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!

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 :)!

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!

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 :)!

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 <<

    

Asymmetrical Lines

Starring the taping technique...again! 

And using polishes from my favorite OPI collection, Pirates of the Caribbean!

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.