Opal Nails

I saw this design from basecoat-topcoat.tumblr.com (also on IG @kellyohstein). I had to try it because I'm an October baby and our birthstone is an opal (sometimes some pink stone, but I like the opal better haha!). I had tried it once about a week or two ago and it came out terribly, so I thought I'd give it another shot. 

So, to save myself the trouble of having to remember the name of each and every polish, I'm going to post a photo of the polishes I used, and then just refer to the color instead of the name, that way if you want to know the exact color, you can check the pic! 

Ok then, moving right along! I started with a base coat (not shown--any will do!). Then using a light blue, I took the brush from the bottle and made random spots of color. I did the same with the light purple, light green, light pink, bright orange, and finally filling in spaces with yellow (it's ok to overlap--it will add to the effect!). I then applied a couple of coats of a sheer nude--you want it to look cloudy. I applied 1 coat of some micro glitter polish (not shown), but I don't think that's necessary as you can't even tell in the final result. 

I then took the smallest dotting tool I had and applied random dots and squiggles of each of the colors--I used one of my opal earrings to reference how much of each color I wanted. I applied some cellophane polish to add some chunky sparkle to it. I added a two more coats of nude polish to make it milky, then added some more cellophane polish. I finished with a top coat. 

I know - it's a ton of layers of polish! But that's how you get the cool milky effect of an opal! I actually am pretty pleased with how this turned out--I think it came pretty close to the earring I have pictured! Do you think I did it justice??