Quick Post on O*P*I Matte Polish

Hi everyone...I just needed to do my nails pretty quickly, so I decided to try the O*P*I Matte polish plain.  I think the thing about matte polish is that you either love it or hate it.  My mom obviously hates it...and a lot of women prefer a shiny finish.

I actually really like the matte finish.  It's pretty unique and I think people look and try to figure out what you're wearing on your nails.  The only problem I have with this polish is that it chips REALLY easily.  My right (dominant) pointer finger's polish did not even last 15 hours.  I had this HUGE chip where most of the nail bed's polish was gone, and I only had a little on the tip and moon area.  I have no idea what I could've hit or scraped against (I work in an office dammit!).

I guess the main reason that this polish chips easily is because you can't wear a top coat with it (well, theoretically you could...but then that defeats the purpose of a matte polish unless your top coat was also matte).  So yeah...  Just some quick thoughts!

Bang Cut!

So yeah...I was checking out my subscriptions on YouTube....and came across a video from SecretLifeOfaBioNerd.  Here's a link to the video:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94862175875 .
So basically she takes you through cutting your bangs into this cute fringe cut.  And me, being me, decided to try out this cut...oh come on, she made it look easy!!!!

So here's my before Pic:

Yes, my bangs were really long...they were due for a trim anyway!




(And no...I'm not pissed off, I didn't even realize that I wasn't smiling!  And not like I can do a take 2 right now! LOL)

And Here's my after pics!!

So yeah...I'm not too sure about how this fits my face, but it was fun to try.  Obviously it's not really THAT big of a deal to cut bangs because they grow out so fast anyway.  If only the rest of my hair would grow that fast!  I'd have tons of hair to work with for the wedding!  LOL

Butterflies!

So I've been thinking of designs I can enter into the contests, but I've been stumped for all but the x-mas one.  I just need some time for that one!

So in the meantime, my mom invited her friend over, and asked me to do her nails (paid in sushi!  Hellz yeah!!!).  Since she has short nails (casualty of her job, lol) I decided to do a simple design.

The entire time I worked on her nails, my mom was watching over my shoulder and giving me "suggestions" as to how to make it prettier.  Personally, I was just trying to be a realist, and keeping a simple design that could be maintained at her work.  But, of course, I listened my mom with the whole rhinestone thing!

What I Used:

Orly Tough Cookie

Nina Pro: Purple-Xing

Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Black

Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Red Glitter

China Glaze: Fast Forward

Hyundai Nail Art Pen

What I Did:

Yes, I said Hyundai.  I know I've never named the brand of the pen I used, but there you go.  They're like $2 each at Beauty Headquarters.  It doesn't tell me how much polish is in one pen, but I'm pretty sure it's alot!

Anyhoo, so yeah, what I did.

Step 1: Base Coat.

Step 2: Diagonal French with Purple-Xing.  (2 coats)

Step 3: Black strip across the nail with the Art Club polish.  I am more comfortable with making straight lines w/ the striping brush than I am using a pen.

Step 4: Using the Pen, make an outline of a butterfly on the thumb.  At this step, I tried to use the Migi Nail Art Pens that I had just received in the mail.  Now, this is where I was really disappointed.  The glitter does not go through the pen tip very well.  It's quite watery (?) versus sparkly.  Which changes my game plan for my entries.  I might not be able to do another Halloween Video because my pens aren't going to suit a drawing purpose.  They're great as a regular polish though.  The glitter is very pretty when I use the brush tip.  More on that later!

Step 5:  Draw dots on the rest of the fingers in lieu of the butterfly.  Her nails were too small for a more elaborate design on every nail.

Step 5:  Fill in the butterfly wings w/ the red glitter polish.

Step 6:  Top coat.

Step 7:  This is optional, but I put on red heart rhinestones.

Here's some pictures of the look without the rhinestones.

So the rhinestones give it an extra dimension.  But I thought it looked fine without them!  I mean, I'm not being stingy...the rhinestones are relatively cheap, but I was just thinking how much she uses her hands and how they were just going to fall off anyway.

I did decide to use nail glue instead of just the basic top coat method though.  I figured this would give the rhinestones an extra chance to "live", lol.  I guess the next time I see here, I'll ask how long they lasted!  I heard that with nail glue, accessories can stick to the nail for about a month. We shall see!

