I Love You Beary Much

Because teddy bears need love come Valentine’s Day, too, here’s a much loved bear surrounded by wee hearts that comes straight from the heart – literally, because I made this glitter polish! All nail art bears should be so lucky, Valentine’s Day or no, to be sharing space with one of my favourite homemade creations, Sweet Weege! Every one of the handful of polishes I’ve made are a labour of love (and sometimes accidental chemical fume inhalation), which seems quite befitting V-Day (the lovin’, that is, not the huffin’…although on that point, I guess it all depends on how your Valentine’s Day goes, right?) Beary nice! 😉

DIY

My philosophy when it comes to a nail polish I’d like to own but do not because it simply doesn’t exist is to break out my polish crafting supplies and make my own. Do it yourself nail polish is a real show stopper of a gift (“Wait, you made this yourself?”) and not the least bit difficult, although the initial outlay for supplies can be a tough financial and logistical nut to crack. Like most crafty-type pursuits, you’ll need project-specific items such as polish bottles, solvent-resistant glitter, suspension base and the like, and none of that stuff comes easily or inexpensively (although once you’re all set up, the only consumables you’ll have to regularly replace are the bottles and base, and even then only if you’re cranking out multiple bottles a day.) I purchased my solvent-resistant glitter from a variety of Etsy retailers (solvent-resistant is key; regular old crafting glitter will bleed and melt when mixed with suspension base), while the cosmetic dyes I use come from a company by the name of Vanti805. The suspension base, bottles, ball bearings, etc. all come from a Canadian company I’ve had nothing but great experiences with by the name of Voyageur Soap & Candle Company, although you can also find a wealth of indie polish makers on Etsy that offer those items alongside their own creations.

And that’s the short, not-too-detailed story of how I came to consider myself a bit of a nail polish crafter, and more specifically the story of how this glitter topper, Sweet Weege, came into existence. I had actually been admiring some indie wares on a now-defunct company’s website when I noticed that they did not ship to Canada. That was a bit of a bummer until I realized that I was more than capable of making my own version of the polish I had my eye on, and so I did! Then it was just a hop, skip and five or so hours of picking errant glitter off my clothes, arms and hands before I had this Not-a-Designer Imposter-type creation I named after one of my cats, because why not? They’re great company when I’m deep in the throes of detail-oriented crafting, and they look so freaking adorable in those little masks (I kid – suspension base smells like hot death, and when I’m crafting, they’re usually a respectful, but still watchful, distance away. Besides, do you know how difficult it is to get glitter out of a long-haired’s coat? DIFFICULT.)

Here I’ve shown one brushed/dabbed on coat of Sweet Weege over top of Essie’s warm grey Chinchilly.

Tickled Pink

Here’s a manicure featuring a bottle of homebrew from “promising” “new” “indie polish maker”, Finger Candy Diningroom Table Industries. Free cat fur or furs with every polish nearly guaranteed.

But all joking aside, I made this polish, Sweet Weege, some months back, and after having let it sit around and do its thing during that time, I’m pleased to report that it has held up fantastically well – no glitter curling, no colour bleeding – and still looks pretty great over top of a fun, bubblegum pink polish, Sally Hansen’s appropriately named Bubblegum Pink, even if the little hearts do get a bit lost in the mix.

My Heart Goes Glitter Patter

Isn’t it wonderful when a nail polish seems custom made just for you? Isn’t it even wonderfuller when it IS made just for you, and by your own well polished paws, to boot? Sure, the noxious vapours emanating from the bottle of suspension base have you and your cats stumbling around like little pie-eyed drunks and you’ll be finding glitter in places no glitter should ever be found for WEEKS, but it’s still very satisfying to make your own nail polish.

Here I layered my latest homebrew, Sweet Weege, over top of L’Oreal’s Because You’re Worth It, a chromatic gold that’s lovely but goes with virtually nothing but for…Sweet Weege. Hmm, it’s almost like might have happened on purpose, no? 😉

Gettin’ Crafty With It: Sweet Weege

I actually made this glitter topper, an ultimately quite Valentiney mix of matte white, brown, gold, rose holo and pink heart glitters, with my cat Weegie in mind. She’s a cute little brown and orange and black striped thing, what one might uncharitably – but accurately – consider your standard issue barn cat, and she looks absolutely nothing like this glitter! So I couldn’t tell you how on earth this polish came about if it was based on my tubby little sweetie, but it’s here now and I love it, naming inconsistencies and all!

Here I layered two light coats of Sweet Weege over top of a couple of cream-on-pink and pink-on-brown gradients. The result is a very festive manicure that reminds me not one bit of my cat, but very much of chocolate cherries (which, yuck – fruit and chocolate together seems like a concept I should like, but I JUST CAN’T. I’d sooner eat this bottle of polish.)