Will It Polish: How-To

WARNING: These are experiments!  DIY projects for personal use!  Results may vary!  Attempt at your own risk!  Before you embark on this experiment you have to accept that sometimes experiments fail.  There are a ton of factors that go into making a quality nail polish.  And shadow to polish mixes are never going to beat the quality of real nail polish.  Your mixed polish may fade or change color over time and it is very likely to separate (always roll it a good while before use).  If your polish base and loose shadow are utterly incompatible, they may even clump or refuse to mix.  If the shadow has glitter, the glitter may bleed (not always a bad thing!) and/or sink to the bottom.  Eye shadows are made to be eye shadows, after all.  That being said, it’s still great fun!

TOOLS

Paper Towels
An experiment must-have.

Old Newspaper
You can reuse newspaper to protect your surfaces.

Scissors
You may want a pair of these to cut sample baggies.

Acetone
I use an old, glass milk bottle full of acetone to clean my mixer.  You’ll also want some onhand if you make a mess of your polish bottle.  Remember, acetone will destroy many surfaces, so handle it carefully!

Mixer
If you’re mixing in the bottle, you can just shake and roll that sucker like mad.  Another option is wooden stir or orange sticks.  The higher end option is a mini mixer.  Bader mixers are available widely and TKB carries one, too.  The TKB one is, imo, cheap and mine doesn’t work anymore.  This might be why it isn't available on their new site.  But, it did come with better mixing tools.  I use one of my TKB attachments on my badger mixer.

Mixing Cups
You can always mix it straight in the bottle, but another option is mixing cups.  Be careful to get cups that are solvent resistant, otherwise, your base could eat right through the plastic.  I originally got mine at Vanti 805's etsy shop, but they've closed since selling to llarowe.  You should be able to find them pretty cheap, though.  The sort used for mixing resin is perfect. 

MATERIALS

Polish Base
The most readily available option is probably clear top coat.  Keep in mind that clear polish is not the same as a top coat.  A top coat should be thicker, which will suspend your shadow better.  The other option is a legit nail polish base.  DIY polish bases are pretty widely available these days.  Most shops offer various kinds, too.  I use Vanti 805’s Glitter Suspension Base because that’s what I have.  Vanti 805 is currently sold by llarowe.  Remember, results will vary depending on what you use.  TKB offers bases.  If you're in Canada, Girly Bits is a great resource.  Some others I was able to find... Mica Moma in the UK, Lacquester in the Netherlands, and a JOSS supplier in Australia.

Eye Shadow
This list can be almost infinite! I will list what brands we have used and grow the list as the blog continues. We only use loose shadows in sample sizes for our experiments, so I can’t comment on how well crushed pressed shadows work.

Rascal Cosmetics
Corvus Cosmetics

Bottles, Brushes, & Mixing Balls
While you can always clean and reuse a regular polish bottle, there are other options.  Hobby quantities of polish bottles are widely available and come in all sorts of styles!  For ‘Will It Polish…?’we use 1/2 Oz bottles from TKB.  This is the perfect size for our experiments.  Pretty much everyplace that sells bottles will also have brushes (if they aren't included with the bottles) and stainless steel mixing balls.  You'll want two or three per bottle.

Labels
I just use the labels from my samples, but you can, of course, make your own.

PROCESS

A Note About Sanitation & Safety!
When it comes to personal use, you really are your own policeman.  Wear gloves, sanitize your tools and materials, let wet things dry.  Acetone and nail polish are powerful customers, so always work in a well ventilated area!

The following is the process I use for 'Will It Polish...?'

1. Prepare your work area.  Always work in a well ventilated area.  Polish is strong stuff and at the very least can give you a bangin’ headache.  Use a few layers of paper towels or newspaper to provide a non-slip and easy to clean up surface.  Lay out your tools and materials, including putting your mixing balls into your empty bottles.
2. Fill your mixing cup with 1 tablespoon of base.  Most cups have measurements marked on the sides.  If you’re mixing in the bottle, fill it only half way with your base.
3. Now the fun part!  Carefully add your shadow.  You can use a folded piece of paper as a funnel.  For ‘Will It Polish…’ we always use the sample size of whichever company we are playing with.  Measurements will be noted in the posts.  At home, you can always add more or less as you like.  If you’ve added all you’ve got and it’s still not as pigmented as you’d like, all is not lost!  You can boost your color by adding regular nail polish.  White polish will lighten the shade, black will darken it and any other color will obviously alter your final color, too. 
4. Shake, rattle and roll!  The longest part of this process is mixing the shadow into the polish.  You want it as incorporated as possible.  Use your stir stick or mixer (turned off!) to gently work the powder down into the base.  Once there’s no loose powder on the surface, you can really get to mixing.  A tip from me to you, if you’re using a mixer, never NEVER let go of the cup while you’re mixing.  Terrible things will happen.
5. Carefully and slowly pour your mixed polish into your waiting bottle.  Be patient here.  If you have a thin necked bottle, you want a tiny, thin stream of polish to keep from overwhelming the opening.  Do not fill the bottle all of the way.  You need to leave some room for the brush without causing an overflow.
6. Use your acetone to clean up your bottle if there is any mess and add your label.  I just use the labels from my sample baggies.  As a general rule, I always let shadow-to-polishes sit for 24 to 48 hours before I use them.