Follow me on my journey as a nail art addict for nail art, tips, tricks, and tutorials. Remember: There's never a canvas too small to paint! :)

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Acrylic Paint


The secret to doing these looks is using acrylic paint (shown below)! There are pros and cons to doing nail art with acrylics which I'll discuss.

 
Pros
1. When you put acrylics over dried nail polish, the paint can be wiped off with a Q-tip and water. This is helpful if you make any mistakes because, unlike with nail polish, you don't have to start all over again.

2. You can mix acrylics to make an endless number of colors! Therefore, you only need to buy the basic colors. This definitely beats buying hundreds of different nail polishes! Mixing colors is also helpful if there's a certain color you're trying to achieve.

Cons
1. You must apply a clear top coat over the acrylics to avoid the paints from washing off. If you miss any spot, the paint will wash off when you wash your hands, take a shower, etc. So you need to make sure your paint is covered well. A top coat must also be applied to brighten the color of the acrylics or else the colors will look dull.

2. Sometimes acrylics can dry very lightly so you may need to go over certain areas more than once.


I hope you guys will explore doing nail art with acrylics, the possibilities are endless! Happy painting :)!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Tiny Tips

I will be starting new posts called "tiny tips" in hopes of sharing some helpful hints and tips to make your beauty life a little easier. I decided to start off with something unrelated to nail polish for a change.


Over five years ago I lived in the college dorms and my mom was afraid I would cause damage with my hot tools. Her solution? A pot holder! This was such a genius solution because it protects surfaces from being burnt, easy to travel with, and lasts forever! The pot holder is made out of silicone which allows it to handle high heat. For travel or storage you can wrap your hot tool in the pot holder and then loosely wrap the cord around the pot holder (I know you're not suppose to wrap your cords, but I can't stand tangles!). And lastly, I've had my pot holder for years and it's a little dirty but still in perfect shape!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Caution: Wet Paint

I've wanted to do this wet paint/dripping paint look ever since I first saw it ages ago. However, I held off on doing it because I've seen it done so many times, but today I finally decided to check it off my list! This look received so much positive feedback on Instagram so I decided to film a short tutorial. This look is very easy, quick, and cute! I hope you guys find this video helpful and I hope you will share your take on it if you decide to try it out for yourself!


Ice Cream x Sprinkles

What's better than nail art? Yummy nail art! The video below is a tutorial for a look I did inspired by ice cream with sprinkles....my not so guilty pleasure! I loved this look so much that I wore it for about three days...and for me, that's a long track record! For my 'sprinkles' I used holographic glitter, if you don't have any don't be discouraged! This look will look just as cute with colorful dots! Enjoy this ice cream look on your nails, but be careful not to let them tempt you into taking a bite!


Saturday, February 18, 2012

Hype or Gripe?

I recently ventured into Essie polishes and I'm really torn between whether it's a love it or leave it type of product. The colors I own are, 'Lilacism' and 'Need a Vacation'...with the exception of 'Cherry Pop' which is more of a top coat.

First off, I do like Essie polishes because they look so beautiful in the bottle and their colors are gorgeous. BUT, there are some things I really don't like about them....

- The polish is too sheer and I need to apply three or four coats to reach opacity. And I feel if I'm going to spend $6-8 on a polish, it should be easy to apply with just a couple coats.
- The polish is streaky (another reason why I need to use more coats).
- Chips easily because you need to use so many coats.

I know I might have stones thrown at me for this post but I wanted to see you feel the same, or maybe if it's just the colors I chose. I do plan on giving Essie another chance because I know a lot of people do love their polishes and because their colors are too irresistible. I hope with more experience I can turn my gripe into a hype.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Nail Art Gallery


Although my previous post showcased all my previous nail art work, I went ahead and added a 'Nail Art Gallery' link to the top of this blog. This link will take you to my nail art gallery where you can see all previous work, and a products list. Enjoy :)

*Edit*: I just wanted to add that if you look at my nail art gallery you will see I use the same colors over and over. This means you don't have to have a whole huge collection of polishes to do different looks. Be creative and use your colors in different way, you'll see your colors will go a long way! You'll see the three polishes I use the most are:
1. OPI - 'sparrow me the drama'
2. OPI - 'planks a lot' 
3. OPI - 'mermaid's tears'. 

