Butterfly Manicure

Spongy Manicure

13 Oct 2012

This spongy technique is easy to pull off, and is a great base for a lot of cute manicures. Today I'm working on a butterfly wing, mostly because I like butterflies. Yeah, I think that's the only reason actually!  

1) Choose your materials first, running around with wet nails usually makes something messy! In case you're wondering, Left to Right: OPI Peach-A-Boo, China Glaze VI, OPI Take The Stage, OPI DS Jewel. On the right: Seche Vite Top Coat, Orly Nailtrtion, NYC 134 French Tip White. 

2) Base Coat, I used Nailtrition

3) Pick out 3 shades in the same color family. Paint the middle shade on the whole nail.

 

4) Dip the sponges in Water, you'll use less paint!            

5)Paint your makeup sponge with the three colors,

in order from darkest to lightest

6) Dab the sponge across the nail, darkest color at the top.

7) Use Q-tips dipped in nail polish remover to clean up the cuticles.

8) Striping brushes have a long bristle, it helps make straight lines, even when you're free-handing. This particular brand is So Easy, Stripe Rite.

9) Free-hand the small half circle at the bottom. Pull stripes from the bottom towards the tips. Stripe across the tip with the black polish. 

10) Using the top of a pin, or a toothpick dip in white polish, and then lightly tap on the black portion of the manicure. 

11) Finish off with your favorite top coat! And you're done! 

There you have it! Butterfly wings on your fingernails! And remember, no butterflies were harmed in the making of this manicure! 

Freehand French Manicure

Freehand French Manicure

17 Sep 2012

An Easy Manicure You Can Do Yourself

Manicures can be expensive. I remember a time when I would spend $25 every other week to keep a beautiful set of nails. I do enjoy a professional manicure, every now and then, as a nice way to reward myself. But, with practice, I have been able to paint my own nails, complete with special effects, for a while now. 

1. Get the old polish off, I use dollar store nail polish remover and cotton pads, make sure that it has glycerin, it helps with moisterizing. If I used a sparkle nail polish, it will take longer! Just let them soak a bit. 

2. Wash your hands, soap and water, if there's a bit of remover left behind, it will make bubbles in your paint. 

3. Use a nice Base coat, This prevent staining and makes it easier to remove the polish later on. I use a Orly Nailtrition on my broken short nail, helps it catch up with it's friends. I used Barielle Professional Advanced as a Base coat on the other nails.

Nailtrition on the pinky finger, and Barielle Pro on the rest. 

4. Moisturize the cuticles, lotions work, as well as cuticle oils. 

5. Choose your colors, What will you be wearing this week? Any special events? Or are you just cheering yourself up, with a lovely mani pedi? I like a dark color for the first color and a lighter color for the tips. I have made a few reverse French Manicures, but find I prefer the lighter on top. This time I used Orly's Mysterious Curse for the first color, and China Glaze's Liquid Crystal for the tips. 

Left hand is two coats of Orly's Mysterious Curse, and the right hand is one coat. 

6. Let the base color dry. If you are in a hurry, use your top coat Seche Vite to get the drying started faster, usually a 5 minute drying time.  

7. Using the top color, use the width of the brush and follow the shape of the nail. Sometimes, I will go half way and come back from the other direction. If there are any bare spots, paint from the "smile" line towards the tip, like finishing a regular manicure. I use a paper towel to protect my surface. 

Painting the Liquid Crystal half across the tip, and came back from the other side to meet in the middle. 

Fill in the gaps by painting the end, add more polish to the brush. Pull from the smile line to the tip. 

8. Clean up your edges with a Q-tip dipped in a little nail polish remover. 

9. Top coat of Seche Vite. It is a more expensive top coat, but it will increase the time of your manicure by a few days. With out it, I get 2 days to a manicure, and with the Seche Vite, my manicure will last 5-7 days. best price I found is Amazon.com. 

There you have it! A great manicure that you did yourself. Now, have a nice cup of cocoa to tip the manicurist ;-)

Lovely Stamped Manicure 9/24/12

Lovely Stamped Manicure

24 Sep 2012

I love a nice manicure, they last for days. I think it's time well spent, if I take 30 minutes on my eye make-up and it only last 4 hours or so, a manicure is a much better investment of time. 

This type of manicure takes about an hour the first time you do it. With practice you can get it down to around 45 minutes. 

I chose a dark color, Orly's Roccoco for the base. It's a beautiful purple and red metallic with a gold sparkle. Very dramatic! I added a stamp on top of a gold metallic in a nice full nail swirl. I love the way it looks on an accent nail, but I always seem to get carried away, and just do the whole manicure. 

I started with the Nailtrition for growth as a base coat. It helps protect the nail from staining, (this color stains a lot!), as well as make it easier to remove the polish later. 

I then did 2 coats of Rococco, and one coat of Seche Vite. I needed a quick dry with this manicure. 

Then I prepared my Bundle Monster plate. I used Gold Rush by Ulta, I've tested this color for stamping, and it works great. You need to have Q-tips available in a little cap of Nail Polish Remover. Between every stamp I clean the plate. 

To Stamp:

Prepare your surface with paper towels, I use them to wipe the card in between every Stamp. 

I set it in the little tray that the kit comes with, this keeps it steady, 

Swish the polish on top

Scrape with an old credit card, or AAA membership card that has expired.

Use the damper to roll across the paint image

Roll the damper across the nail. 

*This whole process takes less than a minute. The nail polish will start to dry, and get stuck in the image, get stuck on the damper, or it will be incomplete or unrecognized. 

After I finish all 10 nails, then I Do 1 coat of Seche Vite. It makes the image stand out, protects the manicure and makes it last longer, and makes a Super Shiny Royal finish to the manicure. 

A nice little manicure, and it should last a while. It may look complicated, but now you know it's not!  You don't have to use metallic polish to finish, but it does look nice and royal!