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.