Christmas Series - "Snowman Part II"

Hello Hello!

Are you guys getting ready for Christmas? Can you believe that it's almost here? I don't even feel ready yet.

Anyways, here's the second part of the Snowman like I had promised. Hope you guys like it. I apologize in advance for the crappy photo. I couldn't get the lighting to cooperate with me):

//Materials Needed & What I Used//
- base coat - OPI "Base Coat"
- blue color - Essie "Coat Azure"
- white color - NYC "French Tip"
- black color - Wet N' Wild "Black Cream"
- red color - CM "Red Glitter" Nail Art Paint
- orange color - Nail Art Paint "Orange"
- top coat - Sally Hansen "UV Top Coat"
- dotting tools

STEP 1.
Apply a base coat. Wait for it to dry.

STEP 2.
Apply the blue nail polish over the ENTIRE nail. I used only one coat of the Essie "Coat Azure". Wait for it to dry.

STEP 3.
Using your largest dotting tool, use your white color to create the head and the body.
To create the head I used my largest dotting tool and placed a dot where I wanted the head to be. I then started to place dots around the single dot going out. This helps keep the circle for the head of the snowman. You can make the head as big or as small as you want.
To create the body, I placed dots in an arch to create the silhouette of the body. I then filled in the body with my NYC "French Tip" nail polish.
Wait for this to dry COMPLETELY or else you will smear it.

STEP 4.
Using your black color, create a single line above the head. Then create a small box above the line and fill it in. This creates the top hat for the snowman.

STEP 5.
Using the red color you're going to create the scarf. I used my CM "Red Glitter" Nail Art Paint, and drew two curved lines. I followed the shape of the head and body to do this. At the end of one side of the curved lines, draw two straight lines going at an angle to create the bottom half of the scarf. Fill in the red.

STEP 6.
Using a dotting tool, use the black color again to create two eyes and two buttons (or 1 if your nail is short).

STEP 7.
Use your orange color mixed with white to create the light orange color. Use a toothpick and dab on the nail polish. You can create the nose in whatever shape you choose. I went for the typical carrot nose.
Wait for it to dry.

STEP 8.
Apply a top coat.

And that's all! Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Hope it helps!
Stace.

Christmas Series - "Santa Claus Head"

Hello Hello!

Here's the third in the Christmas Series. Hope you like it. I'm doing Santa's head in this tutorial, and I'll be doing one with his body later on. 

MATERIALS I USED. 

- OPI "Base Coat" 

- The label wore off but I used a nude color as my base 

- NYC "French White" 

- CM "Red Glitter" 

- Wet N' Wild "Black Cream 

- Forever 21 Pinkish color 

Step 1.

Apply a base coat. 

Wait for it to dry. 

Step 2. 

Apply one coat of your nude base color. 

Wait for it to dry. 

Step 3. 

Using the dotting tool and NYC "French White" create the top of the beard as well as the bottom of the hat. You're going to arch them. This is the set up for the face. 

Step 4. 

Use NYC "French White" to paint the bottom half of the beard. 

Step 5. 

Use CM "Red Glitter" for the top of the hat. If you cover the white part you've already done, simply use the dotting tool and reapply the white.

Step 6. 

Create the eyes. I used my dotting tool and Wet N' Wild "Black Cream". 

Step 7. 
Create the nose. I used my Forever 21 nail polish with the dotting tool.

Step 8. 
Apply a top coat.

There you have it. It's really simple and looks nice.

Hope that helps!
Stace.

Christmas Series - "Snowman Part 1"

Hello Hello!

Here's another one to the Christmas Series. Hope you like it.

MATERIALS I USED. 
- OPI "Base Coat"
- Essie "Coat Azure"
- NYC "French Tip"
- Wet N' Wild "Black Cream"
- Black Nail Art Paint
- Orange Nail Art Paint
- Sally Hansen "UV Top Coat"
- dotting tools

Step 1. 
Apply a base coat.
Let it dry.

Step 2. 
Apply two coats of Essie "Coat Azure". You can use whatever color you want as the background however.
Let it dry.

