Nail Polish Finishes

Came across an awesome post that describes nail polish finishes.

And this will help me alot. So I wanted to share it with you dolls.

1. Creme - A creme is one of the most popular finishes we know.

This is just a plain color without any glitter, shimmer, etc added to it.

The finish is glossy and smooth.

2. Jelly - A jelly is just like a creme, but the main difference is the

substance: more jelly-like. They tend to be sheer but they make

up for it by being xtremely glossy.

3. Shimmer - The shimmer finish is a colored base with shimmer

added to it, most of the times that color is silver but we're seeing

contrasting colors more often.

4. Glass Flecked - Glass flecked polishes look like they contain

small glass particles, often mixed in a jelly base. The finish is very

smooth, yet sparkly.

5. Neon - You could say neon describes color, not finish. But most

neons do have a particular finish, very bright colors that often dry semi-matte.

6. Frost - A frost is a very fine shimmery polish with obvious brushstrokes.

These kind of finishes are losing popularity and mostly seen in older polishes.

7. Pearl - The pearl finish is quite similar to the frost finish,

but it has a more pearly sheen to it.

8. Foil - Foil polishes often have a metallic base color with very fine

glitter added to it. The finish is very smooth yet sparkly.

9. Metallic - Metallic finishes make your nails appear like metal.

Metallic polishes are especially popular in copper, gold or silver.

10. Glitter - Glitter is one of most flashiest finishes. These glitters are

often put in a jelly base. The amount of glitter can vary a lot. Sometimes

you'll need top coat to smoothen the surface.

11. String Glitter - Mostly glitter in a clear base so they're often

used as a top coat. String glitter consists out of glitters in rectangular

shapes, often in silver or iridiscent colors.

12. Round Glitter - Just as string glitter, these are mostly used as

a top coat. The glitters in this clear base are round shaped.

13. Square Glitter - Another glitter top coat, but with glitter

in the shape of squares.

14. Hex Glitter - A very popular glitter shape: hex or hexagonal.

These are very popular and more common these days.

Often used in regular glitter polish as well.

15. Shape Glitter - This is a glitter top coat containing anything

from stars to hearts and diamonds (rhombus).

16. Matte - This finish dries completely matte, no shine whatsoever.

These dry quickly and sometimes end up being streaky.

Handlotion is to be avoided because it decreases the matte effect.

17. Satin - Satin finishes end up matte as well, but not entirely matte.

There is still a slight shine, but not enough to classify it as glossy.

18. Suede - Just like mattes, suedes are completely matte.

Suedes contain shimmer though, so that's what sets them

apart from regular mattes.

19. Holographic - Holographic polishes contain rainbow colored

glitter, which changes color on the reflection of light.

This finish is very obvious in sun light.

20. Holo Glitter - Holographic glitter in a different color base.

The glitter is often more sparse and while it does change color

upon different light, there is no rainbow effect to be seen.

21. Flakies - Flakie polishes consist out of a jelly base with very fine

opal (often duochrome) particles in it. They're mostly used for layering

as the jelly base is often sheer.

22. Duochrome - Duochrome polishes change color on the reflection

of light. True duochromes are very obvious and often show 2 colors,

but sometimes even more.

23. Iridiscent - This finish is often confused with duochrome or shimmer.

An iridiscent finish is a color that flashes a different color. These are not

obvious enough to be a duochrome.

24. Sheer - This is a half transparent finish, often used in French manicures

to show off the white tips. A lot of sheers are salmon, nude or pink.

25. Water - This is a strange and not that well known finish. A water finish

resembles the characteristics of a jelly, but is less opaque.

If you want to see picture examples of the finishes

head on over to the original post by Michèle over at Lacquerized.

Thank you Michèle for this awesome post!

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And that is a "Piece of Pie" - Thank you for reading!