As someone who loves to do nail art with really beautiful bases, indie polish can be a bit hit and miss for me. Some of the most beautiful polishes are just so intricate and bold that it can be hard to pair them with nail art that feels seamless and cohesive. Why am I telling you this? Because the base for today's mani is one such polish - it's absolutely out of this world stunningly gorgeous, but I really, really struggled with how to utilize it as a base for nail art.

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Inspired by rich berry pie, the maker's favorite, KBShimmer's Eyes On The Pies, is a purple jelly polish that is packed with flakes that shift pink, fuscia and orange and... I mean, look at it. It's gorgeous. And honestly, like with most polishes that contain shifty flakes, it's so much more stunning in person (although the macro definitely grabs a lot of that dimension.) They recommend 2-3 coats for full opacity and for this mani, I applied two. It's pretty sheer on that first coat, but I find that it builds really easily on the second coat and the density of the flakes really have a camouflaging effect. This does dry down with some texture and a little bit dull, so you're definitely going to want to add a glossy top coat to give a smooth, impactful finish. 

As I said, figuring out how to pair this really intense base with nail art was a bit tricky. Immediately I knew that I wanted to do some sort of space themed nail art, but figuring out what to pair this polish with was a little tricky. I wanted the stamping to show up and stand out from the base, but I didn't want it to be too stark because I feel like that can be jarring and end up looking weird. Ultimately, I decided to go with a rose gold stamping polish that I felt would show up on the depth of the base, but also feel cohesive in tone with the base colour. I used two different images from the plate for this mani, a full coverage image for the middle two nails, and a smaller, partial coverage image for the first and pinkie fingers.

Once I was happy with the stamping, I sealed it in with a layer of water based top coat and then finished with a layer of quick dry glossy top coat. And voila!

One thing about indie polishes is that so many of them just do not need nail art - which is why I tend to reach for boring old crémes a lot of the time when it comes to bases. That being said... this polish is just absolutely insanely out of this world stunning and I feel like this nail art did manage to hold up to it. 

KBShimmer is quickly becoming a favorite indie brand for me because they have such a great variety of shades and finishes in a really lovely formula.  And if you're Canadian like me, check out Harlow & Co, which is the stockist that I purchase from!

Thanks for reading!