Step 3. 
Draw two dots. The bigger one on the bottom, and a small one directly on top of the bottom dot. I used my biggest dotting tool end and moved it in a circle to create the larger than average dots.
Let it dry.

Step 4. 
Use the dotting tool or whatever you have to create two small black dots for the eyes. I used  Wet N' Wild "Black Cream". Place the two dots on the top dot for the eyes.

Step 5. 
To create the yellowish orange color, I mixed my Nail Art Paint in orange with the white. Use this for the carrot nose.

Step 6. 
Same as Step 4. To create the buttons on the body.

Step 7. 
Using a striper brush, or a nail art pen, or brush, create two lines on the side of the body to create the arms.

Step 8. 
Use the dotting tool along with NYC "French White Tip" and place a small dot inside the eyes.
Use a smaller dotting tool and use the black inside the white in the eyes.

Step 9. 
Use a brush or striper brush, draw a short line above the head. Create a small square for the hat. Fill in the square.
Let it dry.

Step 10. 
Apply a top coat.
Let it dry.

There you go!

Hope this helps!
Stace.

Christmas Series - "Snowflake"

Hello Hello!

I know it's crazy! I actually updated twice in one week! I'll hopefully be finally able to post all the tutorials I have done for you guys. I'm on winter break, thank God so I'll have more free time!

Anyways, here's the second in my Christmas Series - the snowflake. It was really simple and it doesn't take that much time to do.

MATERIALS I USED.
- OPI "Base Coat"
- Spoiled "Your Fly's Down"
- NYC " French Tip"
- Nail Art Paint "White"
- Sally Hansen "UV Top Coat"
- (optional) small dotting tool or a toothpick - whatever you can make dots with 


Step 1. 
Apply a base coat. Seriously don't skip this step!
Wait for it to dry.

Step 2. 
Apply two coats of Spoiled "Your Fly's Down". You can use whatever nail polish color as your base. You want a contrast from the white however, so don't pick something light.
Wait for it to dry.

Step 3. 
Draw a dot in the center of your nail. You can also put the dot to the side if you want. This is going to be the start of the snowflake.

Step 4. 
Draw 6 lines going around the circle. DO NOT connect the line to the center dot.

Step 5. 
Start drawing two small lines per each long line. You should have a total of four small lines on each long line.
Wait for this to dry.

Step 6. (Optional)
Take your dotting tool and place a small dot on each of the small lines. 

Step 7. 
Apply a top coat.

There you go a simple snowflake nail design!

If you try this design or any of my designs out, send me a pic so I can see!(:

Hope this helps!
Stace.

Christmas Series - "Candy Canes"

Hello Hello!

I know I haven't updated and for that I sincerely apologize. I really suck at updating. ):
Since this month is Christmas and all that jazz, I thought I'd do a series on Christmas designs. Hope you like them!

I thought I'd start off easy. I decided to do a Candy Cane themed nail design, because it's one of the things I love the most about Christmas. I absolutely love the flavored Candy Canes. Anyways, here's the tutorial.

//MATERIALS NEEDED & I USED//
- Base Coat - "OPI Base Coat"
- White Base - "Wet N' Wild - French Tip"
- Red Glitter Nail Art Pen
- Top Coat - "Sally Hansen - UV Top Coat"

Step 1. 
Apply your base coat. Again this step is crucial because if you don't the nail polish will stain your nails, and turn it into an ugly color. I'm speaking from experience!
WAIT FOR IT TO COMPLETELY DRY.

Step 2. 
Apply an even coat of your white base. I used two coats of the "Wet N' Wild". You can change up the color to match up your favorite candy cane.
WAIT FOR IT TO COMPLETELY DRY.

Step 3. 
Start drawing random lines of the red nail polish on top of the base coat. It's completely up to you on how thick the lines are. Draw all the lines at an angle.
WAIT FOR IT TO COMPLETELY DRY.

Step 4. 
Apply a top coat. Viola! It's done.

Hope this helps!

Stace.

P.S If you ever try these designs, I'd love to see how they turn out!

Breast Cancer Nails.

