplished in just fifteen-twenty minutes. And most of that is just drying time. You could really even do this on the way to the party in the car... not that I've done it before or anything...

The best part about the looks to follow is that they're very simple and easy to achieve. All you need is two kinds of top coat: your normal quick-dry brand (I use either Seche Vite or HK Girl) and a special effects top coat.

Special Effects top coats are those that change the look of your polish in some way. They can be your ordinary glitter/sparkle, a flake-filled fiesta, or even a holo top coat. It's totally up to you.

So, let's get started with some transformations!

On this occasion, my nails were a beautiful red metallic shade called Julep Glenn. And while they were eye catching while I was in class, what's so out of the ordinary about red nails anymore? I say... this calls for some glitter!

And BAM! You wanted glitter and you got glitter! This is a much more dramatic effect now with a little help from Julep Oscar. Because glitter is often gritty, it dries rather quickly as a top coat. I'm manic about smooth nails, so I added Seche Vite to this look before heading out to the Oscars Party my friend threw back in the winter. But it wasn't really necessary.

So now we have our glitter... let's kick it up a notch with some flakies fun!

You may recognize this picture from earlier in the week. It's OPI Every Day is Oktoberfest, a red-purple duochrome shimmer. And as much as I loved rocking it all week long at school, I was officially bored of it by last night. It needed a little extra pep to make it barbecue-ready.

And I got by with a little help from my flakies! This is the famous Nfu-Oh 51, a color-shifting flakie top coat. It can be a little difficult to find, but this trend is becoming all the rage in the nail polish world. More readily available flakie top coats are available now from brands like Essie (Shine of the Times) and Zoya (Fleck Effects - Opal, Maisie, and Chloe) at your local beauty suppliers.

You can see how this really cranks up the volume on a polish to 11. It's definitely both summer and fall ready, so this is a great look for all year round. And since your average person has never seen flakies at their nail salon, you'll be the talk of the women for the day.

Now, here's a special one for two reasons. I saved the best for last.

First, not everyone is lucky enough to be able to wear vampy or pastel shades at work. Some people have to wear neutrals, like Zoya Petra. And there's nothing wrong with that when you have some awesome options out there. Fall is the BEST time for those. Everyone's releasing them left and right.

 But secondly, neutrals tend to require the most help when sprucing them up. Your silver glitter isn't going to make this one leave an impression. Even hex glitter and flakies will likely fail.

Yet, when all hope is lost, who do we call? HOLO!

Now, look at that stunner! 

The great thing about holo top coats is that they really pick up the undertones of a polish, in this case: the purple and the brown.

It's going to catch some gorgeous sunlight outside this weekend and really project the rainbow even more.

Holographic polish is really beginning to catch on like wildfire, of course to my immense approval. To achieve this effect though, I wouldn't use dense holos like Nfu-Oh 61 or DS Coronation. You need something that requires a little bit of build up in two-three coats.

The best polishes that I have tried this with are the discontinued OPI DS Shimmer above, a Spectraflair top coat (available on Etsy from a few different sellers), and Girly Bits Hocus Pocus (which is meant for this type of layering). 

The most readily available one is the new butter LONDON shade, Dodgey Barnett. It is a silver holo that will work. I haven't personally tried it myself on my nails, but have used it over colors on a nail wheel and it has achieved this effect. By itself, it requires about four coats, so you'll probably need two over a color. You can find it at Ulta, Nordstroms, or of course, butterLONDON.com. It's a bit pricey at $14, but will be BOGO on September 10th at Ulta. So you can pick up the layerable (is that a word? The red squiggly line on my laptop says no, but oh well.) Trustafarian, a green holo, from them, as well. Two for $14? That's more like it!

So there you have it, three very different, but easy ways to morph your mani. I hope you got some helpful ideas for this weekend. And if you use any of these tips, feel free to post them to the Facebook page and I'll share them with everyone!

Happy polishing!

Princess Polish