Sparkly Christmas Nails

As soon as December rolls around, I tend to ditch my berry toned polishes which I favoured throughout Autumn and reach for all of my glittery and glitzy nail polishes within my collection. As a self confessed magpie, I'm drawn to glitter and sparkle and I find that sparkly nails are so easy to do, but they make such a big impact to your overall look especially for a special occasion or Christmas party. I have selected six of my current favourite polishes for creating Christmas Nails in a variety of finishes and they're all under £5 here on Luxplus. I've also selected a cheeky extra which is an absolute must have when dealing with glittery/sparkly nail polishes, so read on to find out more...

ORLY Crawford's Wine

The first of my polish picks is the super festive ORLY Crawford's Wine. ORLY really are one of the best nail polish brands in my opinion as their formulas are always great quality and the bottles contain 18ml of product making them really good value, and I love the rubberised handle as it makes application very easy. Crawford's Wine is a slightly shimmery deep festive red which reminds me of glistening winter berries, and I like that the shimmer is quite subtle making it easy to wear and it has one of the most perfect polish formulas too.

Nails Inc. Royal Arcade

Going from one extreme to another with the next polish as it's most definitely not for the faint hearted; Nails Inc. Royal Arcade which is part of the Nails Inc. Nail Jewellery Collection. This is such a statement shade, and I cannot help but stare at my nails when I wear it. Royal Arcade has a clear base with tiny blue glitter particles as well as medium and large hexagonal glitter pieces suspended within it. I know blue isn't typically seen as a festive colour but I think it would look incredible with an all black outfit for a little pop of colour. Due to the polish having a clear base with lots of different sized glitter particles, it takes around five coats for full opacity which is a little laborious so I would recommend applying a any blue polish as a base shade prior to applying Royal Arcade as it'll cut the coats down by half.

OPI My Private Jet

OPI My Private Jet is one of OPI's most popular polish shades—and for good reason too. My Private Jet is very multidimensional with a shimmery dark brown base with microscopic silver glitter particles and holographic particles. Under electric light you can really see the silver glitter particles reflecting, but with natural light the holographic particles really come to life. I think My Private Jet would compliment any outfit over the Christmas period and it has such a beautiful formula with full opacity in two generous coats.

Barry M. Treasure Chest Nail Paint

The next of the polishes is the Barry M. Treasure Chest Nail Paint which is from the Barry M. Aquarium Collection which isn't a particularly festive nail polish collection, but this shade is the perfect glitter topcoat for the party season. Treasure Chest has a thick clear base which would normally make it a polish I'd avoid, but the thicker base makes it easier for glitter placement. The glitter pieces in question are shredded pieces of light and dark gold glitter and they really are pretty. Normally with a shredded glitter polish like this, you'd have to faff around trying to evenly spread the glitter pieces over the nail but the thicker base allows for fuss-free glitter application and it looks amazing when worn alone or applied as a topcoat over absolutely any nail polish shade for added sparkle.

W7 Moon Dust Polish

The W7 Nail Polishes do not get enough recognition within the beauty community in my opinion. I find them to be really good polishes and they're so affordable too. I had to choose the W7 Moon Dust Polish within my choices as it's stunning and unique to the other polishes within my collection. Moon Dust has a metallic pale silver base which has silver micro shimmer suspended within it, as well as slightly larger pink and blue glitter particles too. The polish is easy to apply and offers full opacity in just two coats which is rare for a textured polish like this. Once the polish has dried, it leaves behind a matte finish which looks so pretty against the sparkle of the glitter. But don't worry, you can get rid of the matte, textured finish by topping the polish with a glossy top coat.

OPI Is This Star Taken?

My last nail pick is quite possibly my favourite from all six polishes... let me introduce to you the beautiful OPI Is This Star Taken?. This is such an hard shade to describe and according to OPI it's: 'iridescent icicles fly in this smooth gold'. The polish has an almost yellowy gold foiled base which has holographic glitter strands suspended within it which looks so incredible on the nails as the holographic strands really sparkle. I think this is a great easy to wear shade which isn't too sparkly and over the top. I think it'd be a good office appropriate shade if you have a party or gathering after work and can't get away with something like Nails Inc. Royal Arcade's glitter explosion on your nails.

Essie Naturally Clean Nail Polish Remover

Then we're onto my cheeky extra which I wanted to include, especially when dealing with glittery polishes as they're notoriously difficult to remove. The Essie Naturally Clean Nail Polish Remover is described as being one of the best glitter polish removers and I agree wholeheartedly. I've tried endless polish removers and this is definitely one of the better choices as it has a purifying formula to cleanse the nails and remove polish without stripping the nail bed. I have a little tip when removing sparkly polishes and that's to use round cotton pads like those in the photo above. Soak the pad in remover and gently pull the pad apart in the middle and then insert your finger between the two halves of the cotton pad wrapping the nail entirely for a full minute. This allows the polish remover to fully saturate into the nail polish on your nail, and it should then come off with very little effort after a minute has passed. This remover doesn't leave my nail and cuticles feeling dry or stripped of moisture, and it doesn't smell too bad either which is a bonus.

I hope you liked reading about my favourite Sparkly Christmas Nails and better yet, I hope that there's at least one polish which takes your fancy during this festive period :)