Hello Hello!

I know I've been sucking with updating, but here's one just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Hope you like it!

Materials used:
- Nail Pro (can't see the name but its te dark pink color)
- NYC "French Tip"
- Glitter Art Polish
- OPI "Top Coat"
- I created the lighter pink because I didn't have it. I used the dark pink and mixed the NYC "French Tip" to create it.

STEP 1.
Paint your nails with a base coat. WAIT FOR IT TO DRY.

STEP 2.
Paint the nail with a dark pink color completely. WAIT FOR THIS TO DRY.

STEP 3.
Draw a oval shape onto the top center of your nail. I used a small thin paintbrush to creat the oval. This creates the top of the ribbon.

STEP 4.
Using the same brush draw two lines going away from the center. This creates the bottom of the ribbon. WAIT FOR THIS TO COMPLETELY DRY.

STEP 5. (OPTIONAL)
This step is completely optional. Using the same brush you used to creat the the ribbon, outline the ribbon with a glitter nail polish. WAIT FOR THIS TO DRY COMPLETELY.

STEP 6.
Use a top coat. LET IT DRY.

That's all there is to it. Hope you guys like this.

Hope this helps!
Stace.

Nail Shape.

Hello Hello!

I hope you're all doing well. So I was wondering, and hoping to take a poll to see which shape you ladies or gentlemen think is better. Now if you aren't too familiar with different nail shapes, it's because you've probably seen or have gotten your nails done in a square shape.

So I found this picture online that has different shapes of a nail.

- Pointed
So the pointed is kind of like the oval shape of a nail. It's a less intense version of the stiletto nail.

- Square
Probably the nail shape you've all seen or have gotten done. It's probably the easiest shape to do and it's sensible. If you're wearing acrylics, this has more stability than any other shape (in my opinion).

- Squoval
This shape is basically like the square, but with rounded edges. I've noticed that if I personally don't round the edges a little bit I tend to scratch myself because of the sharp edges of the square.

- Round
It tends to follow the natural shape of the nail. If you've ever grown out your natural nails, you've noticed it tends to round out the longer it gets.

- Stiletto
It's seriously intense. It's very pointy at the tip. Think of a cat's claw. It provides probably the least amount of stability and it'll break if done incorrectly.

I'm asking what you guys think the best shape is, because after almost 10 months of doing my own acrylics, I went out with a friend and got my nails done. I choose to do a cross between the stiletto and pointed tip. It looked like the stiletto nails, but less intense. Unfortunately when I went to erase the nail polish to another color my tips broke ): Unfortunately now I remember why I do my own nails, it's less expensive and I can't blame anyone but myself!

Here's the link for the survey. Please help me. I'm trying to redo my nails, but am currently indecisive on what nail shape I want to do.

Thanks!
Stace.

Dotting Tools Review.

Hello Hello!

When I first started I wrote about items around the house you can use as tools for your nail designs. The post is here. I used different things to make dots and they work! BUT I sold out. I went and got the actual dotting tools, just to see if there was a really big difference or not.

I purchased my dotting tools on eBay for $1.99 AND free shipping! A complete steal in my opinion since nail supply stores, Sally's Beauty Supplies etc. are at least 5x plus more expensive for what I purchased.

This is what I received in the mail. It took about a week to get here (since it came from China). In the packet, there are 5 dotting tools with different size dots at both ends.

<-----Here's what they came in.
What they look like at one end of the tool.


What they look like at the other end of the tool. What they look like at the other end. I noticed one end had a lot of different small dots. While the other had bigger dots. They actually work really well. I used them to do my floral nails I have currently and using these tools helped me a lot. I only used these tools and nothing else, no other thin nail art pen etc.

I think it's worth the money if you don't mind waiting for it to ship to you.

Hope this helps!
Until next time,
Stace.

P.S: Here's the person I bought my tools from pbyourlifestyle it's a direct link to their store and the actual product.

Tape Series - "Striped Half Moon."

Hello Hello!

I know you're probably surprised. A second tutorial within the same month!? It's been a while where I updated on a normal basis, but now, I have the resources to post. So everything will be a lot easier.

