Ed Note: The Christmas Manicure

 There was a time...not all that long ago in fact, where I loved me some nail art. Not just for special occasions or a little sparkle but full on leopard print, negative space, googly eyed, nail art. 

While I have moved on from the more full on nail trends; when Christmas rolls around I have a hard time trying to control myself.

I want to put glitter on everything.

Errrythang.

So I whipped up a quick and easy glitter gradient to make the festive season just that bit more festive!

I started with a base coat of Butter London's Knees Up which is a beautiful metallic red shade that creates the illusion of wrapping paper nails. 

If you are looking for a simple and quick holiday nail color you could do worse than this color.

Now to top off my wrapping paper nails I opted to build up a heavier layer of Model's Own Disco Heaven starting at the cuticle and feathering up toward the tip of the nail with a Q-tip. 

The cotton nub helps to soak of some of the polish but leaves the glitter behind so you can easily build up subtle layers without globing product up on you nails. 

To add a little something extra I took most of the polish off of the brush of OPI's Pirouette my Whistle and placed some of the larger silver-white glitters on top of the gold to add just a touch of snowy sparkle and added interest.

Now you could argue that mounds of gold glitter is plenty interesting and...you'd be right but sometimes I just don't know when to quit. 

The best part about an easy festive manicure like this is that the colors and polishes can change while the technique stays the same.

Go forth and polish my friends!

...and have a Merry Christmas!