China Glaze Nova Part Deux: As a Topcoat!

As mentioned in my previous post, I tinkered with using China Glaze "Nova" on top of various colors. The issue with using this glitter on top of other polishes is how thick and dense the glitter is. Even one coat gets you some nice coverage, but it also goes on in kind of a thick, streaky way (at least for me, the ultimate nail noob!!). One coat can leave streaks of thick glitter while the the second coat looks much nicer and is pretty much on its way to being opaque. So wearing Nova atop another polish is a tricky proposition for me.

I concluded that Nova works best over lighter polishes, where you are seeing the sparkle and not the actual glitter. Against a darker background, you see the sparkle but you also can see any pattern of the glitter on the nail.


I loved the way it worked on China Glaze "Twenty-four K," from the Sally Beauty Chromes and Glitters collection. This polish is a yellow gold chrome. I don't have a silver chrome, so I thought I'd experiment with a silver glitter over yellow gold chrome! In real life, one really can't totally see that the background is gold. So pretty! Catching the effect in pictures is difficult for me, though.


The above pic is a bit blurry in an attempt to show some of the sparkle. Below are four of my experimental colors: pinky = over Essie St. Lucia Lilac (very light lavender), ring finger = Essie "Sexy Divide" (dark rich purple metallic), middle = Essie Midnight Cami (navy blue), and index = CG Twenty-Four K, shown also above).



Thumb, below = China Glaze Moonlight (white), which had a little accident so that's why a little gash appears there! The glitter pattern does not show against the white, either, just a sparkliness that blends somewhat into the light background.

My pics of the St. Lucia Lilac on the pinky did not come out very clearly, but it was pretty as well.

Below, Nova over "Sexy Divide" was pretty, and the glitter spread fairly evenly. Still, one could see the glitter pattern against the dark purple.


I did not like Nova over midnight Cami at all, and I had originally thought that this color combo would work beautifully. The glitter came out in streaks and thick gloppiness in places. One will simply not be able to guarantee each nail would be spread even like the Sexy Divide example.I think a sliver glitter that is less dense would be awesome over these two dark colors.



Again, a comparison between three of the examples. I think another logical use for Nova and Cleopatra would be for using them opaquely to do a stripe or some shape over the nail (see the most awesome mani ever from Getcha Nails Did). If using as a sparkly topcoat, though, I do recommend over the lighter colors!!