So for today's tutorial, I got inspired by the half moon designs I've been seeing lately. Now if you haven't seen this design before, let me try to explain it to you. You can wear it as a french nail design, BUT it's a lot lower than a normal french manicure. It goes I'd say about 2/3rds way down from the tip of your nail.

It's really easy and quick! I was inspired and did my own twist to it. I hope you like here.

Let's get started!

MATERIALS USED: 
- OPI "Natural Base Coat"
- Sally Hansen "French White Tip" as my base
- Kiss Nail Art Pen "Black" to draw the stripes
- Love and Beauty "Gray" for the tips.
- OPI "Top Coat"
- 3 Ring Paper Reinforcers from the Dollar Tree

STEP 1. 
As always, use a base coat. If you don't have a base coat, you can use a top coat. I do it sometimes when I run out of a base coat.
WAIT FOR THIS COAT TO DRY.

STEP 2. 
I used the Sally Hansen "French White Tip" over my entire nail.
Tip - I noticed as I did my nails you don't need to waste the nail polish and can do it about halfway on your nail - starting from the base. (YOU CAN IGNORE THIS TIP IF YOU WANT TO.)
WAIT FOR THIS COAT TO DRY.

STEP 3. 
I used my nail art pen to draw some lines. You can draw the lines in whichever direction you want. I choose to do mine in a slanted vertical lines. I only did the lines up half way to not waste nail polish.
WAIT FOR THIS TO DRY.

STEP 4. 
I took one reinforcer, stuck it on my skin and took it off a couple of times. This reduces the stickiness, and it won't pull off the nail polish. I placed it 2/3rds of the way down on my nail.
Then I took my gray nail polish and painted ABOVE the reinforcer.
WAIT FOR THIS COAT TO DRY.


STEP 5. 
Remove the reinforcer CAREFULLY. Put a top coat on.

That's it!
I hope you like it!

Until next time,
Stace.

Tape Series - "Sunburst"

Hello Hello!

So this is going to be what I hope the start of many series in which I'm going to try to use whatever's around the house. I'm going to try to use similar materials in the series. So here goes.

The very of the series is the "Tape Series". I'm going to be using any sort of adhesive to get a design on my nails.

//Materials Used//
- OPI "Natural Base Coat"
- China Glaze "For Audrey"
- Love and Beauty  "Glitter"
- Love and Beauty "Avocado"
- OPI "Top Coat"
- Regular Tape
- Scissors
-Tweezers

Step 1. 
Grab some regular tape and scissors. Cut any length of tape you want, I'd say not to go more than 2 inches. You're going to cut thin, thin, thin elongated triangles out of the cut tape. I got at least 4 triangles per piece of cut tape. That's what my tape pieces looked at. It's up to you how many triangles you cut, I cut about 5 per nail so a total of 20. Each nail takes about 5 pieces of elongated triangles.


Step 2.
Use any base coat you have handy or want to use. I really like and use quite often OPI's "Natural Base Coat". It dries really fast. WAIT FOR THIS COAT TO DRY.

***WHEN I SAY WAIT FOR A COAT TO DRY IS BECAUSE WHEN YOU PUT NAIL POLISH ON TOP OF WET NAIL POLISH, IT TAKES LONGER TO DRY.***

Step 3. 
I used China Glaze "For Audrey", and used Love & Beauty "Glitter". The second color is optional. I just wanted the glitter for that extra pop of color
WAIT FOR THIS COAT TO DRY.

Step 4. 
You're going to place the pieces of tape onto your nail. I used a tweezer just so I could get a better grip on the tape piece.
I started off by placing one piece in the center. Press firmly on the nail to ensure the tape sticks and doesn't lift. the pointy end should be pointing to your cuticle. Try not to place it onto your skin though. The second piece I placed to the left of center piece. Then the right. Then the furthest left and furthest right. Try to place points of the triangles, one on top of the other. It should look like the photo on the right.

                                              Step 5. 
Paint your nail with the second color. I used Love & Beauty "Avocado". Just paint your nail like you would do normally. WAIT FOR THIS COAT TO DRY.

