Double Diagonal French Manicure

So I went to this store in Pasadena called "Style 7", because I heard they sold rhinestones for really cheap.  To my surprise, they were extremely cheap...but Style 7 isn't a nail/beauty supply place.  So (IMO) you better get it while it lasts!

So this look is kind of based on MadelleTV's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBHiFq9tFc8&feature=channel

It's pretty much the lazy version of it.  She does all these cute lines and dots....I just did rhinestones.  Well, I knew I wanted rhinestones, because I was dying to use the ones I just bought, LOL.

What I Used:

Orly: Tough Cookie Base Coat

Orly Glosser

FingerPaints: Palette of Platinum

China Glaze: Glacier

Nina Ultra Pro: Purple-Xing
Palette of Rhinestones

What I Did:

First, I put on one coat of Tough Cookie (yes, it's new!!).  Next, I used the Platinum and put on two coats in a really deep diagonal French.  Third, I put two coats of Purple-Xing in a more shallow diagonal French.  Then, I put on a coat of Glacier over the Platinum, just to give an extra sparkle.  To dress it up a little, I put some Glosser down along the border of the Platinum and put on some purple rhinestones.

Overall, I think the nails turned out really nice.  It was definitely a fun design to do...putting on rhinestones is very....soothing.  LOL!  I'm planning on changing my own nails soon and maybe in a few weeks, I'll be able to fully review Tough Cookie. =)

Sephora's Cleopatra Kit

So I was at Sephora, just planning to buy a white eyeliner (who am I kiddin!), and I noticed they had these REALLY cool Halloween makeup kits.  So of course I had to buy one!  The stuff inside each kit is approximately a $65 value, but the entire kit is only $19.  Who could resist?  Here's the link if you're interested in buying it: http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P248830&categoryId=C19441&shouldPaginate=true

So basically it comes with some tint/glosses, a black eyeliner, an iridescent purple eye crayon, a peakcock-ish colored glitter eyeliner, falsies, and a Gold glitter spray (okay, seriously, I really bought the kit for the glitter liner and the glitter spray, but I feel like I got the rest of the stuff for free!  LOL).

Inside the box cover, there are instructions to create 3 different looks:  Greek Goddess, Peacock, and Cleopatra.  Since I was just messing around (not wearing this look outside!), I decided to play with Cleopatra because that was the most difficult and this would give me practice.  I think my eyes turned out pretty decent....

I have more pictures up on Facebook, but this is a better shot because I'm smiling and you can't see both eyes.  Hahahaa...yeah, I tried like 5 times and could not get my eyes even.  I'll have to plan out the lines better next time (and yes, there will be a next time!).

Overall, the instructions were pretty easy to follow, and they had pictures (although extremely tiny) of what each look is supposed to look like.  For my next try, I think I want some golden powder.  And a deeper golden lip gloss.  On my lips, I have a bright red color, but a gold gloss on top.  I wanted it to shimmer more, but it didn't turn out how I hoped.  But like I said, this is just practice.  (And....yeah, I hate to admit it, but I'm not even going to be Cleopatra for Halloween!)  Hmm..although...maybe I can convince a certain someone to dress up...and then we can go as Cleopatra and Mark Anthony!  Hahah, fat chance, but a girl can dream, right?

It didn't occur to me to put my hair down for pictures until after I had already uploaded them.  Grrr...next time!

New French on Mom and Me!

Well, I obviously didn't keep my Halloween Nails on very long. I decided to do a different look.


I did my my mom's in a diagonal French, with glitter at the border of the tip. This is based on EricaLeung's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvpxvukYT84

Afterwards, I did my own nails, with a more involved design (hey, my mom rushed me on hers!).  This is more like an Arrow French, but it really is just two opposite diagonal Frenches.

Both looks were really easy to do.  And I really liked how they turned out!

So let's move onto...

What I Used:

NailTek

FingerPaints: Art Her-Story

FingerPaints: Artist's Sapphire

Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Silver Glitter

Z Super Dry Top Coat

What I Did:

First, for my Mom's nails, I just did the diagonal French in Art Her-Story.  Let that dry, then another coat.  Then let that dry, and then the Silver Glitter along the border of the tip.  Throw on a top coat, and you're done!  Really nice and simple, yet quite elegant.  (I did add some plastic flowers on my Mom's ring fingers, but this is completely optional!)

