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Monday, September 1, 2014

31 Day Challenge Day 1 - Red Nails


I decided I would try to take part in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, #31DC2014, hopefully I can keep up! I feel like I usually neglect posting to my blog, so along with this challenge I'm planning to post here more and this will help me do my nails more.

So, these are my Day 1 (Red) nails. I may not do art on all the first few manis in the challenge as there will be a lot of work in the coming days challenges. I hope you enjoy my journey, and more importantly I hope I enjoy it!




Friday, July 4, 2014

Independence Day Mani

Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone had a fun, safe holiday!


Here are the colors I used:
Sinful Colors- Why Not
Color Club- Sugarplum Fairy
Sinful Colors- Whisp (Franken jelly)
Salon Perfect- Star Spangled





Sunday, June 22, 2014

How to Clean Polish Out of Carpet



I can’t say I have actually lived through this mishap myself, but one of my close friends has. I’m going to share her experience of how she got black nail polish out of her light colored carpet, with you. I want to first say don’t do your nails in a carpeted area, but if it’s too late for that advice, hopefully this will help.

What you will need:


1. Use paper towel to soak up as much as possible. Blot DO NOT rub!
2. Use a small amount of acetone on a paper towel and blot. I don't suggest this because it could ruin the carpet fibers, but my friend did do this.
3. Scrub with shaving cream (must be cream not gel). Scrub, scrub, scrub.
4. Let sit for 20-30 minutes.
5. Clean with wet vacuum cleaner.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 until it is practically gone (probably 3-4 times).
7. Spray foaming glass cleaner on anything that is still deep down in the carpet and scrub hard.
8. One last go with the wet vac!
9. Don't do your nails near the carpet anymore!!


 

I hope this was helpful!



Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Water Marble Decals


So, I love water marbling but it is a serious undertaking for time and cleanup. My nail friends and I do weekly challenges. We did a decal challenge where we had to apply store bought or homemade decals. We also did a water marbling challenge and after the messy process of the water marbling, I decided I should try to make decals to make this process cleaner and hopefully less time consuming.


My homemade water marble decals.


I have also started doing home gel manis and love how long they last, except they last too long, I like to change it up before they "go bad"! I thought I would try a gel backdrop (blank canvas) that I could apply art to with regular polish. This way I can do my art then remove it and still have a blank canvas to work with!

Here is my blank canvas I started with for this water marble mani.


First you have to make the water marble decals.

What you'll need to make the decals:

  • Water marbling tools (bowl of water, polish, toothpicks, etc.)
  • Parchment paper (wax paper might work too, but I used parchment)
  • Tape (any tape that will stick to the parchment paper, I used masking tape)
  • Base coat
  • Toothpicks




Start by painting a clear base coat on parchment paper in rectangles (about 1X2 inches). Let them dry for a couple of hours or over night.  Next you want to cut into smaller rectangles and add a toothpick to the back of each.



It's time to do the water marbling! Here are some videos I used to learn how to do the water marble technique. Wait for it to dry well, then you can add a topcoat or leave it be, it's up to you. Save them for later or use them now if you can't wait!



What you'll need to apply your decals:

  • a base coat (anything clear will do)
  • a top coat (I like a quick dry)
  • tweezers
  • a means to clean up your cuticles (Qtips, brush etc.)
  • acetone for clean up
  • and your decals of course




Start with a base mani, I chose to do a white gel mani so I can remove this when I'm ready to do new art on the same blank canvas. Then decide what part of your decal you want on your nail and trim it, large enough to cover your nail with a little extra for wiggle room. Apply your clear base coat and immediately put your decal on face down. This is the side of the decal you didn't put the top coat on, if you did put a top coat it doesn't matter which side is up. Now use your finger to press the decal onto the nail, once in place crease the edges into the cuticles (don't use too much pressure or you risk tearing your decal), and push it down over the free edge of your nail. Now you are ready for some clean up, clean the edges with your brush and acetone. Now top it off with your favorite top coat and voila, low mess water marble!!







Sunday, February 23, 2014

Water Marble


This is a fun technique but can be tricky to get the hang of, so if you don’t get it the first time try again! Once you get it you will love it. I watched a lot of videos on YouTube to help me figure it out. If you want to check out some of the videos I liked you can see my YouTube playlist here.



How I did it…
1. Apply base coat (I used Gelous) 2. Apply background color. I used white but any light color should work, It will help your colors pop and if any little spots are missed they won’t show! 3. Tape fingers to make cleanup easier. 4. Make design with polish and dip fingers. 5. Apply top coat. All finished!!



Polishes I used left to right:
Gelous Base Coat
Sinful Shine “Wist”
Sinful Colors “24/7”
Sinful Shine “Royal Flush”
Sinful Shine “Break Away”
Spoiled “I’m So Jaded”
Seche Vite Top Coat




Saturday, February 15, 2014

NFL Nails



I’m not really a big football enthusiast but it’s always fun to take sides and make a little wager! I started a few weeks back when the Bengals were still in it (Bengals were me “home” team growing up). They lost to the Chargers so I had to do Chargers nails. Then the Chargers lost to the Broncos so I had to do Broncos nails. And when they lost the super bowl I had to do Seahawks nails.




Here are my Bengals nails, my “buy in” on the NFL nail challenge (#bhbNFLnails).

I used:
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear “Hot Tamale”
Sinful Colors “Black on Black”
Black Sharpee for the stripes



When they lost I had to do Chargers…

I wasn’t excited how these turned out L
I used:
A yellow e.l.f. that doesn’t have a name on it.
Revlon Colorstay “Indigo Night”



Then they lost to the Broncos…

I like these much better than the Chargers nails!
I used:
Sinful Colors “Snow Me White”
Sinful Colors “Cloud 9”
China Glaze “Travel in Coulor”
Finger Paints “Cerulean Seascape”



And my Superbowl nails… Go Broncos!

The blue was a little dark but a beautiful.
I used:
Zoya Pixie dust “Sunshine”
Sinful Colors “Snow Me White”
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear “Hot Tamale”




And the Super Bowl winner was…

The Seahawks! My favorite colors for the NFL mani challenge!



I used:
Revlon Colorstay “Indigo Night”
Sinful Colors “Innocent”
Sinful Colors “Snow Me White”