I love these colors because they compliment each other well and at the same time are three totally different colors. So, if you're on a budget try to find a few colors you love that go well together. Finding colors from the same collection is the easiest way to do this (my top three used colors are from OPI's 'Pirates of the Caribbean' collection).

I hope this helps you build your own little (or big) nail polish army! Happy painting :)!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Compilation

I've compiled pictures of all my nail art from oldest to newest. I hope you guys enjoy these pictures and become inspired to try them out yourself and make them your own. Please let me know if you would like to know any of the brands&colors of polish I used. Happy painting :)!
 COMPILATION 

>> CLICK TO ENLARGE PICTURES <<
    

Friday, February 10, 2012

Asymmetrical Lines

Starring the taping technique...again! 
And using polishes from my favorite OPI collection, Pirates of the Caribbean!



Thursday, February 9, 2012

Seche Vite DUPE??


About a month ago, my sister bought me a glitter holiday set from Color Club. In the set was a clear coat, I was a little disappointed thinking it was another crappy polish..I would rather have had another glitter polish! BUT I was surely wrong. After trying the clear coat a few times I started to realize it was much like Seche Vite's 'dry fast top coat'! Now, if you haven't tried Seche Vite's top coat yet, I don't know what you're waiting for...run out and buy it right now! ...But seriously it is amazing and drys really quickly!

CC polish has the same thick consistency as SV's (which can sometimes be tricky). And it dries quickly too. I might be crazy, but I think I found a SV dupe!! The SV top coat can range from about $6-8 whereas the CC clear coat is around $2-3. Saving $3 might not sound like much of a bargain to you but for someone like me who buys polishes all the time, I think I hit gold!

Of course I will always be loyal to Seche Vite and will continue to purchase their top coat, but I will be using Color Club's clear coat more often. 

Please let me know if you have tried both polishes and whether or not you agree or disagree :)

Half-moon x Scalloping

One of my most favorite nail art designs combines the half-moon and scalloping technique. I love this look for many reasons:

1. The half-moon technique is so easy to do when using reinforcements* as guides. 
2. There is something elegant about the scalloping technique that I love no matter how it is used! 3.Using a white polish makes the look so clean and mimics a french manicure.
4. You can add accents to scalloping which I absolutely love to do, glitter is my weapon of choice.

View my tutorial on this look and try it for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed.....and well, if you are...let me know and hopefully I can give you a  few pointers :)


 


* Reinforcements are used to reinforce the weak or broken holes in folder paper. You can purchase these at any drugstore in the school supply section, or a office supply store.

 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Starting Out

It is only fitting that I start my nail blog talking about where my nail polish obsession began. I started doing nail art at least four or five years ago when I was in college. I was never obsessed with it like I am now but I definitely loved me some nail polish! I live in Hawaii but went to school in San Francisco and I can remember always lugging my Roxy makeup case filled with nail polish back and forth from HI -> SF -> HI. I was never a light traveler and my nail polishes were no exception. I always had to have them just in case I wanted to paint my nails, and no color was left behind because of course you never know what color you're going to want to paint your nails! Looking back this sounds so crazy because at the time my nail polish stash had to have weighed at least 5lbs, and you were only allowed 50lbs per bag with the airlines...and like I said, I'm no light traveler so everything had to come with me! I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was destined to be obsessed with nail polish and nail art! So in closing I leave you with some nail art I did when I first started, sloppy painting, short nubby nails and all.


Top (left-right) : pink barbie-ish, gradient
Bottom: (left-right): animal print, zebra print