Hey all, I’ve been wanting to figure out how to make nail polish from scratch for a while. Tried the crushed eyeshadow into clear base trick and the finish came out gritty and streaky, flopped on my clients and me.
I’d like to make custom shades to gift my regulars and mess around with at home, but I have no idea where to source proper suspension base and pigments that actually hold up past a week without separating.
Anyone know the ingredients and a supplier that won’t kill me on shipping? Roughly what it costs to get started?
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Pressed eyeshadows have binders and talc that won’t disperse in polish, which is where the grit came from.
Buy a suspension base (clear polish that holds pigment without settling) and mix in cosmetic-grade micas or pigment powders.
TKB Trading is where most people start in the US. They sell base by the pint, and they carry a ton of pigments. Expect around $50-70 to get set up with a base plus pigments and a dozen bottles.
Quarter to half teaspoon of pigment per 15ml bottle, added gradually. Neons and some reds will bleed or settle, so test those first (see this).
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Skip making the nitrocellulose base from raw chemicals at home. The solvents are highly flammable, plus they’re a pain to ship and store. Buy a ready-made suspension base and customize it with nail-safe pigment, mica, flakes, or solvent-resistant glitter (regular craft glitter will dissolve). “Cosmetic grade” doesn’t mean it’s safe here, so check that any colorant is tested for nail polish specifically.
Do tiny test batches by weight and take notes. Start around 5% pigment and work up slowly. Let each test bottle sit a week, and watch for settling, bleeding, fading, thickening, or staining. If it separates in the bottle, that’s a suspension problem.
Glitter Unique is a US source for suspension base, bottles, colorants, and solvent-safe additives. Order everything at once if you can, since flammable base usually has to ship ground. A small setup runs about $50-100 once you count base, pigments, bottles, mixing balls, a small scale, and shipping.
Label every bottle with ingredients and keep batch notes. I wouldn’t give anyone a formula until it’s survived a few weeks of shelf and wear testing.
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The from-scratch method is simple: nail-safe pigment stirred into a suspension base, then bottled. I got started for about $45 to $60 with an 8 oz base and sample pigments from one US supplier, plus the small empty bottles so shipping only hit once.
Switching to nail-safe iron oxides is what fixed the streaky finish on my clients. Mica looks great in the bottle but paints on patchy, so I build the shade with oxide and use mica as a light shimmer accent.
Some settling after a week is normal with heavier sparkle.
For my regulars I pour 5 ml gift minis plus a note: shake well, two thin coats, top coat. Keep it out of a hot car.
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Can confirm the neon warning, my first highlighter yellow batch settled into a sad sludge within a week while the micas stayed perfectly suspended.
Yep, bigger glitter especially. But if a good shake won’t mix it back in, that usually means the base needs a thicker suspension or there’s too much glitter in it.
Seconding TKB. For oxides though, start closer to an eighth of a teaspoon and work up. I used a half teaspoon of their iron oxide per 15ml and it came out like paste. Micas take the full amount fine.
The neon warning is real. I mixed a neon coral that looked perfect in the bottle, then within a day of wear it bled a pink halo around every nail. TKB labels which pigments are approved for nail use.
The pink halo thing is scary. I can’t imagine sending a client out the door and having that show up on them a day later. Did the stain come off their skin easy, or were they scrubbing for days?
Good to know TKB flags which ones are nail-approved though.
Glitter Unique’s mica suspension base works great for cremes or multichromes, but their thick violet-tinted glitter base handles bigger pieces better. For hobby batches it doesn’t matter much which brand you pick.
They’re all pretty similar. It comes down to which one you like applying most.
Mixing bases from the same supplier (say, glitter with mica) lets you get the exact thickness you want.
Been mixing custom shades since Christmas. That’s when I grabbed the Overdrive kit from Glitter Unique, plus their glitter base. Between that and some AliExpress pigments, I’ve been doing all my mixing in their mica pigment base ever since.
Mix the pigment with just a few drops of base first, into a smooth little paste, and only then stir it into the full bottle. Dumping the dry powder straight in gives tiny clumps.
I also drop a stainless steel mixing ball into each bottle. They’re cheap and make shaking easier for clients, especially with the shimmery ones.
If a batch gets thick after a while, use a real polish thinner, not acetone. I tried acetone once and the whole bottle went stringy.
The cost barrier to get started surprises most people. Suspension base runs about a dollar per ounce and ships from maybe three or four US sellers, so you’re making a real investment before you even touch a pigment.
If you want to blend custom shades from raw pigments, get a cheap coffee grinder.
My finished bottles go for six to nine dollars. Factor in base, pigments, bottles, and labor, and the margin isn’t great.