Haute America Glitter Gradient

Hi guys!

Today I have a manicure to show you, that I wore recently, to a little soiree.....

Did I go a bit overboard with the glitter?  What do you think?

Half way through, I wondered what my nails would look like with the gradient in the reverse direction and without the excess glitter, so I tried this on my thumb.  Then I started to regret my first decision to pile it all on and I did not want to start over because I was running out of time.  Urgggh. 

What I used, in order.

 
Above are all the products I used.  I know, its a bit much, but I can explain. 

I love Bonder, but its a bit thin, and my nails are stained.  So I used Nail Defense, a protein nail strengthener underneath, to hopefully protect against staining and strengthen my nails.  I can't tell if it is doing anything or not. 

Two coats of Zoya's America, a beautiful bright red.

I used INM out the door before applying the glitters because it is fast drying and does not cause shrinkage.

ChG's Some Like is Haute is the main glitter I used at the tips.  Ulta's silver top coat for the area near the cuticles.  Then Nubar's black polka dot, I thought would add and extra dimension because they are nice dark black plain hex glitters, with tiny matching black glitter. 

Top off with Seche Vite, which does a great job of leveling out glitters - smoothing out the entire surface at the end.  Whew!

For instructions on how I do my glitter gradients click here, this post has more detail.
I'm going to try the combo that's on my thumb next time.   What do you think?