"Caviar" Nails Tutorial

After having read a blog post about nail trends, I was very curious about the "caviar" nail look.  I looked for the kit at Sephora, and found this.  But, as I didn't want to spend $25 on what would definitely be a special occasion look, I decided to find out if I could recreate this with things I already had on hand.

Supplies needed:

Clear base coat
Fingernail polish in a color of your choice (DO NOT use quick-drying polish!)
Microbeads to match or coordinate with above nail color  (You should be able to get these at any craft store for less than $3 a small bottle, or you can buy a set of 12 colors on Amazon for $20.00 or less.)
Glitter tray to catch the extra beads (or fold up the edges of a clean sheet of paper)
Orange/cuticle stick
Clear top coat

I had all of the above already at home, so I spent literally no money on this experiment!

Step 1 - Apply clear base coat, let dry.

Step 2 - Apply generous coat of color polish.  IMMEDIATELY sprinkle the microbeads over the wet nail, being sure to cover all of the nail surface.  (Alternately, you could use a damp paint brush to apply beads in the area you want them to go.)  Make sure to hold your fingers over the glitter tray while doing this to minimize mess and capture any beads that don't make it on to your nails.

Step 3 - With an orange stick, gently pat or press the beads down into the wet polish.  You want to end up with one layer of beads only.  You will want to work fairly quickly here, as the polish will soon start to become tacky.

Step 4 - LET THIS DRY.  Let dry according to the directions on your polish, or as long as you can possibly stand it.  Otherwise the next step will ruin all your careful patting and pushing from Step 3.

Step 5 - Apply one or two coats of clear top coat, making sure to let dry after each one.

And there you have it, a high-fashion look for pennies.

Anyone know why I did only this nail red?  There's a reason!

This was my very first try and I didn't wait long enough after Step 3, hence the missing beads at the top.  I'm sure someone with more patience and nail know-how can do it much, much better than this, but I still like it.  So far, the beads aren't moving so I'm hopeful this lasts more than a day or two!

Let me know if you try this out, and what you think of it!