Checkers Anyone?

This nail design is super easy and stylish. You can use any colors but I used Essie Mint Candy Apple and my black Milani striper brush. First, paint your nails a base color. Then use a striper brush to paint a cross or plus sign on your nail. Last, the plus sign should have divided your nails into four sections, so paint in two of those sections. Sorry if this is confusing, its kinda hard to explain in words.

Tips for Nail Polish Purchasing

TIP #1 If your nail polish is sticky and goopy, don't get rid of it! Nail polish gets sticky fast, especially if you use it a lot. Instead of throwing it away and buying it again you can add nail polish remover. You have to add about 1/2 - 1 tablespoon (more or less :) of nail polish remover to make your nail polish nice and smooth. Make sure to shake the nail polish bottle before using it.

TIP #2 If you want a shade of nail polish that you don't have mix it with other colors to get the shade you need. HINT: use white to make colors lighter and black to make it darker. WARNING: don't mix neons with another color (the result will not be attractive... I learned the hard way :) )

TIP #3 Don't buy nail polish just because you want it. The colors you should have are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black, brown, and gray. With these colors you can use tip #2 to have a wide range of different shades.

TIP #4 Don't buy expensive nail polish because if you paint your nails a lot you will just use it up. Buying cheeper brands will save you money if you have to buy new nail polish a lot. For me my white gets used up especially fast so I always buy from a less expensive brand. My white was only around $1!

TIP #5 Make sure to have a good clear coat because if you have a good clear coat your nails won't chip as fast, then you won't have to paint your nails as much, then you won't use up as much nail polish. Confused... I know. But, pretty much clear coat = less money spent on nail polish!

Follow these tips and you can save a lot of money on nail polish.

Ooh La La!

Every girl dreams of going to Paris someday. Especially if you are like me. The Eiffel tower, berets, croissants, and poodles! On my thumb I have the Eiffel tower and my ring finger says "Ooh La La". The rest of my nails are just doilies. Oh, and all of them are on top of pink stripes. I painted all my nails with Essie "Muchi Muchi" and added 3-4 white stripes on top of that (basic white skinny brush). After that dried, I painted semi circles near my cuticles and added little loops on the edge with my black skinny brush. The Eiffel tower was the same black. To do the Eiffel tower I made a triangle without a bottom that spread across my thumb. Then I added a short thick line near the top and painted the top part in. Under the 1st line I did a longer one. Under that I did a hollow semi circle connecting the bottom parts of the triangle. Ooh La La was the hardest part but I just used black for it. Voila! Magnifique!

Hole In 1!

My family just took our first golfing trip of the year! It was mostly for my brothers birthday, it was what he wanted to do. I don't love golfing but I like it once in a while. Every time, my favorite part is driving the golf cart. Shhhh! I'm not actually old enough to drive it yet but it can be our little secret. Anyway, our trip inspired me to paint my nails, as usual! I thought these were cute little putting greens. My grandparents absolutely love golfing and I know they will just love these. First of all, I painted every single nail with my Essie "pretty edgy" dark green. (love that color!). Then I added rounded and unusual shapes on top of that with my Sinful Colors "Innocent." I used my black on a dotting tool for the wholes and placed them in completely different places on each light green splotch. Then my black skinny brush worked for the flag pole and my Orly "Haute Red" red worked for the flag. The final touch was white dots placed anywhere on the green splotch. That was the golf ball. TA DA! PFYL :)

Tips and Tricks for Buying Good Nail Polish/Supplies

The price of nail polsh and supplies and can be such a pain especially if you are my age and your mom refuses to buy you anymore (because I have way to much =]). I have found some great buys though, so I am going to share them with you.

Skinny brush polishes and dotting tools are neccessities but you can't buy every color in every shade to duplicate your normal polish collection. I would recommend getting a set of makeup brushes and dotters that are super skinny. Be careful because some single brushes/dotters can cost 15 dollars but what I got didn't. I got a set of 13 brushes and 5 dotting tools for that price. It was called "Bundle Monster" at amazon.com. They are really good quality, even for the cheap price. Here is a picture:

If you don't want separate brushes there is a really great brand that will give you a set of 48 for 24 dollars! You can buy these in different amounts and each set has tons of colors. They double as skinny brushes and dotters/pens. They are called "Nail Star Two-Way Nail Art Pen and Brushes".  I found mine on eBay. Most of them are being shipped from China but if you look hard you can find one from the US. I did. The nail polish is good quality but the only down side is the bottle is made entirely of plastic. It doesn't effect you art though, it is just not very strong. Here is a picture:

