Pink Glam Nail Mani

It's been awhile since I posted! I am so sorry! I have been very busy. But I think you will like this one and I hope this makes up for it.

I am going to post most of the steps for this one but not all of them because it's actually quite easy and like a lot of my other tutorials.

What you will need:
- Base and Top coats
- All over color ( I used IBD Funny Bone - a pink gel color)
- Sliver glitter (or lose glitter)
- Rhinestone gems (I used stars and a square one for my pinky)

Start by prepping your nails first (file, clip etc) then paint all of your nails with your base coat. Next paint all of your nails with your all over color.

Next, on your thumb, use a toothpick or orange stick to apply three star rhinestones in a row. Use clear top coat to get it to stick to your nail.

Then apply a single gem to your pinky. Paint your ring finger with silver glitter. On your pointer finger do an ombre effect and just paint the tip of the nail.

Make sure to put a nice thick top coat on the nails that have the gems. I start by putting a small dot of top coat right on top of the gem then use the brush to even it out. This allows to get a good thick coat so the gems do not fall off.

Be creative and have fun!

Polka Dot Fun!

Dust off those dotting tools and lets have some fun with polka dots. I am not a huge fan of the dot manicures but I tried this one and liked it alot. I did this one with regular nail polish but I am sure it can easily be done with the gel polish as well.

For instructions on how to do gel nail polish see blog post here. For list of what you will need to do your own gel nails at home look at this blog posting.

What you will need:

• Dotting tool, like this one
• Dark all over polish. I used purple
• Three lighter colors. I used two different shades of pink and white.
• Base and Top coats.
• Small piece of foil

Step 1: Prep nails like normal (clip, file, etc) then paint your base coat and let completely dry.

Step 2: Paint your all over color. Add a second coat if needed but let dry completely in-between coats. 

Step 3: Start with one color at a time, and use your dotting tool to dot a few medium sized dots in a diagonal direction across your nail. It's easiest if you place the color on a foil piece and dip the dotting tool onto the foil instead of trying to dip the dotting tool into the bottle of polish.

Try dotting a few dots onto the foil before you dot onto your nail. This will ensure you have the right size dot, and you do not have too much polish on the tool.

Step 4: Repeat step 3 for each color. Let dry completely.

Step 5: Finish with top coat and let dry. 

Try different color combinations or try using glitter or other fun accents. Enjoy!

Heart and Design Mani

Fun and cute but I smeared the heart! 

I had fun playing with some designs. I got the idea for this manicure from a picture I saw on Pinterest. It didn't turn out perfect but it was a lot of fun.

I didn't take pictures to do a tutorial but it was actually quite simple.

Thumb: Paint nail with the two colors. Don't worry about making the line even because you will just put the gems over it. Once colors are mostly dry place the gems in a line down the nail. See easiest way to apply gems in this post.

Index Finger: Paint all over with the lighter color. With the darker color add a heart. See how to do the hearts in the heart mani tutorial.

Middle Finger: Paint the entire nail with the dark color. Once nail is mostly dry but still a little tacky, apple the gem towards the cuticle of the nail.

Ring Finger: Paint all over with light color. Once light color is dry, paint stripes in different directions. There is no rhyme or reason to this one, just so it looks good.

Pinky: Just like the middle finger, paint the entire nail with the lighter color. Once nail is mostly dry but still a little tacky, apple the gem towards the cuticle of the nail.

Top coat, let dry, and you are done!

**Make sure when you top coat, do two coats on the nails that have the gems.

Another angle, the last pic didn't have the ring finger! Whoops...

Fun Easter / Spring Nails

Today just a quick tutorial for a great spring or Easter nail. I like this take on an Easter Egg without being too literal about it.

I got this idea from a Pinterest pin, so I cannot claim the creativity on this one. However, I loved it so much I had to try and recreate it.

Start by taking an all over color. Choose something light so that the overlay will show up. I chose Harmony Gelish Seafoam.

After you paint your 1 or 2 coats of an allover color, paint a diagonal line with your thin nail brush with a black.

Fill in the tip of the nail from the diagonal line up with black polish.

Using a dotting tool, make medium sized dots over the black polish.

Use a thin nail brush to create a glitter accent diagonally where the light color meets the black.
Lastly, finish with a top coat!

I will post pictures when I do it next :-( sadly I didn't have my camera while I was doing this.
Enjoy!

This was done with gel nail polish. The base color is
Gelish Harmony Seafoam

St Patty's Day Clover Manicure

Ayyy mi lads and lassies! It's that time of yer again....

Green beer, corned beef and cabbage, awful Irish accents, and lots of green! Whatever you do to celebrate  be safe and have fun!

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, I've added a special Clover Manicure just for you. Yes you! If you've seen or attempted my hearts manicures in the past, you will find this super easy as its just a few hearts connected.

Start by painting your nails as normal. I painted my nails green and left my ring finger a glittery gold color. This is the finger I will add my clover accent.

Once you've got your nails painted, on a piece of foil, put a small dollop of green polish.

Put small amount of polish on foil

Using a dotting tool (i got mine on amazon), create three sets of two dots next to each other. This will be the start of your leaves for the clover. I am doing three leaf clover. If you want to make a four leaf clover just make sure you have enough room.

