This Little Piggy Went to Market......

...and This Little Piggy stayed home and reinvented the nail color wheel!  

Before - a permanent base color of HAIR COLOR added.

AFTER - (This is after 1 week.  Some grow-out is showing!  :)  )

Kinda-maybe-sorta, at any rate.   

Individuals that are familiar with me and my routines will verify that even though I do not resemble the average person walking down the sidewalk in AnyTown, USA, I am as predictable as the movement in a Swiss-made watch.

I wear sandals year-round and throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall months, I am bare-toed.  I can't tolerate the thought of an unadorned surface, so for the past several years, I have painted my toenails.  As a man that paints his toenails, I believe that they should not be boring, run-of-the-mill, unadventurous colors.  90% of the paint jobs that hit my toenails also include a clear top coat that is packed with Martha Stewart Iridescent glitters, and most of my paint jobs also start with a very dark (usually black) base coat.

A few months back, as I was coloring my goatee with Just For Men (Jet Black), I noticed that, after-the-fact, I got a spot of color on one of my fingernails.  To prevent from staining areas of my face that I do NOT want to stain, I use a Q-tip dipped in a bit of mineral oil, and I apply it to my lips, areas around my beard line, etc, before I apply the color.  I often wear rubber gloves, or I coat my hands with mineral oil to keep my hands from becoming stained by the color.

I noted that, until it actually grew out, that stained spot on my fingernail never wore off or faded.

THE BRIGHT LIGHT FLICKERED ON IN MY HEAD!


Actually, all of my flashiness starts with a GOOD quality Revlon clear base coat:
    

Then.....I apply a base coat of (usually darker) color:  Metallic Denim blue, black, very dark blood-red, etc.

While I still use darker colors, the 'bright idea' moment was to use my hair color as nail color.

Remember:  This is a permanent color, and it absolutely will not come out of your nails until it grows out.  All the nail polish remover that is available to you on the planet won't take out that color!  Make sure you want it there - and on a very permanent basis!

Continuing....

I mixed a little hair color, and took a paint brush, and colored my toe nails with the hair color.  I let it sit for several minutes, then went to my shower and washed off the excess color.  VOILA!

I have permanently black colored toe nails.

If my tough little heart - 2 sizes too small! - decides to use only a top coat with the glitter, then this black base would save me from applying 2 additional coats (a good Revlon base coat and a color coat).  Not only does the permanent black coat save me time, but it cuts down on the bulky multiple layers that I wear on my nails on a regular basis.

I can elect to paint over the black with a normal color, if that is my mode at the moment, or I can use the black as my base color.  I love having flexibility!

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One of my favorite and frequent color combinations is a black base  coat, with the Iridescent green glitter on top, creating a pseudo - Sacred Scarab look:
At any rate, almost every one of my color combinations start with a very dark (usually black) color base coat.

Then, I apply a THICK coat of Revlon Top Coat, followed by dumping copious amounts of Martha Stewart Iridescent Glitter (I have all 18 colors!) on top.

I let this thick coat completely dry, and I take a relatively large paint brush and *gently* brush off the excess glitter.  To finish my 10 little masterpieces, I follow up with a couple thin coats of the same Revlon Top Coat to seal the glitter in.

Considering that I garden barefoot, and I honestly never wear shoes (I wear sandals year-round), I get a good 3 - 4 weeks, and sometimes longer, before I have to redo my nails.  I redo them because very rarely, ALL the polish will come off in one fell swoop, but most often, I need to redo my nails because they grow out.  I have been doing this procedure regularly for 5 years, and I don't think I have ever had a 'chipped' nail.

Breaking it down:

1) Every few months, I put the same hair color that I use on my beard on my toenails, for a permanent base color.

2) Apply a coat of Revlon Base Coat.  Let dry.

3) (optional)  Apply a coat of darker base color - blue, green, etc.  Let dry.

4) Individually, apply a THICK coat of Revlon Top Coat, and one nail at a time, (and holding your foot over a receptacle!), dump copious amounts of Martha Stewart Iridescent Glitter.  It's a smaller glitter with a finer texture.  Let dry.

5) With a soft paint brush, GENTLY brush off excess glitter.

6) Apply 1 - 2 more coats of Revlon Top Coat to seal in the glitter.  If you skip this step, you will shed Glitter all over your world, and you will find that your nails are rough, and they will snag your sheets, furniture coverings, socks, etc.

7)  You are free to roam about the cabin for a good 3+ weeks before you have to repeat this process.

If you're gonna decorate 'em - make 'em purty!

- Michael