A Pot O' Gold for SIX cents!

This little guy on my right hand is
almost grown out. Lucky me!

Have you seen products for sale out there like nail tattoos,
transfers, and even the newsprint kit I saw in the mall? Tutorials and products on blogs and Pinterest had me curious! I did a lot of "window shopping" comparing techniques, results, and prices.

I like the tattoo and transfer products and the look of the newsprint transfers, as well.  Even though those are backward when you transfer them, and that tends to make me twitch.... 

But I find the selection to be somewhat limited. I kept thinking it would be cool to design my own! It turns out that you can transfer color ink from laser copiers with rubbing alcohol!

 I started thinking. And scheming. And rubbing my hands together like the evil genius in a movie...*insert evil chuckle here*

 So... would you like to design your own nail transfers? I'll walk you through the basics...

How to make your own transfers:

Pot o' Gold on my
 Big ol' Thumb!

1) Pick a theme! Superhero, Holiday, Flowers, Camo, emoticons, your Zodiac sign. Whatever floats your boat. 

2) Find some clip art! or Google some images. For print you'll use a tiny font... 7-9 pt range. my pot of gold image was about a 1/4" square. The rainbows were 3/4"x 1 1/2". Keep in mind my thumbnail is huge. You may want to go smaller. 

3) I manipulated my images in Word, because that's what I have. The first time I squished as many on there as possible. Leaving no room for holding the paper to position it. Round Two, I left margins for that reason. 

4) Check out your print settings, looking for a mirror option, a setting for iron on transfers will flip the image. If you can't do it on your own printer, no worries. Print it normally. 

5) If you have a laser printer and were able to flip the image you are good to go! Otherwise, take your page to your copy center. Ask them to reverse your print if you didn't do it. You are looking at a whopping price tag of about 6-12 cents (US). You can easily print enough images and words for several manicures on one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11" paper. For. Six. Cents. 

I found MY pot of gold!

How to transfer: 

1) Cut out your designs, leaving a small tab to hold on to for positioning. See the spacing on my lucky lucky lucky index finger and you will understand the need for a tab. 

2) Apply a base coat. I did 2 coats of a creamy white, for full opacity. Let dry completely.

3) Soak your first nail in rubbing alcohol for about 15 seconds.

4) Carefully place your tiny picture or little word. If the paper doesn't look completely wet, dab on a drop of alcohol with another finger. Press it firmly in place, being careful not to move it around. 

5) Wait about 15 seconds. Peek. See if you need to re-wet the paper and press again. 

6) Repeat on as many nails as you'd like!

7) Make sure you topcoat for durability! maybe like this?

*Heart my nails* - Heather 

Breaking all the Rules.... with Gel Polish

I seem to have this little problem with rules.

 I like rules. I follow rules. Most of the time.

Except when you tell me I have to do something. Or that I can't do something. But other than that....hehee.

Take gel polish systems, for example. You have to use their primer, their base coat, their limited selection yet expensive colors, and their top coat. You have to use their lights. And for heaven's sake, you can't use regular polish! 

I've used a couple of different systems, and while I like the durability of gels, I don't like the limited selection of colors, and let's face it, I like my nail art! And if you always follow rules, you can't do that with gel polish systems.

Want to know what happens when I break the rules? This pretty, ultra-feminine mani lasts for at least 6 days with no chipping or tip-wear. And only came off when I said it was time!

A Lacy Blue French Mani with a gel topcoat!

Step 1: clean, dry nails. I wish I had spent a little more time on the old polish around the cuticles. Next time. 

Secret Ingredient: This stuff
is great. And cheap. Like, Family
Dollar cheap. $2-3 max

Step 2: Apply and let it dry. 5 minutes is about right for me.

Step 3: base color, with regular nail polish. What you see here is a creamy pastel blue I got from Avon. Not the beauty supply store, not the department store.... Not. Gel. Regular polish. It was a bit streaky after one coat, but perfect after 2. I'm not great at applying the tips perfectly, but I learned a quick and easy way to clean up those lines. Another day, if you are interested. 

Step 4: Stamp it up! Got my Konad on... Konad white, and stamp plate M60. I think, but I don't want to walk all the way upstairs to check. It's late, and I'm lazy tonight. 

A little closer on that accent nail. 

Now for the Gel part. I've tried 2 brands: SensatioNAIL from Walmart (LED light) and Gelish from Sally's (UV light). It works with both.

For Step 5: use ONLY the topcoat. No gel primer, no gel base, no gel color.... Only the topcoat. Make sure you coat over the tip. You do that, right?Seal the edge? 

Step 6: Cook it under the lights. UV or LED, whichever floats your boat.

Step 7: Use the cleaner from the kit, and the lint free wipes.

An extra step: A little cuticle oil. You use that, too, right? I use mine every night at bedtime, and usually once more during the day. I think that's why my nails are so strong and happy lately. Homemade oil.  

