Lacquer Lingo

When I first discovered the heavenly manna that is nail blogs, I was wildly confused by some of the terms being used that no one ever defined. I was defining as I went along, but I think it'd be easier if I just made a little dictionary for all of you who aren't lacquer-literate. :) I'll add terms as I think of them, and if you ever want something defined, just leave a comment! I'll upload pictures that correspond to the words when I have them.

Core - if a polish is called "core," that means that it is a permanent part of a nail polish brand's line. It won't be discontinued or as hard to find as limited edition polishes.

Creme - a polish finish, meaning that it is generally opaque in one to two coats. Does not have any shimmer or glitter, it's just straight-up solid color.

Duochrome - a polish that appears to be two different colors from different angles. Also note multichrome, which appears to be more than two colors from different angles.

Dupe - short for "duplicate." If one polish is a "dupe" for another, that means they look exactly the same. I'll probably never have a picture to put on here, since I try to avoid buying dupes.

Flakie - kind of a type of glitter suspended in a polish base. It's hard to explain, I really need a picture to show you, but since I don't own any flakies currently (sob!), you're going to have to wait.

Flash - almost a duochrome, but not quite. The base color just has strong undertones of another color from certain angles.

Franken - a homemade nail polish made from two or more other polishes. Comes from "Frankenstein," get it?

Frost - a polish finish, trademarked by visible brushstrokes left on the nail even after the polish is completely dry. Most polishers hate this, but it doesn't really bother me at all.

Glitter - sparkly particles suspended in a nail polish base. This should be pretty self-explanatory. There are several types of glitter: bar glitter (straight lines), hex glitter (hexagon shaped), square glitter (don't think this one needs explaining), circle glitter (also self-explanatory), and microglitter (very tiny glitter).

Holo - a nail polish that produces a rainbow pattern when the lighting is right.

HTF - an acronym for "hard to find."

IRL - an acronym for "in real life."

Jelly - a type of polish finish. The color starts out sheer, but is buildable in a few coats.

Konad - a brand that makes nail polish stamps. The process of nail stamping is commonly referred to as "Konading," or "fauxnading" if one is not using Konad brand plates.

Lemming - can be either a verb or a noun. It means that you really want a certain nail polish
     Ex. used as a verb: "I am lemming Clarins 230 so bad right now."
     Ex. used as a noun: "Clarins 230 is one of my biggest lemmings!"

Marbling - a technique used to make a marble-y effect on nails. Takes a while to get the hang of. I've only executed it successfully once, ironically, it was my first time trying it. Beginner's luck, eh?

Matte - a dull, unshiny finish. Also note satin or velvet, which are kind of like a less hardcore version of matte.

Sheer - very thin polish, VNL is usually unavoidable.

Shimmer - another polish finish, sort of like ultrafine glitter, but not as hard to remove. If you're not sure if something is a microglitter or a shimmer, this is my rule of thumb: if it's difficult to remove, it's probably a glitter. If not, it's probably shimmer.

Skittles - wearing a different color polish on each nail.

Underwear - an opaque layer of polish used under sheer polishes, if desired, to prevent VNL.

VNL - Visible Nail Line, meaning you can still see the line between the white tip of your nail and the nail bed. Can be seen in the picture for "Sheer."