You will want to use a medium sized dotting tool. If it's too big, the dots will run together. If the dotting tool is too small, you will not get the right size you need for the leafs.

Small dots next to each other to start the leaves

Now, put a large dot in the middle of your smaller sets of two dots.

Add large dot in middle

Start to blend all the circles together using the smaller end of your dotting tool. You don't necessarily need to add any polish, just blend the dots to look like a clover.

Blend circles together

Lastly, add a stem at the bottom of the clover. I did this with the small end of the dotting tool. 

Last step: add stem

Here is the finished product. It's pretty easy try it a few times on the foil if you want to practice before you try it on your nails. Add more accents or add some dots around the clover for something a little different. If you have black polish and a thin nail brush, feel free to outline the clover with black polish!

Now go out there and drink lots of beer, eat lots of food, and show off your new manicure! 

Heart Mani/Pedi



Cute little hears and dots. Awe, now that's better than a
Valentines Day card!

I am not a huge fan of the big Hallmark Holiday we all know as Valentines Day. However, I do love an excuse to have cute pink fingers and toes!

This called for a heart mani/pedi.

Please excuse the condition of my toes (in the pic below), I got surgery done on my arm which resulted in me being in a sling, and I have not had the mobility to properly take care of my feetsies at the moment. I am ashamed!


I messed up the lower right of this heart, but you get the point.
Use a dotting tool to create two large dots, then blend them
down to a "V" to create the bottom of the heart.

Either way, the manicure is still really cute and easy.

The dots - easy, use a dotting tool.

The hearts, use a dotting tool (large one works better) dot two dots right next to each other. Next, put another dot below the two large dots. Then use a smaller dotting tool (or a toothpick) to blend them together in a heart shape.

Try dotting all the way around with accents, or using different colors. Be creative!

Below is my attempt at some photo instructions. I hope it makes sense, it really is easy so it's hard to show how to do it!





 

Step 1: Use large dotting tool and dot
two right next to each other

Step 2: Put a smaller dot just below the
two larger dots

Step 3: Using a smaller dotting tool
(or toothpick) blend the
dots to look like a heart.

Pink Zebra Nail

Make sure to let each coat dry before moving onto the
next step

Tried one on my own this time. It was actually pretty easy, just a little time consuming. I haven't tried this with the gel polish yet, this is with regular polish.

~ Start by painting a base coat
~ Paint nail with a bright pink
~ Using a light pink, paint a diagonal tip
~ Using black polish, paint zebra lines (use a really thin nail brush and paint little squiggles)
~ Paint a silver accent across the nail where the light pink and dark pink meet
~ Paint top coat

Use a thin nail brush for zebra stripes and silver stripes

Ladybug Nails

I have seen these cute little bugs all over Pinterest and nail blogs for awhile. So today I finally decided to paint these gals on my fingers. I used the instructions found in the DIY Nail Art book by Catherine Rodgers as a baseline, but added my own things here and there.

I started by painting my nails red.

Next drew a line down the center of each nail with black polish.

Then drew a small half circle kind of shape at the base of each nail.

Then, I filled in each half circle with black polish.

I used a dotting tool and dotted the spots on the lady bugs.

Lastly, I used the same dotting tool to add the eyes.

I love the way they turned out! I will be doing these again.

Lady bug nail art

Tiger Nails - Rawr!

Tiger Nails! Rawr! 

Ok today I am posting another idea that I got from the book 'DIY Nail Art' by Catherine Rodgers. Like I said in some of my other posts, I am not clever enough to think of these ideas on my own and you should check out her book here, on amazon.

At first, I thought this one may be difficult but it was actually pretty easy and even better, the nails turned out pretty well!

I changed the instructions a little from what she posted in the book so here is my take on it:

Paint nails white first.

Then using a small make up sponge, blot 2/3 of the way with the yellow.

Then blot the tip of the nail with orange.

Use a gold or orange glitter and blot all the color.

Using a nail art brush paint black stripes.

Lastly, use a top coat!

Get creative and let your inner tiger out!

New Book = New Nails!

I got a book for Christmas and I love it! It's called DIY Nail Art. The next day I tried one of the ideas in the book, and I loved it.

I am going to try a lot of the ideas and post them on here. I first want to give credit to the book and the author. 'DIY Nail Art' by Catherine Rodgers. I am not creative enough to come up with some of these on my own so check out her book. You can find it on amazon here.

Here is the first one I tried. It looked like it was going to be super complicated but it was actually very easy. Like the author states in the book, the biggest thing is to ensure you make sure each coat completely dries.

Turned out great! I was having a little trouble with the stripes, but I think that will come with time. I will be trying another one very soon.

Pink Cheetah nails with silver Zebra stripes over black.

Ho Ho Holiday Nails #2

This one was easy. Most of my nail posts are... because I am not too good at this yet and anything super fancy doesn't seem to turn out!

I did red then topped it with gold. Then I did a green tip.

Easy and cute!

I did the red and gold with gel nail polish
then a few days later added the green tips with
regular polish so I could take it off
if I got bored of it.