This was one of those manicures that made me smile every time I looked at my hands. I knew how crazy-busy this week was going to be, and that I wouldn't have time for a mani from Saturday to Thursday night. I average 4 a week. 

Even more when we are swatching for Naild'It. 

My last word on gel polish is on removal. Be. Careful. The first time I wore gel polish, I peeled it off. Mainly because I put on way too much and it flooded the cuticles, which made me crazy. And when I picked off the polish, I peeled off a layer or two of my nails with it. Later, I bought a metal scraping tool that is made for gel removal. I soaked my nails in acetone and then scraped some very deep gouges into my nails. Never. Again. 

I promise you a post on gel removal. It's important! 

And the same technique works on glitter polish, so Yay!

Questions? Comments? Try it, and let me know if it works for you!

*Heart my Nails* - Heather 

Playing with Gel Polish

Ever play with gel polish?  I mean really play?

Not just buy a color, "bake" it on LED is the way to go! , and be happy for a week or more... PLAY with it! How about french tips? Nail art?

Gel polish bottles are not very photogenic... and also I forgot to take pics along the way. Ha. Rookie mistake.

The lip gloss just happened to match and looked good in the photo....

I did not use lip gloss at all in the mani. 

 I'll describe as best I can:
1) Prep nails
2) Prime/ Bake That LED light again
3) 1st coat of color... Taupe, applied only to the tips/ Bake
4) 2nd coat of color... Taupe again/ Bake
5) Red gel color, applied by putting 2 dots side by side and dragging the dots together in a point to make a heart. Or a bunch of hearts. In a line. Whatever floats your boat. :D

This is an awesome little pic-tutorial I found on Pinterest... Simple, easy, quick. 

6) Final top coat/ Bake...  

And Viola!! You got an aesthetically pleasing configuration....

 Little Mermaid reference? No? Ahem. 

 

Anyway...

I usually like to change my nails frequently... almost daily. And I have a favorite technique for that. To share another day.

Sometimes I need a more durable look, that won't chip or show wear for several days. Gel is good for that. But gel has it's limitations. Fewer colors. Almost no glitter. Boring. I say play with it, jazz it up a bit... have some fun! What do you do with gel? Any thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Come on people, chat it up! :)

*Heart* my nails- Heather

So let's talk about your cuticles...

So let’s talk about your cuticles.

Fascinating, I know.

But honestly, what’s the point of having lovely, sparkly, beautifully painted nails, with cracked, ragged, rough and otherwise ugly cuticles surrounding them?

I don’t know about the winter weather where you are, but in the dry, cold area I live in my hands need extra TLC about now.

My routine cuticle care comes down to a few simple steps, and today we are starting with...

Step One: Get the dead skin out of there (Ewww, gross, I know)

So, how do I get the nasty skin off? Well, they make really sharp, really expensive tools for that.

They scare me.  

Cheaper versions tend to be dull from the beginning, or dull quickly. If they are not sharp enough, they tend to tear the skin. It’s probably not the WORST thing in the world to have a torn cuticle, but it’s pretty terrible. Particularly painful if you are like me and wash your hands about 50 times a day.

So say you have a really nice expensive pair. And you haven’t misplaced them. (Who, me?) And that your kids didn't try to use them as guinea pig nail trimmers. (Not  my kids!) But if you have them, and they are not lost, and they are nice and sharp…. it is still really easy to cut too deep. And there will be blood. And it is also painful.

So if you go there (and I usually don’t go there) ….For heaven's sake, be very careful!

What I typically do is start with  this:

 (I usually buy it at WalMart, but you can get it here)

Just put it on, rub it around, and wait. Two minutes is usually good. Then I scrape along the sides of my nails with a very cheap and easily available tool. My thumbnail.  High tech, baby. Rinse off and dry. Ta-daa! Repeat as needed. I use it about once a week.

If  you find that your cuticles need a little more work (When it’s cold or I’ve been gardening, or I’ve been a slacker and waited too long between manicures for the green stuff to do its job… ya.) then I have a little secret I'll let you in on.... I use these (Grab them wherever… Walmart, Target, Sally’s, Family Dollar). 

Yes. On. My. Cuticles. 

Everyone has these, right? 

**Public Safety Announcement**

It works better if your hands are dry. Not wet. Not damp. And especially NOT right after the green stuff. Got that?

  Dry. Skin. Only. 

Like using this: 

Have you ever seen the aftermath when someone used one of those babies on wet feet? 

No bueno.

Don't do it.

 It's like torture-by-cheese-grater! I'm pretty sure it violates the Geneva Convention.

And that's it! My next post will be on maintaining that pretty new baby-soft skin.

In the meantime, I think Andrea has some sneak  peek stuff planned. 

We are also working on the whole water-mark thingy... then you will see lots and LOTS of actual photos of our actual nails. Promise! 

Questions? Comments? Bring it on!!

*heart my nails* - Heather