Step 6. 
Use your tweezers to pull the pieces of tape off. It's important to remember the way you placed the tape to take it off the same way. If you don't you could potentially ruin the design.

Step 7. 
Don't forget to put a clear coat! I used OPI's "Top Coat".

That's the manicure. I just placed the designs on two nails so that they would stand out better.

Hope you like this tutorial.

Until next time,
Stace.

Start of a Series.

Hello Hello!

It's been a while since I've posted last, and again my bad. I started school and haven't had the chance yet to edit the photos to post. I'm slowly getting there. I have a ton of photos/tutorials to do, but it's just the editing that's killing me.

Anyways, I've noticed people do series in whatever their blogging, Youtubing, etc. So I decided to do a  series of different nail designs you can do with whatever's handy at the moment. My goal is to get at least a minimum of anywhere from 3-5 different nail designs using similar products. I'm pretty sure I'm not explaining this the way that I want to, but you'll see what I'm talking about.

Yeah that's it for now.
I'll be posting an actual tutorial right after this (:

Until next time,
Stace.

I'm Back....

Hello Hello!

I'm so sorry for the lack of posts. Honestly. I finally saved enough money and bought myself a new laptop. However, it's taking me a lot longer than anticipated to transfer everything I've had on my old laptop. Transferring from a PC to a Macbook isn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but it's just tedious.

Anyways, don't worry. While I was saving up money and what not, I did multiple tutorials. I just have to post them up, but for the most part as soon as I edit the photos they're all ready to go.

I just wanted to give you guys a heads up on what's been going on. I'm not giving up on this blog. It's just a lot harder to maintain than I realize.

Thanks for being understanding. Hopefully I'll have a  new post up shorty.

Stace.

Inverted Pointed French Tip.

Hello Hello!

Sorry for the lag of posts. I know I suck at this. My computers still not working and instead I'm in the process of saving up for a Mac desktop and I'm hoping if nothing goes wrong, I'll have it by the latest September, but I'm shooting for next month.

Anyways, here's a quick and easy tutorial. I hope you like it

//MATERIALS USED//
- OPI "Natural Base Coat"
- Wet N Wild "Heatwave"
- Kiss Nail Art Pen in silver

STEP 1.
Apply a base coat. (I know I repeat this, but honestly you'd be surprised how many people skip this step)

STEP 2.
Apply a base color. I only applied one layer of Heatwave because it was so dark. I usually apply two to get it a solid color with no nail color showing.
WAIT FOR THIS TO DRY.

STEP 3.
Using the Kiss Nail Art Pen in silver, draw a diagonal line from the side of the nail to the center of your nail tip. Do the same to the opposite side of the nail.

STEP 4.
Fill in the small triangle with the silver.

STEP 5.
Repeat step 3 & 4 for every single nail.
WAIT FOR YOUR NAILS TO DRY.

STEP 6.
After your nails are all dry, put a clear coat on to dry.

There you go.

Hope this helps!
Stace.

Acid Washed Nails.

Hello Hello!

I saw this tutorial and I thought it was cute. It took a while because you really do have to wait for each color to dry. You can do whatever colors you feel like doing. But for this "Acid Washed" design I went with the dark acid washed jeans look.
Hope you enjoy.

The materials I used (everything is written in the EXACT order I used):
-OPI "Natural Base Coat"
-China Glaze "First Mate"
-NYC "French White Tip"
-cotton swab drenched in nail polish remover
-OPI "Top Coat"

STEP ONE.
Apply a base coat. I get asked this a lot surprisingly. YES YOU NEED A BASE COAT. Using a base coat protects your nails from the polish and prevents it from staining. Wait for the base coat to dry.
*For this particular tutorial, I was liberal and uses 2 coats of my base coat*

STEP TWO.
Apply TWO coats of "First Mate". Wait in between each coat for it to dry.
WAIT COMPLETELY FOR THE COATS TO DRY BEFORE PROCEEDING ONTO THE NEXT STEP.