Easy Holiday Nail

I've been absent for a few weeks. The holidays have been coming and I've been busy. That's not an excuse not to post at least a nail idea.

So here is my easy holiday nail tutorial.

Step 1. Paint all over green.

Step 2. Use scotch tape (nail must be completely dry) and create a diagonal design.

Step 4. Paint red over exposed nail.

Make sure underneath color is completely dry before you put
tape on or it will ruin the effect.

Step 5: Remove tape and paint over with top coat.

I told you it was easy! Happy Holidays!

Cute Wedding Gel Nail Idea

Simple, cute, and elegant. If you want something a little different than french tips, this is a cute idea. Try doing a gel polish for your wedding nail instead of acrylic. That way you won't have to get used to the longer nails, and this can give you a more natural look but give you the lasting chip free protection!

Gelish Harmony color - Princess Tiara with waterfiled on ring finger 

Stripe Tip Manicure

Blue gel with gold stripe

Again with the easy. I like quick and easy but something a little different.

Today I went with a shimmer blue and accented it with a gold stripe. I did do this with the gel polish. You can obviously do it with regular nail polish too, just carefully apply the stripe before your top coat. I would do this while your under coat is still a little wet to help the stripe stick.

Now with the gel polish, a friend and I tried doing it after the cured top coat. We did this thinking that the tacky color layer would cause the manicure to have imperfections etc. But the stripes did not stick well to the cured top coat, so this time I did this after my second coat of cured polish color. I did not spray with alcohol or do a top coat. As the color was still tacky from the color coat the stripes stuck perfectly.

If any of the edges started to come up, I just used my orange stick to put them back in place, then did the top coat over all nails and cured. Worked great!

Blue gel polish with gold stripe

Criss Cross Nails

Really easy and really cute!

OK did a manicure on a friend last night with the gel polish and decided to add a little bling to it. We did a silver ribbon and randomly criss crossed the ribbon on her different nails.

Do your normal color first. then before the top coat add the ribbons. Then top coat and you've got a little extra bling to you manicure!

Thanks Tiffany for being my hand model :)
We left the pinkies plain and crossed the rest. 

Bella's Vampire

For all you gel nail fanatics out there, I had to post my most recent gel manicure. This color was perfect because it's a deep blood red/purplish color and it's almost Halloween! The color is called Bella's Vampire. I have to admit I am a huge Twilight fan, but that's not why I bought the color. I bought it because it's a beautiful color.

It looks almost black in non-natural light. But when you go into the sun, or rooms with lots of natural light you can see the purple color start to come through.

I topped my ring fingers with a gold glitter for accent. If you are wanting instructions on how to do the gel manicure, go here.

Anyway, wanted to post my review on this color. Please excuse my messy cuticles. I was doing this manicure in room that was not well lit, thus I got color on the cuticles which I always try to avoid.

Enjoy!

Gel nail polish, Bella's Vampire topped with Vegas Nights -
Gelish Harmony brand

Easy Candy Corn Nails

In festive fashion, I have decided to post my candy corn nail tutorial. The one thing I don't like about most candy corn nail tutorials is the fact that the tip can get really thick. So I tried this one last October and it worked great. I also added a layer of gold glitter to give this some pizzazz!

This can be done with regular polish or the gel polish. I did mine with the gels. I had a bunch of neon colors, so I used my neon yellow and orange to make it stand out even more.

First things first; prep your nails as needed. (file, cuticle pusher, clip, etc)

Now, start with your base color. Some people like the white by the cuticle, I decided to have white tips to play off the French manicure.

Don't paint all the way up. Just 3/4 the way. I should have left more nail showing than I did. Because I didn't, it caused the white to show the yellow through just a tad. So don't go as far as as I show here.

The reason why I went 3/4 of the way up is so I don't have to do multiple layers of the orange.  This makes it faster and so it's not so thick.

Next stripe your orange. If you paint a stripe horizontal across your nails, it's much easier to get a straight line. It's OK if you get color on your fingertip. Use an orange stick to get anything that runs. Also make sure you don't have too much polish on your brush.



Now, repeat the above step with your last color.

If you want, top with a glitter.

Lastly, paint your top coat.

As you can see, they are not thick at all and super cute! You can do the same thing for the 4th of July with red, white, and blue!

Candy Corn nails with glitter. Easy and festive!

ZOMG! Super cute easy nail polish

I did this the other day and had to post. So cute and easy. Had to share!

Step 1: Paint your base coat.

Step 2: Paint the tip with your accent french tip color. Note: you do not have to have this in a perfect line, we will blend the tip.

Step 3: Take a make up sponge and lightly put polish on the tip of the sponge. Lightly blot and blend the color so you can't see the hard line of the french tip. Repeat step 3 until desired color is achieved.

You don't need a lot of polish on the sponge.
Instead, blot multiple coats.

Step 4: Light paint over the tip and just a little further down from the blending with an accent glitter.

Step 5: Paint with Top coat.

Note: You can do this with the gel polish as I did below, just make sure you cure each time you put any polish on.

You can see on the pinky I didn't blot as many coats and you can see the hard line.
Ensure you blot enough coats so you can blend the line.