Then, for my own nails, I basically did two coats of Art Her-Story as a diagonal French in one direction, then two coats of Artist's Sapphire in the opposite diagonal French.  (This pictured here was actually my second attempt.  I think it looks better when you start lower on the nail than just on the tips.  But that's just personal preference!)

After letting that dry (no really, I did try to dry each coat....ish....), I used the Silver Glitter polish to make a design as pictured.  Basically, I followed the diagonal French on the tip, just like 2mm from the actual border.  After that, I put on some top coat.  I thought it ended up looking pretty good (pat on the back! lol).  Maybe a little fancier than I had intended (since I'm not going anywhere special), but whatever!  They're bomb dammit!

As a product review, I'm not overly impressed with Z Super Dry Top Coat.  I bought it because I thought it was similar to Yellow Stopper.  I think it probably is a yellow-stopper type top coat, however, it doesn't glow in the black light (more like shimmers-ish).  But that's not the real problem.  It is a REALLY thin top coat.  Although it looks pretty thick...and goes on pretty thick, it dries like insanely thin.  I suppose this is a good thing if you have like tons of coats of nail polish and you don't want a top coat to add to that thickness...but in general, I like a top coat that smooths all the bumps and ridges from my nail and design.  So yeah, probably going back to the Orly Glosser for the next blog!

I Uploaded my Entry!

I have finally finished uploading my video for BeenaPop's Halloween Nail Art Contest.

I haven't actually received my pens from MigiArt yet, but hopefully when I do, I can upload another entry!

Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkC2_wnS4a4





My favorite look is the Freddy Krueger one.  I could see myself wearing that for Halloween.  You would not believe the restless sleep I got the night before I recorded the video!  I kept thinking about scary movies...it was definitely hard to sleep!

Let me just put up a list of items I used:

• Basecoat - NailTek
• Thumb (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) - FingerPaints: Artist Sapphire, Orly French Manicure: White tips, FingerPaints: Palette of Platinum, Black Nail Art Pen, Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Red Glitter
• Pointer Finger (Freddy Krueger) - Orly: Reel Him In, Black Nail Art Pen, Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Silver Glitter
• Middle Finger (Jason): Orly French Manicure: White Tips, Black Nail Art Pen
• Ring Finger (Carrie): Orly: Orange Punch, Orly: Reel Him In
• Pinky (Blair Witch Project): Orly: Liquid Vinyl, Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Red Glitter 
• Top Coat: Z Super Dry Top Coat

Admittedly it's just a really simple symbolic set of designs, but I really had fun coming up with this!

Well, anyhoo, enjoy!

Nail Whitening Pen

Omg, I know I said I'd do some before and after pics, but I totally didn't take any before.  So, I guess there's no point in taking after, because you have nothing to compare it to!  That aside, let me tell you about what I tried out.

I went to my absolute FAVORITE beauty supply store (Beauty Headquarters in Rosemead/Temple City) and asked for whatever nail whitening supplies they might have.  Their very helpful employee pointed me to this Essie White Bright Nail Pen.  Basically it's a non-bleach whitening pen that you just throw onto clean nails and can wear nail polish on top (although it says to avoid the cuticle area).

I tried it out the second I got home, and was pleasantly surprised at the results.  Remember how I said my nails were kinda turning yellow from all the non-basecoat designs I had been doing....plus the curry powder stains?  Well, I am happy to report that my nails are definitely whiter!  While my nails are still a tinge yellow, I think that after multiple applications (supposing it keeps whitening every time), they will definitely be tons lighter!  It was relatively cheap too: $4.25+ Tax.

There are no actual directions as to how often it should be used, just that one coat was enough and that you can apply more coats as necessary.  Although it uses the term "coat", it's not like nail polish.  Once it dries, you can't even tell you have anything on your nails. =)

So yay!  My nails are looking pretty long and healthy (and not yellow!), so they'll be in good shape for my contest entry!  I'm planning to enter a Halloween Nail Art Contest created by BeenaPop and MigiNailArt on YouTube.  I have already submitted my info to MigiNailArt because you can get free pens, and you are actually supposed to use these pens for the contest.  I wasn't sure if you got to chose the colors of the pens, so I'll have to see when my kit arrives.

