Frankening Nail Polish 101 w/ Essence Pigments

Always wanted to make your very own nail polish? Your very own unique color? I've been frankening nail polish for a while and now I can finally share all important features, questions, what-to-do and what-not-to-do when making your own nail polish.

First; Why is it called Frankening? Well, you all know Frankenstein. No, not the creature produced by an experiment but the person who experimented and created the creature. The word 'Frankening' means actually experimenting. Your experimenting with polish and pigments to finally create your very own unique nail polish.

What you need to make your very own polish:

- Clear polish

- Empty nail polish bottle

- Cosmetic pigments. For this tutorial I'm using loose pigments from Essence.

- Cosmetic glitter. Craft glitter won't work.

- Colored nail polishes you like to use

- Plate for mixing nail polish

- Little scoop 

- Little funnel which you can make one out of paper.

- Tiny stainless steel balls that will fit into the empty nail polish bottle.

- Toothpick, orange stick, wooden stick, bobby pin or a paperclip.

- Nail polish remover

- Cotton pads or balls

Step 1; Make sure your table is covered with a tablecloth or newpapers. You're going to make a huge mess!

Step 2; Take your plate and start mixing pigment, glitter, colored polish or clear polish of your choice. Add a little at a time. You can always add more product later. Mix it with a toothpick, orange stick, wooden stick, bobby pin or a paperclip.

Step 3; Mix and keep adding pigment, glitter or polish to get the desired color. You can swatch the mixture in between to see if it's near your desired color. If it's the color you wanted you have to remember how many of which product you just used.

Step 4; Now onto the real deal! Take your empty nail polish bottle and your funnel and start adding pigments and glitter in the funnel. You can just pour it into the funnel or use a scoop. Add a little at a time, you can always add more. Added too much? Shake the funnel!

Step 5; Onto adding polish. Add some clear or colored polish in the funnel. Again, add a little at a time! Added too much? You can't go back now, it's going to be messy!

Why adding pigments and glitter before adding nail polish? Because the pigments and glitter will stick to the nail polish if you use polish first. Just a quick tip.

Step 6; Think you have enough product in the bottle? Add more product if necessary. Ready with all? Go to the next step.

Step 7; Add one or two stainless steel balls. You really need these to mix the pigments, glitter and polish really well. 

Step 8; Put the lid on the bottle and shake it. Shake it baby! Shake the bottle till you can't see the difference between all products anymore. That's it! You've now created your very own unique nail polish! Swatchtime!

Step 9; Clean your surface! I bet you made a huge mess while frankening your own polish.

As you can see on the swatch pictures I might have used a little too much pigment. I should have shaked the bottle after step 5. The pigments from Essence are highly pigmented and I guess I added too much than necessary.

Some polishes I made last year.

The picture above is the reason why you shouldn't use craft glitter. The bottle contains a clear polish and pink glitter. The glitter stained and the clear polish became a pink polish. If you use cosmetic glitters, the glitter won't stain and your polish would still be clear.

Have you ever made your own nail polish? How did your polish came out? Was it the color you wanted it to be? If you have never made your own polish, why not? Would you ever make your own?