Summer Nails!

I have recently been obsessed with nail art, and I will be posting more designs for inspiration in the future, but I wanted to first start with two of my favorite floral summer nail designs. 

Tropical Floral Nails

1. Base coat and 2 layers of white polish
2. Large neon purple flowers on each nail (or whatever color you want)
3. Small yellow flowers on each nail
4. Neon pink centers on the purple flowers
5. Orange centers on the yellow flowers
6. Yellow lines/dots/whatever you want on top of the neon pink using a toothpick
7. Mint green leaves 
8. Dark green leaves on top of the mint using a toothpick
9. Wait for the design to dry, then two layers of top coat

Inspired by: http://www.chalkboardnails.com/2012/05/china-glaze-summer-neons-nail-art.html

Daisy Nails

1. Base coat and 2-3 layers of mint green polish (light blue looks nice as well)
2. Using a striper, or I just wiped off the brush of a white polish and trimmed the brush to my desired width, paint 3-4 daisies on each nail
3. Dot the centers of the flowers with yellow polish
4. Wait for the design to completely dry and add a layer of top coat

 

Do you love floral nail art as much as I do?

NOTW: Minimalist Manicure

Inspired by New York Fashion Week 2014, along with a desire to do a fast and easy manicure given that it was already 10pm, I chose a minimalistic design for my nails this week. Also known as a floating manicure, this new form of nail design favors only painting part of the nail, letting the natural nail show through.

Paired best with muted fall colors, I think this trend is a modern and fresh way to relieve us from the overly sparkly and intricate nails from the winter season. All it takes to recreate is a steady hand and an eye for straight lines (if you don't have either of these, just tape your nails on a diagonal fill in the space).

Inspiration:

Photo credits to POPSUGAR Australia

My Recreation:

Don't forget to use a base coat and a top coat!

Nail Polish: Revlon Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel in Blue Slate

What do you think of minimalist manicures?

Nails Of The Week

After about two weeks of nasty chipped nail polish, I finally changed my nail polish yesterday. I was browsing the interwebs for cool designs and this one stuck in my head.

I am not a nail master, please excuse the edges :)

From left to right: Revlon Colorstay Gel-Smooth Base Coat, Circus By Andrea's Choice in Reverso,
Sephora by O.P.I in Dark Room, Revlon Colorstay Gel-Smooth Top Coat

Steps

1. Apply base coat.

2. Base color (2 layers), wait at least two minutes between each coat of polish for it to dry.

3. Use a dried out ballpoint pen or other dotting tool to make dots using your accent color. Start by dotting a line across the tip, then gradually make the dots smaller and smaller towards the middle of your nail.

3. Wait at least 30 minutes for the polish to dry, then apply top coat.

Tips

- Be patient! It took a lot of self-control for me to not apply my top coat a few minutes after I was finished dotting, but it was worth it in the end. You want to wait for each layer to dry to prevent smudging.
- You don't need an actual dotting tool. I just used a dried out ballpoint pen, but you can also use toothpicks, the back of a pin, etc.
- Use colors that contrast to make the design stand out (such as black and white).

2013 Must-Haves: Hair and Nails

Here is the third part of my "2013 Must-Haves" series, this time on the hair and nail products that were my favorites of 2013. Hopefully, this series will help you get a feel for what types of products I use and enjoy!

Hair

I'm not as big on hair and nails as I am on makeup, but I still know what works for me and what doesn't, and I'm also constantly searching for the perfect products for that work with my hair. Though it definitely is not glamorous, my hair is temperamental and I sometimes suffer from a dry, itchy scalp along with oily roots. In an ideal world, I would only have to wash my hair a few times a week, but the longest I can go while still maintaining some level of style is washing my hair every other day. And even then, I have to dutifully rely on dry shampoo to cut back on the dirtiness and griminess of my hair. However, these products are what I turned to to take care of both my scalp and my ends.

Shampoo: Everyday Shea Moisturizing Shampoo (vanilla mint)

Conditioner: Herbal Essences Shine Collection Brilliance Conditioner

Leave in Conditioner: It's a 10 Miracle Leave-In Conditioner Plus Keratin

Hair Mask: Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

Styling Product: Sunsilk Layers Texturizing Wax (discontinued)...alternative: Aveda Light Elements Defining Whip

Dry Shampoo: Batiste Dry Shampoo Original

Heat Protector: TRESemmé Thermal Creations Heat Protector Spray
Hairspray: Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly

Nails

My favorite nail polishes come and go with the seasons and with my moods, which I think most of you can relate to. Though, there are those colors that I want to wear constantly and these are those polishes of 2013 that I got the most use out of. I don't always stick to the typical polish colors for the seasons, but my favorites clearly represent each category: gold for winter, pastel for spring, neon for summer, and oxblood for fall. In general, I like to change my nail polish every week or two, depending on how much time I have with school and all, but my polish is able to look fresh and acceptable for at least one week because I use four layers. I start with one layer of base coat, two layers of color, and end with one layer of top coat. This sandwich of nail polish really keeps my nails from chipping for quite a long time.

Winter Polish: Essie Pennie Talk

Spring Polish: Butter London Muggins

Summer Polish: Circus By Andrea's Choice Ringmaster

Fall Polish: Revlon Vixen

Glitter: Nailtini Nail Lacquer in Millionaire

Base Coat: Revlon Colorstay Gel-Smooth

Top Coat: Revlon Colorstay Gel-Shine

What hair and nail products were your 2013 winners?