Back to Basics: Frankening

Picture this scenario: You've suddenly started to like grey polishes but you can't find a good one that's dark enough. You remember that black + white = grey, and so you decide to mix the two together to create the perfect grey.

Congratulations, you just made a frankenpolish! As the name implies, it's pretty much blending polishes or pigments or glitter together to make custom colors (much like the monster Dr. Frankenstein created out of old body parts).

Making frankens is pretty fun, though sometimes they don't always turn out how you planned. Therefore, it's really best to franken only with cheaper, drugstore brands or colors that aren't too hard to find. Sometimes there can be clear recipes with frankens, other times it's a product of several polishes at all different dosages. It's always cool to play with polishes, but like with any fun activity, there are some hazards:

1. If you're not careful, it can get messy. I always lay a tissue on my desk for safety, so you definitely want some sort of precaution. After all, getting nail polish on that $2000 antique heirloom table would be heartbreaking.
2. Some formulas react horribly together. For many girls on the nail board, there have been...incidents where the glass in the bottles have shattered/minor explosion (not the explosion of the great balls of fire kind, more like of the crap-there's-nail-polish-everywhere! kind) when shaken. Though it's never happened to me, knock on wood, if it's a concern, mix only with the same brand.
3. Because sometimes the bottles are open to longer periods of time, there is more secondhand fumage (not a word) from the polish. Like I'm always stressing, well-ventilated areas!

Even if you can't think of an original color to create, you can still franken when you "tweak" existing colors. For example, I had a pale pink Jordana polish with glitter that was sooo pretty...except when I put it on it was super sheer. So, I decided to make it more opaque by adding 7 drops of Orly Soul Mate. The result?

Same light glitter, but with a slightly darker base. I named it Chatty Kelly, after the fabulously chirpy, rah-rah customer service rep Kelly Kapoor on the American version of The Office. I think she would approve.