STEP THREE.
Apply ONE THIN coat of "French White Tip" over the entire nail.
WAIT COMPLETELY FOR THE COAT TO DRY BEFORE PROCEEDING ONTO THE NEXT STEP.

STEP FOUR.
Take a cotton swab dipped into nail polish remover and LIGHTLY remove the white coat. You're going for a distressed look. Lightly run in the area you want. Don't continuously rub the same area as you'll just remove the white and leave a line. It won't create the distressed look we're going for.
YOU CAN MAKE WHATEVER DESIGN YOU WANT.

STEP FIVE.
Repeat Step Four on every single nail.

STEP SIX.
Apply a top coat.

Hope this helps!
Stace

Simple Half Flower.

Hello Hello!

Sorry for not updating sooner, but things happen and my computers still not fixed sooo I'm using my phone to update you guys.

I did a quick "Simple Half Flower" and honestly it took all of 30 minutes including drying time. It's really easy and I hope you like it.

So here's all the materials I used:
-Confetti "Last Dance"
-Nail Art CM in white

I used one coat of "Last Dance" instead of using my typical two since it gave really good coverage and it's pretty dark. As always, WAIT FOR IT TO COMPLETELY DRY. Next I used the CM to draw the lines.



Step 1. Draw a curved line at the bottom center
Step 2. Draw a curved line on the opposite side of the first line. It should look like a pointy oval
Step 3. Repeat Step 1 & 2 to the right of the original pointy oval
Step 4. Repeat Step 1 & 2 on the left of the original pointy oval

That's it. I just did the design on my ring and thumb fingers. It's really quick and easy.

Hope it helps!
Stace

Update.

Hello Hello!

I know I know, I'm already falling behind on my promise of keeping this blog updated at least once a week. For that I'm sorry!

At the moment my computers not working -_- I dropped my computer and the screen won't show up. So I'm waiting for the repairs to be done. Hopefully it'll be soon.

I'll try to post up new tutorials soon, but it might be a little hard. No one else in the family has photoshop for me to use to watermark my pictures. I'll figure it out soon though.

One more final Tuesday and I'll have more time to post on here!

Thanks for your understanding.
Stace

Kiss Complete Salon Acrylic Kit Review

Hello Hello!

*Quick Update: I purchased this kit at Walgreens for $19.99, but I found the same product at Rite Aid for $17.99.*

So honestly I never thought I'd be sitting here writing a review on any product. I guess I've never thought about it because I haven't tried any product where I felt like "damn I have to let people know about it."
BUT I have found something that I absolutely love and I just have to tell you guys about. I used to do my own acrylic nails, but then I got lazy and I hated how much the acrylic liquid smelled. It used to stink up my whole house even with ALL the windows opened.
This is the product that I bought. "Kiss Complete Salon Acrylic Kit". I bought it at Walgreens for $19.99. It's a little pricy I know, but completely worth it. I've tried multiple at home kits from Sally's Beauty and they all suck and smell.

In Kiss' set it includes the following:
- 24 white tips
- 40 natural nail tips
- 20 sculpture nail forms
- apple fresh acrylic liquid masking formula (2g)
- acrylic liquid (14g)
- acrylic powder (9g)
- acrylic powder (9g)
- acrylic primer (9g)
- nail glue (3g)
- dappen dish
- 6" 2-way nail file
- beveled manicure stick
- professional acrylic brush

It actually includes a lot for just $19.99 in my opinion. I really like their white tips because they're shorter than the typical nail tips like at the salon so it's a little easier to cut and what not. The sizes were a little bigger for me simply because my nail beds are smaller than normal. So I had to file the sides down a little bit.
But I think the best part was the apple fresh acrylic liquid masking formula. I was afraid that the acrylic liquid was going to make my house smell like the other at home kits I've used. I followed their instructions and put the masking formula in and it honestly smelled like apples. Kind of like an apple gum. It wasn't that bad. You couldn't smell the acrylic liquid at all. COMPLETE BONUS! This is the first kit (trust me when I say first, I've tried a lot) that comes with a masking formula.

