DIY Wearable Version of the Super-Embellished Libertine Fall 2013 Nails

So after I went all out and blinged out my nails for my DIY version of the Libertine Fall 2013 look, I decided to try and come up with a more everyday-wear-friendly version of it. Basically, it didn't seem realistic to carry that much rhinestones on my nails, so I thought - what if I replaced them with glitter? And so, I proceeded to see how I could flatten out all the awesome 3D bling into a 2D version, while hopefully keeping the original look! And I eventually came up with this:

NYFW-inspired nail art - a much more wearable version of Libertine's Fall nails!

First, I had to choose the appropriate glitter. I thought of mixing various bits of glitter, but then I got lazy and settled on Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, which I've previously featured in this post, and as a jelly sandwich! Anyway, I settled on Lippmann Happy Birthday because it had the same multi-coloured, jewel-y effect that the original gemstones had.


A 2D version of Libertine's NYFW 3D nail art, embellished with colourful jewels: here, sequins are used instead.

Libertine Fall 2013-Inspired Nail Art: Gold and Gems (AKA So Much Bling!)

As a total fashion noob, I've never heard of Libertine, but when I saw their nail art for NYFW (New York Fashion Week) Fall 2013, I just KNEW I had to try it. It was gold. It was full of gems. It had bling. And, it didn't require a heck-lot of precision. And look at what I came up with!

Libertine-inspired embellished manicure on gold base with gems!

Isn't it lovely and all blingy and stuff? This might make better sense if I showed you the original, at the runways of NYFW. The polish looks kinda gold-olive-muddy-a-bit-brown here, but it's described as gold (and it looks more gold) in the comments and in some other photos.

Libertine's Embellished manicure at NYFW Fall 2013 (Source)

When I saw this manicure, I thought, hmmm...blingy gems and jewels and stuff over a gold base. I can do this! So I decided to check out my stash of gold polish to see which one looked the most similar to the polish in the photos I was seeing.

China Glaze Swing Baby: Glamorous Gold Nails!

China Glaze Swing Baby is one of the untrieds in my stash. I bought it when it was a brand spanking new colour, and only just got around to wearing it! Swing Baby was a Fall or Winter (quite possible Christmas, in fact) release from 2010, I think. So given that this collection is a few years old, you can imagine that I've had it for a few years and have only just taken it out for a ride! Ah, such are the perils of beauty blogging when you have too much makeup and nail polish.

China Glaze Swing Baby: Look at all that gold on my nails!

Now that I'm wearing it, though, I wish I had taken it out sooner!

St Patricks Day Nail Art With Glitter!

Remember my failed St Patrick's Day gradient nail art the other day? Since I wasn't totally happy it, I decided to fix it up the way most of us nailphiles do - add on a layer of glitter! Aaaannnd, I think it just got better! Glitter FTW!

St Patrick's Day Gold and Green Gradient Manicure!

St Patrick's Day is coming up, and I always love any excuse to wear green! This time, for my St Patrick's Day nails, I decided to attempt a gradient manicure - sideways!

For this look I used three shades - a darker green, a lighter green, and a gold. The darker green was Etude House Petit Darling Nails GR609, the lighter colour was Nicole by OPI One Time Lime (OMG Yes I actually own a Justin Bieber polish! Well it was on sale and I was in the US on holiday...), and the gold was Collection 2000 (now known as Collection Cosmetics) Aztec Gold (which I really love and have worn before as an NOTD by itself).