This is my friend Nicole before her wedding. This is her “something blue.”

We used royal blue, silver, and turquoise glitter.

We’re continuing our “Practice Now, Shine Later” series. Last week, I introduced you to Foil Nails for the holidays. This week, I want to show you another way to make your clients glitter and shine for the holidays and seasonal parties all the way up to New Year’s. Your clients will be raving about you to all of their friends. And, guess what? We all need referrals!

This tutorial presents step-by-step instructions on how to create Glitter Toes. The same techniques can be used to applied to the hands for glitter fingernails. I have done this with Shellac gel-polish by CND. I think the same techniques could work, but I have not tested them with Gelish, OPI Gel Color, or any other popular lines. There are other glitters available, however the Martha Stewart brand is the only kind I have tried. These are the products I have used and tested together to get the perfect glitter nail.

I have heard this look referred to as “Glitter Toes,” “Rock Star Toes,” “Twinkle Toes,” and “Hollywood Toes.” I’m Calling it Glitter Toes because that it how it was introduced to me. I was exposed to this technique at the Edge Hair Design & Spa in Canton, Ohio. They have mastered this technique; they do this great service and shared it with me.

For glittering fingers and toes follow these easy steps:

Here is what you’ll need to glitter up for the holidays or any day that ends in “y”:

> CND Shellac Base Coat

> CND Shellac Top Coat

> CND Shellac color of your choice

> CND UV lamp

> CND Scrubfresh

> HandsDown Pads

> Alcohol (to remove tacky residue)

> Martha Stewart Fine Glitter

> Paper Towel

> Nail Brush

> An old acrylic brush

1. You can apply this directly after an pedicure. I usually do the massage after the glitter is applied and cured. I don’t like to have lotion or oils on the nail even though I cleanse them, this is just my preference.

2. Start with a basic pedicure: complete with cuticle work, exfoliation, callus contouring, and shaping.

3. Lightly buff the nails with a fine buffer block. This is just to make the surface a nice canvas for polishing.

4. Cleanse the nails with ScrubFresh and a HandsDown pad. The product is called ScrubFresh not WipeFresh, so be sure to scrub the nail surface making it free of oils and contaminants.

5. Apply CND Shellac Base Coat and cure for 10 seconds.

6. Repeat on the other foot.

7. Apply a layer of CND Shellac Power Polish in the color of your choice and cure for the full two minutes. I use Clearly Pink because if the glitter is applied correctly to the nail, you will not see any color.

8. Repeat on other foot.

9. Apply a second layer of CND Shellac Power Polish color and DO NOT cure yet.

10. Place the foot on a paper towel and sprinkle the glitter like salt and pepper onto the nail. I use up to three colors, shaking a little on at a time. The last color will be the most dominant. Make sure the entire nail is covered with glitter. If you don’t do this over a paper towel, you will have glitter everywhere — and I mean everywhere!

11. Gently press the glitter into the polish with an old acrylic brush. Do not worry about the excess glitter on the toes at this point. Glitter will only stick where there is polish. So, make sure you clean up the sides of the nail or the glitter will cluster there and cure. The glitter toes will appear sloppy and after it’s cures there is not too much you can do about it.

12. Cure for the full two minutes.

13. Remove the excess glitter by gently brushing/scrubbing the nails with a nail brush. I do this over my empty pedicure tub and wash it down the drain.

14. Repeat on the other foot.

15. Apply CND Shellac Top Coat and cure for the full two minutes. I keep a separate top coat just for Glitter Toes; otherwise some of the glitter the may transfer.

16. Scrub nails with a HandsDown pad and alcohol to remove the tacky residue. Rinse the feet off with water in the tub to remove excess glitter, dry feet, and perform massage.

The Martha Stewart Glitters come in packs of 12 colors or more. I like the packs because it gives you many colors. They come shaker style making it easy to shake onto the nail and apply. I have purchased them at Michaels craft stores. Be sure to check your Sunday paper for their weekly 40%-off coupon. You can also print them online.

Helping you to make your clients glitter and shine for the holidays — one more way to help you stand out above the rest and become the BEST!

— Jill