The kit also comes with a step by step directions on how to apply the acrylic to your nails. It's a little difficult at first. I remember the difficulty I had the first time I did my own. The directions in this kit however, made it so easy to do. If you're a first timer I think you should have no problems what so ever.

Now in almost every single kit I've ever bought, the brush ALWAYS SUCKS! The bristles always come undone and literally by the end of just one use I have to throw the brush away. The brush in this kit is pretty durable and works perfectly. I simply love it.

Seriously this is going to be my new go to kit whenever I need to do my own acrylics. Completely worth the money.

This was my end result(: I'm completely happy with how they turned out.

Hope this helps!
Stace.

Ninja Nails.

Hello Hello!

Here's another simple easy tutorial. This time it's a Ninja Themed Tutorial! I hope you guys like it. It seriously took all of 30 minutes to do them. It's by far the easiest thing I've done and it's cute. (Well I think so).

Here's all the materials I used. 

- OPI "Natural Nail Base Coat" 

- NYX Girls "Milano" 

- Wet N' Wild "Black Cream" 

- Kiss Nail Art Paint "05"

- Toothpick"

STEP ONE

As always START OFF with a base coat. Again not doing so and painting your nail with colored polish WILL STAIN your nails. Wait for this coat to dry.  

STEP TWO
Paint ONE coat of NYX Girls "Milano". I thought it was a pretty neutral base coat with a shine in it. It's kind of a glittery gold. I used this as my base. Wait for this coat to dry before proceeding onto the next step.

STEP THREE
Take the Kiss Nail Art Paint "05" and draw two lines horizontally somewhat close to each other. It doesn't matter how close or how far the lines are. The only part that matters is the center. It needs to be neat and tidy. Everywhere else doesn't matter. You'll be painting it. Wait for this coat to dry before proceeding onto the next step.

STEP FOUR
Paint the top half of the line with the Kiss Nail Art Paint "05". Repeat the step for the bottom half of the second line.

STEP FIVE
Take the toothpick and dip it into some Wet N' Wild "Black Cream". Put two dots in the center (where the "Milano" is) You're creating the eyes with the toothpick. This is what the finished product will look like.

STEP SIX
Use whatever top coat you want to cover the design so it doesn't chip.

As you can tell I'm a little bit messy with my nail polish. I don't really care if it gets on my skin/cuticle while I'm painting my nails. It's easily fixable.
This is what I do to erase any nail polish on my cuticle.
1. Grab a clean Q-Tip.
2. Pluck one end of the Q-Tip, to the point where there's hardly any cotton on it.
3. Dip it into nail polish remover, turn the Q-Tip around between your fingers to wrap the cotton around the stick and to remove excess remover.
4. Move the Q-Tip SLOWLY to remove the nail polish.
That's all I do.

Hope this helps!
Stace.

Dots.

Hello Hello!

So I recently did this nail design for my sister. It's super simple and it doesn't take long. I'd estimate it took about 45 minutes. This includes the drying time.

Here's all the materials I used.
- OPI "Natural Nail Base Coat"
- LA Colors (I bought this from the Dollar Tree)
- NYC Long Wearing "French White Tip"
- Toothpick

So as always I put at least one coat of base coats. If I have more time I put two layers on. It make it a little shinier afterwards. Always remember to let your nails dry before going on to the next step.

My sister wanted a nude base so she chose the LA Colors nail polish. This is what two coats looks like.  (Sorry it's a little blurry.) Always remember to let your nails dry before doing the next step.

Next I poured a couple of drops of the NYC "French White Tip" onto a piece of paper so I could dip the toothpick into.

Then starting at the top left corner of the nail, place one dot in the corner. Next put 2 dots on either side of the centered dot. Like in an "L" shape. You can curve the "L" or make it squared or follow the curve of your nail. The first layer of dots should look like the one on the right after you're done.

Next you're going to be placing dots above the dots you just completed. The dots don't have to match up. The only part I matched up was the centered dot on the second row. I put the same amount of dots (5) on the top. I spaced them out a little more so it went pass the first line of dots.

This is the final product.

