What's a Glequin?

'Glequin' is a word that I use a lot on this blog, often forgetting that it's a made up word. I'm sure some of you out there will be left wondering... 'WTF is a Glequin?!'

Well hopefully that question will be answered soon and I've answered a few other Glequin FAQs while I'm here.

The word 'Glequin' was formed by mashing Glitter+Sequin together. Glequins are small pieces of plastic that resemble glitter but are kind of too big to be described that way - when most people hear 'glitter' they think of something powdery. But they're also too small to fit in to the category of sequins, which are bigger and much easier to handle!

Where can you buy them?

I always buy them from Born Pretty Store because they have a huge selection of colours and shapes and they're cheap as hell! Not forgetting the free worldwide shipping.

I have the 12 Pack of little pots which is $6.45 and a few Individual Large Pots which are $2.38 each. I mostly have hexagonal shaped ones but you can also buy diamonds and circles.

Sooo many people have asked me what stores you can buy them in and the truth is I've never seen these in UK shops. If you have, please let us all know in the comments. Same if you know of any US stores where you can buy them.

Top row: 12 pack Red, Pink, Orange, Gold, Pistachio Green, Lime Green, Bright Green, Aqua Blue,
Royal Blue, Purple,  Clear, Silver.
Bottom row: Silver Holographic (#1) and Gold Holographic (#2)

How big are they?

Sizes do vary slightly but most of the ones I've used are somewhere around 1mm in diameter. It's hard to tell exactly how big they are when you only see them in pictures of other peoples' nails so for a bit of perspective I lined them all up next to a ruler, the lines each mark 1mm.

You can see that most of the ones I own are just slightly over 1mm except the silver one (top row, far right) which is almost double the size of the others, and the silver and gold holographic ones (bottom row) which are smaller.

How do you apply them?

I use a toothpick dipped in clear nail polish (so it's tacky at the end) to apply them whilst I have wet polish on my nails. I made a video of me doing this which you can watch here. I'm sure there are many other tools and methods you can use to stick them to your nails so if that method doesn't work for you, try something else that you think will!

You will need a steady hand but I don't think patience is particularly important. With a bit of practice, you'll be able to apply them really quickly. 

Sally Hansen Green Tea

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr