Nail Shapes

Sorry I've been on hiatus for so long, other projects and life just got in the way! I'm hoping to revive my blog and post daily. Since it is my first day back I wanted to pick up with a simple blog post about...nail shapes!

Round and square aren't the only nail shapes around today, there are so many nail shape variations. To the right, I've added a picture of some (not all) nail shapes. (This image was taken off of Google)

My nails tend to be long and rectangular with rounded edges. I would love to, one day, rock the daring long almond-shaped look. I'm just not quite sure I'm ready for all that filing and shaping O_O. But I would like to play around and change my nail shape one day because there are so many different looks you can do depending on your nail shape, it's so amazing! 

Which nail shape do you guys have, and which nail shape would you love to try?

Jelly Polish

Jelly polishes are hands-down my favorite kind of nail polish. A jelly polish is basically like a tinted clear coat and most times contains flakies or glitter. Since the polish is so translucent, you usually layer the jelly on top of a solid color but they're beautiful enough to be used on their own. I can't even begin to describe how much I love looking at jelly polishes in the bottle. They're so beautiful I almost want to eat them! Before I ramble on and on about how much I love jelly polishes I want to share a cheap and gorgeous jelly polish I found, and an even cheaper dupe of it!

I live in Hawaii and this past weekend I randomly wandered into an ABC store in Waikiki which is basically a touristy convenience store. I found theeeeee most gorgeous jelly polish with large flakies (TO DIE FOR)! The brand is called 'Island Girl' and the color is 'Mahalo Dream'. The polish was only, I believe, $1.99 but as far as I know you can only buy these at the ABC store. BUT last night when I was in CVS I found an exact dupe by the brand 'California' for the price of................79 CENTS!!!! What a steal! If I thought I hit the jackpot finding 'Mahalo Dream' I hit the megabucks finding its dupe! The California brand polish doesn't have a name so if you look for it it's #13. The polish is a sheer pink (looks light red in the bottle) jelly with small and large flakies... which just makes this polish ten times better! If you are a jelly polish lover you will absolutely love this one. And for the price, you surely can't go wrong!

Cloud Mani

Cloud manis are all the rage right now on Instagram. I don't think I've ever seen a look done so many times in such a short period of time! I'm pretty positive the reason for its popularity is because it's fast, easy, cute, and requires no tools other than your nail polish brush. 

In the tutorial below I used my three favorite colors from OPI's 'Pirate of the Carribean' collection which turned out to be a perfect color combo for spring. I hope you guys find this tutorial helpful and if you need any help don't hesitate to ask :) Happy painting!

Miss Marc

Another look I did using acrylic paint, Miss Marc by Marc Jacobs! I feel like a little bit of a cheater using acrylics instead of nail polish but nail polish dries too fast to do intricate work like this. And even though I feel like a little cheater, I probably won't stop anytime soon :)

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 :)!

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!

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!