Drugstore milky glitter polish round-up (plus a DIY)

As promised, I wanted to put together a little drugstore round-up of the various milky glitter polishes that seem to be surfacing lately, since it seems that I'm not the only one currently obsessed with this type of polish!

Before I begin, I want to let you know that you can find milky glitters from various indie polish makers on Etsy (here's a super pretty one that was recommended by reader Liz recently). So if you can't find what you're looking for at the drugstore or beauty supply store, poke around Etsy!

image credit: @2isjustright for Nouveau Cheap

Blue Cross Beauty Candy Shop Scented Color Mini Set

Keep reading for my full round-up, including how to create your very own milky glitter polish using just two colors that you can easily find at the drugstore...

1. Blue Cross Beauty Holiday polishes.  The milky glitters in the Holiday 2012 Blue Cross Beauty collection can be found in light-up bottles, snowman bottles and in the mini bottles above (these minis are also scented). Reader @2isjustright was nice enough to share this pic of the mini Candy Shop set she purchased at Rite Aid recently for $5.99. As you can see, all of the Blue Cross light-up milky glitters I reviewed (click here and here for swatches) are ALSO in this mini set. You can check out reader Jammies' review of the Candy Shop set here. For those of you who don't live near a Rite Aid, I'm hearing from several readers that these polishes are surfacing at regional retailers like Fred Myer and Meijer as well, so don't just look for one particular bottle shape when you're looking for these: they could be in light-up bottles, snowmen or even minis like the ones you see above.

2. Claire's glitter polishes. Not really drugstore, but I think Claire's stores are located in just about every mall in America at this point, so they should be pretty easy for you to find. Some of you have said that the Claire's milky glitters are identical to the Blue Cross Beauty milky glitters, which means that Blue Cross might be the manufacturer of both. Click here to see the Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop dupe at Clarie's and compare for yourself. 

3. Revlon Whimsical. You can see my swatches of Whimsical (Deborah Lippmann Glitter In The Air dupe) here. I know that some of you have had a hard time finding this polish, but I see it all the time at my local CVS and Rite Aid stores (in the regular permanent wall display), so hopefully that means it's becoming more widely available. 

4. Revlon Starry Pink (aka Popular). Originally an LE shade from the Gucci Westman Expressionists Collection from 2011, Revlon later added this shade to their permanent collection and renamed it Popular (thanks to reader Rose and others for reminding me about that!). I love this polish--it's so freaking gorgeous!

5. China Glaze It's a Trap-eze. Part of the new Cirque du Soleil Collection, It's a Trap-eze is currently surfacing at Sally Beauty stores ahead of its official release date of December. It's also going to be available at Ulta, so keep checking your local Sallys and Ultas if you want this one (and I'd grab it when you see it because I have a feeling it will go pretty quickly).

6. pa nail colors. Probably the most difficult to find since they're only available at Asian markets here in the US, these new milky glitters are worth the hunt, in my opinion (click here for pics of all six shades and here for my swatches of the white polish with black glitter).  Be sure to check the comments on this post if you're looking for these--lots of incredibly helpful readers have shared tips about where to find these. If you're in San Diego, you can find them here.

7. DIY versions using drugstore polishes. If can't find any milky glitters in your area and you really want one, chances are you probably already own at least two polishes that you can layer to create a milky glitter in just a few minutes. All you need is a sheer, milky color and a glitter polish.

And in case you don't already own any polishes like this, here are two that you can buy at the drugstore and they both happen to be on sale or clearance RIGHT NOW:

 

 Spoiled by Wet n Wild nail color in Shuffle the Deck

Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect polish in Fog

Spoiled by Wet n Wild polishes retail for $1.99 at CVS (in-store and online) and they're B2G1FREE at CVS right now. Sally Hansen Fog is currently on 50% off clearance at most Walgreens locations right now as well, so you can pick one up for about $3 (all of the shades in this range are pretty sheer and milky, so if you can't find Fog, don't worry because any of them will work, and they're all on clearance!).

 To achieve this look, apply one coat of milky polish to your nails. After that has dried, apply your glitter polish and let that dry. Then apply one more coat of milky polish and you're done! That's exactly what I did in these photos--I didn't even apply a top coat (although you probably should, just to lock everything in place).

Another very inexpensive milky polish that would work beautifully for a DIY milky glitter mani is the Wet n Wild Megalast polish in 2% (retail: $1.99). I think that color would look gorgeous paired with just about any glitter polish you may own.

 

I hope this post helps you satisfy your milky glitter cravings! Any questions, let me know.

Some of the polishes featured in this post were given to Nouveau Cheap for previous reviews.