Turn all of your creme nail polishes into shimmers (temporarily): Review of e.l.f. sheer topcoats

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Collecting a few cheap effects topcoats is a good way to double (or triple, etc.) the number of nail polishes you have available, in a way. I've posted before about using a holo topcoat so that you instantly have as many different colors of holo polishes as you have polishes. Using these $2 e.l.f. shimmer topcoats similarly multiplies your options. If you have a color you love, but have seen a shimmer version of it that you're debating buying, getting the right shimmer topcoat might be a cheaper option (and it can be used with all your other colors, of course). I've included one example below where I was able to dupe an Orly nail polish using an ULTA creme I already had and an e.l.f. topcoat. These shimmers are also just really fucking pretty, so that's maybe enough reason to check them out.

Here are swatches of all the e.l.f. topcoats I own over Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets. I also included the other glitter and flakie topcoats from e.l.f that I have, for the sake of completeness. The last time I checked, it was hard to find swatches of these shimmers, so I hope this is useful to someone. The only shimmer topcoat from them that I don't have is Twinkle Twilight, which I think is a silvery shimmer. (I want it too.) Each of these is one coat over the dark purple base, photographed in natural light.

Swatches (left to right) of Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets (alone) and then topped with e.l.f. Summer Solstice, Supernova, Big Bang Blue, Fairy Dust, Love Me, and Enchanted.

More photos below:

Swatches (left to right) of Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets (alone) and then topped with e.l.f. Summer Solstice and Supernova

Swatches (left to right) of Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets topped with e.l.f. Supernova, Big Bang Blue, and Fairy Dust

Swatches (left to right) of Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets topped with e.l.f. Fairy Dust, Love Me, and Enchanted

All of these create gorgeous effects in just one coat. The only one I've had any trouble at all with is Enchanted, which tends to bubble a little sometimes. You can see another photo of it on my Instagram here. Honestly, the bubbles are hard to notice, because they kind of blend in with the glitter. Bonus: Although Fairy Dust, which I have had for over a year (maybe two?) smells really foul, none of the others do.

Summer Solstice and Supernova have bigger chunks of shimmer, almost like tiny flakies or glass flecks, while Big Bang Blue is a finer shimmer. Summer Solstice is mostly gold shimmer with a little bit of pink-green shift. Supernova is mostly pink with some gold shift. Big Bang Blue shifts from blue to purple to pink. I can't really choose which one I like best. All beautiful.

I tried layering all three of the shimmers over Wild Violets at the same time. I was curious how close to creating a dupe for Chanel Taboo I could get. It's not that similar, but it's still pretty spectacular.

Swatch of Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets topped with a combination of e.l.f. Summer Solstice, Supernova, and Big Bang Blue

Swatch of Revlon Parfumerie Wild Violets topped with a combination of e.l.f. Summer Solstice, Supernova, and Big Bang Blue

Then I decided to try to dupe Orly Preamp using ULTA Vintage Violet and e.l.f. Supernova. This one is pretty damned close, I think.

Preamp on the left, Vintage Violet on the right

Finally, here's Sinful Colors Endless Blue topped with e.l.f. Supernova, because pretty.

Swatch of Sinful Colors Endless Blue topped with e.l.f. Summer Solstice

I used Summer Solstice over The Balm Let's Make a Teal a while back (on Instagram).

Overall, I think these are definitely worth the $2 a piece investment. It's a cheap way to multiply the possibilities in your nail polish collection and create your own versions of more expensive shimmer polishes. They're a lot of fun.

If you've never bought any e.l.f. products before, check out my post on the best way to buy them.