Addicted to All Things Pretty

CREME - A creme is one of the most popular finishes we know. This is just a plain color without any glitter, shimmer, etc added to it. The finish is glossy and smooth.

JELLY - A jelly is just like a creme, but the main difference is the substance: more jelly-like. They tend to be sheer but they make up for it by being xtremely glossy.

SHIMMER - The shimmer finish is a colored base with shimmer added to it, most of the times that color is silver but we’re seeing contrasting colors more often.

GLASS FLECKED – Glass flecked polishes look like they contain small glass particles, often mixed in a jelly base. The finish is very smooth, yet sparkly.

NEON - You could say neon describes color, not finish. But most neons do have a particular finish, very bright colors that often dry semi-matte.

FROST - A frost is a very fine shimmery polish with obvious bruststrokes. These kind of finishes are losing popularity and mostly seen in older polishes.

PEARL - The pearl finish is quite similar to the frost finish, but it has a more pearly sheen to it.

FOIL - Foil polishes often have a metallic base color with very fine glitter added to it. The finish is very smooth yet sparkly.

METALLIC - Metallic finishes make your nails appear like metal. Metallic polishes are especially popular in copper, gold or silver.

GLITTER - Glitter is one of most flashiest finishes. These glitters are often put in a jelly base. The amount of glitter can vary a lot. Sometimes you’ll need top coat to smoothen the surface.

STRING GLITTER – Mostly glitter in a clear base so they’re often used as a top coat. String glitter consists out of glitters in rectangular shapes, often in silver or iridiscent colors.

ROUND GLITTER – Just as string glitter, these are mostly used as a top coat. The glitters in this clear base are round shaped.

SQUARE GLITTER – Another glitter top coat, but with glitter in the shape of squares.

HEX GLITTER – A very popular glitter shape: hex or hexagonal. These are very popular and more common these days. Often used in regular glitter polish as well.

SHAPE GLITTER – This is a very special glitter top coat, in this picture you see stars, but there are also glitter top coats containing hearts and diamonds (rhombus).

MATTE - This finish dries completely matte, no shine whatsoever. These dry quickly and sometimes end up being streaky. Handlotion is to be avoided because it decreases the matte effect.

SATIN - Satin finishes end up matte as well, but not entirely matte. There is still a slight shine, but not enough to classify it as glossy.

SUEDE - Just like mattes, suedes are completely matte. Suedes contain shimmer though, so that’s what sets them apart from regular mattes.

HOLO - Holographic polishes contain rainbow colored glitter, which changes color on the reflection of light. This finish is very obvious in sun light.

HOLO GLITTER – Holographic glitter in a different color base. The glitter is often more sparse and while it does change color upon different light, there is no rainbow effect to be seen.

FLAKIES - Flakie polishes consist out of a jelly base with ver
y fine opal (often duochrome) particles in it. They’re mostly used for layering as the jelly base is often sheer.

DUO CHROME – Duochrome polishes change color on the reflection of light. True duochromes are very obvious and often show 2 colors, but sometimes even more.

IRIDISCENT - This finish is often confused with duochrome or shimmer. An iridiscent finish is a color that flashes a different color. These are not obvious enough to be a duochrome.

SHEER - This is a half transparent finish, often used in French manicures to show off the white tips. Most sheers are salmon, nude or pink.

WATER - This is a strange and not that well known finish. A water finish resembles the characteristics of a jelly, but is less opaque.