Hope this helps!
Stace.

Nail Tips.

Hello Hello!

So I found this "Tips for Nail Care" on fashionshub.blogspot.com and I thought it was really helpful and I actually used and tried some of their tips and it helped. Hopefully it'll help you guys too!


"Tips For Nail Care":
1. To make your nails grow shiner and strong, soak them in almond oil for 5-7 minutes, then duo the nail brush into white vinegar. Rub them with it and this will increase the strength of your nails. (If this doesn't make sense I don't know either. I just copied what was written).

2. Sometimes excessive use of nail paint on nails and food deficiency makes your nail plate yellowish in color. In order to overcome this problem, dip your nails in warm water with some drops of lemon juice and make a mixture and soak your nails in it and rub it with white vinegar.

3. In order to avoid the breakage of a nail, apply a mixture of camouflage powder and lemon juice with a cotton ball on your nails.

4. If you feel pain around your nails then dip your nails in warm water containing peppermint in it. You will get relief from pain when you soak them in it for some minutes.

5. To make your nails look shinier, take two tablespoons of toothpaste and one tablespoon of lemon. Mix them together and make a paste. Now apply this paste on your nails and rub for 10 minutes, after 10 minutes wash them. You will notice a great change in the shine of your nails.

6. If you apply nail polish on your nails every day, try to take a break for two days in a week. Human nails need oxygen so this break will be good for your nail's health.

7. Dry nails get easily cracked. Use castor oil and lemon juice mixture to remove their dryness. This mixture helps keeps the moisture.

"Protection of Cuticle" 
Cuticle is the protective layer around human nails which protect the nails from different germs and dust. Some people remove them as they think this is dead skin. Use castor oil for maintaining the moisture of cuticle after every bath.

Hope this helps!
Stace.

Cherry Blossom Nails.

Hello Hello!

So the first nail tutorial I decided to make/write about was the cherry blossom nail tutorial I used myself for Easter and just recently did on my sister's nails. I thought it was possibly the easiest one to start off with. I hope you like it.

Here's a list as well as a picture of everything I used to do this nail design.
- Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen
- Forever 21 Love and Beauty "Lavender"
- NYC "French White"
- Kiss Nail Art Pen
- Toothpicks
- Not pictured but Dar 2 Wear "Coral"

The very first thing you need to do, and I can't stress this enough is to use a base coat. I know it's kinda like a duh who doesn't use a base coat? But you'd be surprised. A lot of people like to skip this step and don't think it's necessary, but it's completely important. I just bought this base coat and I love it. It doesn't even look like I have any on.

Every time I paint my nails, I always do two coats of whatever color I'm doing only because I feel that if I miss a spot or whatever the first time around I can get it the second time around. So this is two coats of the Forever 21 Love and Beauty "Lavender". Let the nail polish completely dry before putting on another coat. If you keep piling nail polish on without letting it completely dry, it'll take even longer for it to dry.

Next I took my Kiss Nail Art Pen in silver and painted one corner of the nail. You can make it as big or as little as you want. You can even skip this step if you prefer. The finished product looks like it does on the right. You need to wait for the glitter to completely dry because if you try to draw the lines (branches) it'll smear and drag the glitter. Again you can skip this step if you prefer.

So after the glitter dries, I took my Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen and drew random lines around the nail. It doesn't have to be perfect. I drew a line on the left side going straight up then drew branches extending from the original line. Continue to draw lines wherever you feel like putting it.You're finished product should look like the one on the left. Let the lines dry! If you don't when you place the dots its going to smear.

I placed some white nail polish onto a piece of paper so I can dip my toothpick easily into it. With the white nail polish on the toothpick I drew 5 random dots in a circle to create a flower. You can put the flowers wherever you want to place them. This is where I placed mine.

After the white dries, don't forget the center of the flower. I took my Dar 2 Wear in "Coral" and placed a center. This is what my finished product looked like.

You can use whatever colors you prefer to do this nail design. There's no limits on it. It's simple and easy to start off with. The finished product on my sister's nails.



Hope this tutorial helped you.
Have a great week!
Stace.