On a side note, I am happily awaiting a ton of things from eBay.  As soon as I get everything, I'll do a major haul blog.  Still debating on whether I want to do a haul video.  That would require me to actually be on camera and talk.  Not like my current videos where I just give you titles and subtitles. LOL!  I just don't think I photograph too well right now.  Although, on the plus side, I wore a pair of pants today...a year ago they wouldn't have fit.  So yeah, that makes me feel pretty good. ^^

I also just got a pair of snowboarding pants (DC) that look like jeans @ SkiDazzle.  I totally can't wait to hit the mountain and board again!  That should help me slim down even more!  

Got My Migi Nail Art Pens - Finaly!!!

So I was pleasantly surprised to receive my Migi Nail Art Pens today.  I think I had ordered them around....the 19th of October.

I had asked for the Glitter Black and the Glitter Gold.  I had not realized that they came separately (in the picture these two came as one pen).  But no biggie...I don't have a gold nail art polish anyway.

I have some excellent ideas for some contests I'll be making entries for this week.  I plan to submit another entry to BeenaPop's Halloween Contest, an Intermediate entry to meandmymakeup's Nature Contest, and also a entry to 3TanjaJ3's Christmas Contest.  The deadlines are coming up, so I gotta work fast.  I just wasn't ready to take off my polish today because I just did them soooo cute yesterday (yes, I <3 my ladybugs!).  So I'll be dragging my feet, but I'll get them done.  I hope. =) LOL

I'm guessing that Migi only sends 2 per customer, no matter how many contests they enter?  Cuz it would definitely be cool if I got 2 per contest, LOL.  I guess I'm just being greedy!

Now, you can kind of see the order form in the back...it's approximately $30 for 8 pens, so it comes out to a little less than  $4 each.

I haven't had a chance to try them yet...even my mom's nails are still cute.  So when I start making some contest entries, I'll update you on how I like these pens.  Right now I'm thinking that they're a little pricey, but if they work as great as I've seen on some videos, I think they could be worth it.  These bottles are also kind of small, so I'm curious to see how long the product lasts.

So yup!  Very excited to try these out...will keep y'all posted!

LadyBug Nails!

So I decided to enter another contest.  It's hosted by meandmymakeup, for Nature-Related Nail Art.

Here's my entry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKYKa-PAVNA

I did a slideshow instead of my normal video tutorial because it was easier and faster.  Plus I don't think it's that important to show how I put on my basecoat, etc.  Maybe I could've shown how to do the details with the nail art pen, but I was kinda shaky with it anyway.

Man, my right hand's art is awful!  But, whatever...practice makes perfect!

What I Used:

China Glaze: Fast Forward Top Coat

China Glaze: Turned Up Turquoise

Orly: Tough Cookie

China Glaze: Scarlet

China Glaze: Innocence

Black Nail Art Pen

What I Did:

My video will pretty much tell you the steps of how to get this look, but I'll go through the steps here too.

Step 1: Base Coat (Tough Cookie).

Step 2: One coat of Innocence over the entire nail.

Step 3:  Turned Up Turquoise on Diagonal French.

Step 4: Two coats of Scarlet - In a big Dot.

Step 5: Using the Black Nail Art Pen, draw in details of Ladybug.

Step 6: Top Coat (Fast Forward).

And there you have it!  Ladybug nails.  I've been wanting to do these for awhile, but I haven't received my Migi Nail Art Pens, so I've been using the generic one.  You can add rhinestones to this look, but I wanted to keep it simple since I was entering the beginner's category.

It was a fun design to do!  I had been thinking up Nature-Related designs since I came across the contest, and I hope she likes mine. =)

Matte Nail Polish

One of the things I bought at Beauty Headquarters was this O*P*I Matte finish polish.  I had just watched a review of matte polishes from EricaLeung13 on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t80KBSsZaEY  (if you want to check it out).  She uses Zoya in the video, but they don't sell Zoya at Beauty Headquarters (at least I didn't notice it...).  This O*P*I just happened to catch my eye because there's a big sticker on it that says "Matte" LOL.

I tested it on my mom's nails, although she was not thrilled with having a matte finish.  The color in the picture looks more brown than it does in real life.  It's definitely more purple.  I added a design to it, just to give it something extra, versus just keeping a plain matte polish.  I think the added sparkle gives it a good contrast from the matte finish.

