Fishtail Braid Mani

Here's my last mani I took pictures of before my camera died. I had this on my nails for almost a week because I loved it so much! I used this tutorial to help me create this look.

First I did two coats of OPI Fiercely Fiona, a slightly greenish yellow, on each nail. Then to create the stripes I used butter LONDON Slapper and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City, a silver foil.

I'm also still really digging the oval nail shape on me! I haven't broken a nail since! I think I'll keep him :)

Nanny Nail-Art

The 9 year old girl I nanny for, K, is totally awesome and reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age. She's very creative and always has her nose in a book. She always enjoys seeing what I come up with on my nails, and occasionally I'll do hers for her.

The other day I jumped on the magnetic nail polish bandwagon when I picked up Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color in Silver Elements from Walgreens. The magnetic trend hadn't really peaked my interest, but it was less than ten bucks so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

I tried it out later back at home and IT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER!!! The design ended up being pretty cool but the best part by far was peeking under the magnet to see it doing its thing to the polish. It was like magic. I knew this would be something that K would be totally fascinated by, so the next day I told her I'd do her nails for her. Her reaction after seeing the first magnetized nail was pure shock and awe. It was hilarious. After every single nail she just kept saying "How does it DO that!?!"

I didn't get a proper photo of my nails with this one, but here's a photo of K's and my hands with our matching nails!

NOTD - Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Not A Peep

If you read my last post about Sally Hansen Salon Effects, you know how big of a fan I am of them. They're too expensive for me ($10 for a one-use kit) to use them all the time, but I just love them for special occasions or when you're in a pinch and you need to do your nails, but don't have time to wait for them to dry.

I picked up this spring design called Not A Peep. I wore these for Easter! It is a silvery white background with adorable little multi-colored birdies all over. I had a little bit more trouble applying these ones than the ones I've used in the past, however. They were definitely still amazing and held up really well (I wore them for I think 4 or 5 days before I got bored and took them off). But they didn't quite stick as well to the edges of my nails, and one of them tore a little bit as I was trying to press it down.

The other thing that bothered me, which I didn't even think about until I started applying them, is that the design only goes one way, unlike the other designs I've used. One thing I love about these strips is that each end is curved differently so you can choose which one fits the shape of your cuticle best. I wanted my birdies facing towards me, so for a couple nails I had to choose the side that was less suited to my nail shape.

But, overall I really liked this design. Still a huge fan!

Sorry about the dry-looking skin here. I wiped my nails with acetone before applying to make sure I got rid of any residue that would prevent the decal from sticking. 

Review of Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Spring Fever

Vacation, all I ever wanted...vacation, have to get away!

I just got home from being in South Florida for the week and I already want to go back! My mom lives in Hollywood, FL and it's always really nice to go down there and see her (and sit on the beach, of course!)

I learned one valuable nail lesson on my way down there last week. I packed a couple bottles of nail polish (color-coordinated with my bikinis, of course) in my carry-on wheeler bag. I thought nothing of it, being that each bottle is way below the 3oz. rule. Of course, they stopped me at security and had me unload my nail polish bottles. They wouldn't let me bring them through because nail polish is flammable. Which I knew, but my brain wasn't screwed in right that day I guess. So I ended up having to pay $25 to check my bag. (It was either that or throw out about $30 worth of nail polish!! THE HORROR!)

Thats where these Sally Hansen Salon Effects kits come in. Let this be a lesson to you (and me) - if you're going on a short trip where you only need a carry-on, pack one or two of these kits instead of nail polish bottles. You won't have to pay to check a bag, and you'll still be able to enjoy the versatility of changing your mani while you're on vacation!

I adore the Sally Hanson Salon Effects nail polish strips. This flowery design, called Spring Fever (pink, yellow, orange, and purple flowers, new for spring 2012), is the third design I've tried from them. They are on the expensive side ($10 per kit for a one-time use), but they are worth it for those times that you need to change your mani but don't have time to wait for it to dry. 

I wore this mani the entire time I was in Florida (8 days!) and it held up pretty well. I have some solid tip wear and a tiny chip or two. The reason I love the Salon Effects over other nail stickers I've tried is that they are not actually stickers - they are made with real nail polish, so once they are stuck to your nails, they're really on there! They do not peel off or bubble up. Then just use regular nail polish remover to take them off!

Applying them is pretty easy, and takes about the same amount of time it would for me to paint my nails. You don't use a base or top coat with them. Just make sure your nails are totally clean and dry. Each kit comes with 16 (I think) stickers of various sizes and shapes, so you can pick the ones that fit your nails the best. I included a thumb shot because I have pretty wide thumbnails, and the widest sticker actually covered my whole nail! Just peel the backing off and carefully line it up on your nail, then press it down. Use the enclosed nail file to file off the excess sticker. Then you're done! Easy peasy.

So, fat lot of good it did me to pay that $25 to check my bag. Shoulda just packed this Sally Hansen Salon Effects kit and I would have been good to go! Humph. Lesson learned, folks!

NOTD - Girly Glitter!

While on my Ajax run yesterday, I also picked up this little "gem". This particular color is called Be-Jeweled, from a new collection from Sally Hansen called Gem Crush. It's a light lavender purple micro glitter with large pink circular glitter that also flash holographic.

This photo shows the color most accurately.

The brush in this bottle is really weird. It's very wide, about the entire width of my pinky nail, and also very short with a curved end. It surprised me the first time I saw it, and I thought it was going to suck, but it actually worked very well for applying glitter polish. I applied two coats for these photos. Although you can kind of see the whites of my nail in the photo, you really can't see it at all in person; the glitter looks totally opaque.

The pink glitter is holographic from some angles.

It dries pretty quickly, and I think that's thanks to the brush; I didn't have to do a zillion coats to get it to cover evenly. I did do one coat of topcoat, but the glitter ate it up and it looks pretty matte once it dries. It's still insanely sparkly though. It feels gritty and looks bumpy, but that doesn't bother me.

Blingy glitter is not normally my style, but I think I'm starting to convert. This glitter, especially with its girly purple and pink color scheme, just puts a smile on my face. I'm sure that will turn into a scowl when I go to take it off, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it...