Hopefully the kit arrives before the deadline, but I'm sure they've been bombarded with requests for all the contests that are going on (I just found another one for X-Mas , lol), so I'm trying to prepare a look without their pens for this week, and then if the pens come in, to make another entry (max of 3!).

I bought a bunch of other stuff from Beauty Headquarters, so I'm already thinking about changing my mom's nails, LOL.  I'm sure she won't mind...although she might mind what I have in mind for her, hahahaha.  I was thinking about doing the spiderweb/rhinestone spider on her nails (originally by EasyNails).  Lol, as I was typing this, my mom came in and suggested black widows.  AWESOME!  (Don't I have a cool mom?!?)

So yup, I'll keep you updated!

Golden Diagonal/Arrow Manicure

Hey Everyone!

I did my mother's nails the other day, and they didn't really turn out the way I wanted them to.  I didn't have the right nail polish, I think.  So in the end, they look a little messier than I'd like, but oh well!  I'll probably redo them really soon!

The original look I was going for is pictured here to the right.  It's a nice simple diagonal/arrow manicure using white and gold.  This picture was sent in by Elaine Lemay from QC, Canada, to a nail design website I explored.

That website is: http://www.nailsmag.com and they have tons of designs, and even some "how-to's" on their site.  I looked through them trying to get some ideas, but most are complicated or pretty difficult (aka meant for experts!).  I think these designs were posted more of an advertisement for these nail artists, but they were really fun to check out.

What I Used:

NailTek

Orly French Manicure: Softest White

Aphrodite: 102

China Glaze: Cleopatra

Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Red Glitter

What I Did:

Like I said above, this turned out really messy, but I can tell you where I went wrong!

First, I did a basecoat with NailTek.  Personally, I believe NailTek works great...I can see the difference it made on my own nails.  They are definitely stronger and they aren't peeling(?).

Next, I used the Softest White and did a diagonal French at the tip (2 coats).

Third, I tried to use just the Cleopatra for the diagonal from the opposite side, but it was too sheer.  I searched far and wide from my tiny nail polish collection, and came across the Aphrodite 102.  I'm fairly certain you can't find this outside of Myanmar, but any gold polish should do.  I did a diagonal French from the other side (also 2 coats).

Fourth, I tried the Cleopatra only over the gold part (I should've stuck to that!!!), and thought it still was too sheer, so I put it on top of everything.  Big mistake!  The gold and the white just kind of run into each other.  I tried to fix that by using my red glitter thin brush to outline the white and gold, but as you can tell, it looks a little funny.

So the overall effect I was going for did not turn out right.  The original look is definitely classier.  I intend to look for a better gold polish when I head out to the beauty supply store!

I probably will try to get another black polish and do some type of cute design using black for Halloween as well.  I've seen some pretty cute cat ones. =)  EasyNails did a spiderweb design that seemed pretty cool too, with a cute black rhinestone spider.  Decisions decisions!!!

Update on Glitter French

Hi everyone -- Bachelorette was a success!

My nails currently are unpolished (*gasp*).  I've been waiting to go to the beauty store so I can grab some whitening fizzies.  I guess all those designs I did without a basecoat have kinda taken a toll.  Plus, I made some curry and some of the curry powder made my nails a little yellow too (which didn't wash off as easily as I thought!).  So my nails are looking a little yellow and before I continued putting on more polish, I decided to try whitening them first!  As soon as I do, I'll have before (ick!) and after pictures with a review. =)  (ETA Tomorrow, after the cable guy leaves!)

As a quick update for the Glitter French Mani I did in my previous post, I wanted to add some comments and observations.

First, I originally had a hard time having the sprinkles stay on....I think I lost at least 10 stars!

Second, the glitter part of the French was pretty rough and definitely not smooth (something my mom also commented on!).

So to fix this problem, I just kept adding a layer of topcoat until it was all nice and smooth.  Well, the sprinkles part wasn't THAT smooth, but they stayed on better.  I did about 3 top coats after the initial one, so 4 total.  I think it helps a lot, even if the entire ensemble feels a little on the thicker side.  I think this also helps with chipping because the rough edges would chip easier than the smooth edges.

So yup...just some thoughts on that!

Planning to do a blog about my mom's nails (just did them a couple days ago, but haven't had time to upload the pics yet!) next. =)