Glitter Tip nails
Champagne Flake glitter graded off a Milk Glass base, heavy at the edge and gone by the halfway point.
2 bottles: Milk Glass and Champagne Flake. Milk Glass and Champagne Flake are close in tone, so the design is tonal rather than graphic. It shows up in daylight and softens indoors. The bottles are not all the same finish (sheer and shimmer), so the pattern picks up light differently from the ground.
Coffin nails give the most surface of any shape here, which is why the heavier finishes tend to live on them; they also need the most length to work at all.
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Bottles for this nail
Tap a bottle to open it on the shelfWhat you need
How to paint Glitter Tip nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. One coat of Milk Glass, cured.
- 2 Press Champagne Flake glitter dense at the free edge and fade it upward until it runs out.
- 3 Two top coats to smooth the grit. One will not do it.
Questions about Glitter Tip
Is Glitter Tip hard to do at home?
Yes, with a steady hand. The motif is freehand, so the first nail is usually the worst one. Budget around 45 minutes for a full set, and two colours keeps it simple: cure the first before the second goes near it and nothing bleeds.
What polish do I need for Glitter Tip?
2 bottles: Milk Glass (sheer) and Champagne Flake (shimmer). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.
Does Glitter Tip work on short nails?
Coffin is the one shape here that genuinely needs length. On a short nail there is not enough free edge to cut square, and it will read as a squoval instead.
Do I need a UV lamp for Glitter Tip?
Yes. Champagne Flake only works as a gel — the effect depends on rubbing or setting the finish into a cured tacky layer, which air-dry polish never gives you.