Ellagee - Brunch with Unicorns

Hello friends!

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You know I love jelly polishes.  You know I love dat shimma!  Well, this new collection from Ellagee has them both.  Laura created this collection of sheer shimmers with the nail art enthusiast in mind.  These polishes can be used in a ton of different nail art designs and layered for different effect.  They are all pretty sheer but I have seen people get some of these opaque with enough coats.   I will be showing you how all of the colors layer together as well as a few nail art looks to spark your creativity.  Lets get into the fun!

Click through for all the awesome!

First, I am going to show you all of the colored polishes.  In addition to these seven, there are also a black and a white shade (Black Licorice Marmalade and Island Coconut Marmalade).  When Laura was telling me about this collection, she showed me a nail wheel with each of the colors alone then layered with adjacent colors in the rainbow spectrum.  It was so cool looking!  I knew I had to recreate that nail wheel on my nails.  Each of these photos shows 3 of the polishes.  Each nail has two coats of polish, some with two coats of the same polish and some with one coat of two different polishes layered.  They all have top coat applied as well.  Hopefully, you can see how many different color combos you can create and how well they all layer together.  Fun!

Thumb: Wild Strawberry Marmalade

Pointer: Wild Strawberry Marmalade and Bing Cherry Marmalade

Middle: Bing Cherry Marmalade

Ring: Bing Cherry Marmalade and Mandarin Orange Marmalade

Pinkie: Mandarin Orange Marmalade

Thumb: Mandarin Orange Marmalade
Pointer: Mandarin Orange Marmalade and Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Middle: Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Ring: Meyer Lemon Marmalade and Key Lime Marmalade
Pinkie: Key Lime Marmalade

Thumb: Key Lime Marmalade
Pointer: Key Lime Marmalade and Blue Raspberry Marmalade
Middle: Blue Raspberry Marmalade
Ring: Blue Raspberry Marmalade and Concord Grape Marmalade
Pinkie: Concord Grape Marmalade

I really love how well these mix and match together!  Because they are so veritile and mixable, you can create a ton of nail art looks with these.  I have done a few manicures to show you how I have used the polishes.  First, we will look at a classic jelly sandwich.  I used Mandarin Orange Marmalade for this one since it seemed to be the most opaque of them all.  I applied two coats of Mandarin Orange Marmalade, then one coat of Deborah Lippmann Glitter and be Gay, then another single layer of Mandarin Orange Marmalade.  You could do this simple look with any of these polishes and any glitter/flakie polish.  The possibilities are endless!

Here is another jelly sandwich manicure using two of the Ellagee polishes.  I put one layer of KBShimmer Pastel Me More in between three layers of Key Lime Marmalade just like I described above.  The twist was on the third layer over the glitter, I used Key Lime Marmalade near the cuticle and Blue Raspberry Marmalade near the tip to give it a slight green to blue/teal gradient.  I dig it!

Next, let's elevate the jelly sandwich technique with stamping!  First, I put down a layer of Black Licorice Marmalade.  Then I stamped over it with black polish using Bundle Monster plate BM 310.  I outlined my nail plate with black polish then covered it all with another layer of Black Licorice Marmalade.  This has quite a sexy, fishnet stocking look.  Right?!?!

Another stamping mani, but this time I stamped over a cool base.  First, I put down a base of white polish.  Then I took blobs of the Ellagee sheer shimmers and placed them over the white in a random pattern.  While the blobs were still wet, I smashed a piece of sandwch bag plastic over the nail and it smeared the colors around.  I added a quick dry top coat and then stamped over it with white polish using MoYou London plate Sailor 04.  Here is this mani before and after the stamping.  The colors I used were Wild Strawberry Marmalade, Bing Cherry Marmalade, Blue Rapsberry Marmalade and Concord Grape Marmalade.

More stamping!!  One of the very cool things about sheer polish is the ability to do stamping manicures that look like stained glass.  I have heard this technicque called Lead Lighting and Glazing.  I just call it reversed stamping or advanced stamping with sheer polishes.  (so unique, right?)  Here's how I did it.  First, I put down a base color of OPI The Gown Needs a Crown.  Then I stamped over it with black polish and UberChic plate UC4-01.  I chose this floral image because it had large spaces to color in (think coloring book).  Once the black polish dried, I used the sheer shimmers to carefully fill in the blank spaces.  The colors I used were Mandarin Orange Marmalade, Bing Cherry Marmalade, Meyer Lemon Marmalade and Wild Strawberry Marmalade.

Finally, I have a super easy nail art look for you.  This technique has been called distressed nails or dry brushing.  I started with a base of white polish.  Then I took the polishes Wild Strawberry Marmalade and Concord Grape Marmalade and wiped off almost all of the polish into the bottle.  Then I dragged the brush down the nail with light strokes for a "distressed" look.  Then I topped with whole thing off with Island Coconut Marmalade with give it a soft shimmery look.  You can use any color combo for this look.

I had a lot of fun creating these nail art looks for you.  I am having a hard time choosing a favorite.  Which is your favorite?  Please tag me on Instagram or use the tag #mcspiration if you decide to try any of these looks.

I would definitely recommend the entire collection.  I think it is a perfect palette of a rainbow of colors that you can create anything with.  Ellagee has the whole 9 polish set available for $68 or you can purchase them individually for $9 each.  Not only is getting the whole collection a deal but you will also get this cool little unicorn key chain!  Freaking adorable.

The Brunch with Unicorns Collection is available now!  Here is where you can purchase the collection and where you can stalk Ellagee online.

Ellagee online store
Ellagee social media (Facebook Instagram Twitter)


Yay!  Nail art!
-Amy McG aka McPolish

*products provided by the maker for honest review*

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