I've Got Funshine... On a Cloudy Day!

It was kind of cloudy and windy earlier in the week... and my Grey-beige (Greige?) gradient fit the mood. Wintry.

Only a 3 color gradient, until I added the Naild'It Newspaper Nude. I really need a macro shot of all the pretty glitters hidden in here... Let's see. Something like..... 

                           This??

There... You see? Large hexes in black, white, and yellow. Small squares in blues, pinks, golds, blacks and whites. Micro black and blue....


So much sparkly happiness in that creamy, crelly grey! This one was definitely a surprise! You can buy it from Llarowe here. Go for it! You know you want to. 

If you are still living in winter.... this polish is perfect!

But later in the week... it got warm! And we got some actual sunshine! 

I had to go with Naild'It Walking on Funshine! You can buy it at 

Mei Mei's Signatures here! You know you want to. Again.

Shiny!

Matte

I started this mani with a silver base. I like the Avon Suede collection. It dries fast, and looks so cool with both matte and shiny topcoats. The downside is that you really can't see how cool the matte is on camera! With my camera skills, anyway. Perhaps Andrea can do it?

Anyway: I topped 5 nails (2 on the left hand and 3 on the right, if you keep score) with some Walking on Funshine!  Many, many matte and neon glitters in a lightly tinted base.  I *pink puffy heart* love it.

Well... then... ya know... the other 5 nails looked sad and lonely. So I grabbed some of these!

Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. 

Dotted up some lines and flowers.

Lime flowers with blue centers, and a few extra pink dots. 

All the dotted fingers got matte topcoat. 

I was a bit random with matte/ shiny on the glitter nails.

Because I couldn't decide which was cooler. 

Because they both were kind of amazing!

*Heart my Nails* - Heather

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 

HaPpY BiRtHdAy!

One of the things that happens when you paint your nails a lot.... People notice. And they sometimes ask if you will paint their nails. And sometimes I do it! :D Graduations, prom, homecoming, senior pictures.... I have 3 teenagers, and that means I know a lot of teens. heehee

But that is not what happened here. Ms. Kaitlyn, my gorgeous young friend and neighbor, does her own nails. And nail art. Detailed nail art is her thing. Once in awhile, she needs help on some detail on her right hand. You know how it is when you are right handed, and get the left hand sooooooo perfect, and can't quite duplicate it with the non-dominant hand?? Frustrating! 

Anyway..... Once in awhile she calls me to help with that kind of detail. Like yesterday. When she came over with THIS fantastically beautiful, sort of botanical mani... and asked  me to mirror it. And it was TOUGH! 

So here is Kaitlyn's mani! That's the hand she did...isn't she talented? 

AND it's her birthday, AND she is 14 today! 

HaPpY BiRtHdAy!! 

*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