What I Used:

NailTek (Base Coat)

O*P*I: Lincoln Park After Dark - Matte

Orly French Manicure: White Tips

Orly Glosser

Dotting Tool

Circle Rhinestones (1.5mm)

Heart Rhinestones

What I Did:

Step 1: Base Coat.  I used NailTek because this base coat is a little more matte than other basecoats.  I think the Orly Tough Cookie is a tiny bit shiner.  The bottle of O*P*I actually said to not use a base coat or a top coat, but since I was using such a dark color, I wanted a base coat to protect my mom's nails from staining.

Step 2:  Two coats of Lincoln Park After Dark.  The first coat was kind of messy and streaky.  However, it dried pretty quickly and after the second coat, I had a nice even finish.  My mom looked at her nails and was like...um, I don't like matte that much.  I think it does take a little bit of getting used to.  However, I thinnk my mom has a harder problem with it, because she's all about the shiny (haven't you noticed her bling? LOL).

Step 3: Using White Tips and the Dotter, I made 5 dots in the shape of a circle on each nail.  I kind of put the flower on different spots of the nail on each finger.

Step 4: I put a light pink circle rhinestone in the center of each flower, and a bright pink heart rhinestone on the opposite side of the flower.  I used the Glosser to stick the rhinestones on, but I tried to put on as little as possible because I didn't want the rest of the nail to be shiny.  I think the rhinestones might fall off easier, but oh well.  It's a sacrifice I had to make.  I'll keep you guys updated on the status of the rhinestones.

No top coat, so I could keep the nail as matte as possible.  As I said before, I think the added rhinestones is set off perfectly with the matte background.

I actually redid my mom's toes as well.  I didn't use the matte polish because toes go through a lot of wear and tear, and a matte polish would not last AT ALL.  So instead I used a purple glittery polish I got from Hot Topic and did the same design with the flower and the heart rhinestone.

Yes, I know her toes are dry!!!  She doesn't take care of them as much as she should.  And I think she's on her feet a lot during the day.

So that completes this look!

Star Nails

So yeah...I had two nails that were broken, and I was in denial for a little bit.  But now, I've cut all my nails so that the breaks aren't as obvious.  I used this technique by tartofraises1 on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FybQEXlCL8Y .  It's in French, but I think there are English subtitles, and you can just do what she does anyway.  It's not rocket science, LOL.  Anyhoo, it was an excellent way to cut down my nails a tiny bit, and I think it worked better than just cutting my nails dry.


Then I decided to follow on of her other videos on YouTube, and did this Star nail design: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS_CHr9Uu6M.  I didn't do a French manicure, and I tried out the glitter, but I didn't have the right kind...so yeah.  I ended up with one thumb looking funky, but the rest of my nails looking pretty decent (with the exception of my ring finger on my right hand, but you won't see that anyway! hehe).  I took pics of each step, but didn't take any "final" look pics, so we'll just jump into the directions (each step will show you what I used as well...I might take a pic of my polishes separately later and add it, but I can't right now).


What I Used and Did:

Step 1.  Base Coat.  I used the Orly Tough Cookie.  I've only used it twice, but I think my nails feel pretty decently strong.  Plus, since I trimmed them, my nails aren't curling under as much.  However, this could be because of many contributing factors.  BUT, bottom line, I need to drink more water!  I know...but I hate water!!! LOL


Step 2:  Two coats of China Glaze: Innocence.

Step 3:  Draw Stars using Orly: Reel Him In.  I put a couple drops of Reel Him In on a palette and used a thin nail brush (that I got from Sally's Beauty Supply) to draw the stars.  I drew one big one and a piece of one little one on each finger.  Admittedly this was pretty tough on my right hand, because I am definitely not ambidextrous.  I just went really slowly and used small strokes.

Step 4:  I used China Glaze: Glacier on just the stars.  I didn't do it completely covering the star, but just a drop on the center.  Then I used a dotter to drag out the polish onto the limbs of the star.


Step 5: I used Orly Glosser as a Top Coat, and before it was dry, I put a Silver Rhinestone in the middle of every big star.  I also put a purple rhinestone on the two small stars that were actually complete (one on my left thumb and one on my right pointer finger).


And there you have it!


In the video, tartofraises1 puts glitter around the edge of the star, but when I tried, my glitter was definitely too small.  When I went to the beauty supply store today, I actually found the correct kind of glitter..it's more chunkier.  So I bought two bottles to try out.  I also bought one bottle of the crushed shells to try out as well.  I saw a video using them, and I thought it was pretty cool.  Stay tuned for my next look!