Essie is my absolute favorite brand of nail polish. It lasts longest, goes on easiest, and looks the best. It is so expensive though!!! I can't buy that every time so I buy other ones. I would also recommend OPI, Orly, China Glaze and Milani. These are all expensive too. The trick to buying nice nail plush that doesn't dry out is to make sure it has a little metal ball in it that mixes up the chemicals. Other wise the liquid part of the solution starts to evaporate at the top. This just leaves coloring which makes the polish dry and goopy. No matter how cheap it is, as long as it has a mixer it should work fine. The nicer brand I've seen that is really cheap is Spoiled. It is by Wet N' Wild. It is only 2 bucks but is good quality. I definitely wouldn't recommend Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. It is my worst brand I think I have in my container. Here is what that bottle looks like:

Random Tips:

•Use non acetone nail polish remover

•File nails in one direction (no saw like motion)

•REMEMBER TO WEAR LOTION!!!

•Moisturize cuticles and don't cut them. Simply push them back

•Shape nails so that they all look the same

To Infinity and Beyond!

I had so much homework this week that I had to keep my burgers for a while 5 days! Aaaahhhhh! They actually lasted the entire time but I am happy to be doing them again. Today, a boy at my schools who always likes my nails suggested that I should do the aliens from toy story, which was random. I took his idea and changed it a little, but still incorporated the alien! It took a really long time but I think it is super cute. There are a lot of details in this design but of course, a solid coat is needed to start. On my pinky, after my base coat, I applied my skinny green Orly brush (didn't have the right color in normal bottle) then covered half of it with my skinny blue Orly brush. I didn't use the right purple, something a little lighter would be better, but I applied that in a straight line dividing the green and blue sections. Then the eyeballs were 3 big dots of white nail polish and 3 black dots inside of them (made with my skinny brush!).
Next is the ring finger which is Woody's shirt. To start I used my China Glaze "happy go lucky" with Sally Hansen Insta Dri "rapid red" as the plaid. I painted small half circles on the sides of my nail with my white Milani skinny brush. Then I used my Milani black skinny brush for the cow spots. Finally I used my Sally Hansen Insta Dri "rapid red" again for the bandana and did white dots with my white Milani skinny brush.
Buzz light year!!!!!!!!! (a.k.a. my middle finger) As you can see, I started with white then did the green part with my skinny green Orly brush. Sadly, I still didn't have the right purple for the lines and triangle at the bottom so if you try this, look for a better purple. I used my same Insta Dri red as before for the dot and reused the purple, blue, and green colors named earlier for the buttons.
Reach for the sky! The pointer finger was the easiest. It was only 2 steps: 1) Essie "coat azure" for a base. 2) White skinny brush for the clouds.
Last but not least, my thumb. I began with a white coat and then my Orly "hot shot" in a thick stripe at the bottom. I used my skinny blue Orly brush to paint "toy" in bubble letters and then my yellow Orly skinny brush for the inside of "toy" and for writing "story." Finally, I was finished. Got to go! PFYL!

iNails

Everyone has an iPhone now, in fact, I'm posting for you through my iPhone! That is why I did iNails. I've seen this design in a couple of places and it looked cute so I tried it. It took me like FOREVER! But it was worth it because I loved them! These are way to complicated and use too many colors to explain so, I'll just let you stare in awe... :) Just Kidding, but I'm still not going to explain it.

Would you like fries with that?

Good old junk food! I love eating at McDonalds, no matter how bad it is for you, it's always good. On nails, it's even better! I love this design, mostly because I love cheeseburgers but anyways... I used my Essie "brooch the subject" for the bun of my burger so I painted my entire nail with that. Then I used my skinny green Orly skinny brush for lettuce and drew a thin squiggly line. Under that was my Orly "hot shot" in a thick straight line underlined with my skinny yellow Orly brush. The meat part of the burger is Misa "passion 4 fashion." The last thing I added was the sesame seeds with my little dotting tool dipped in white. The. The fries were started with a white coat. Then, I used my Orly "hot shot" for the red part and my skinny yellow Orly brush for the fries and m. Tada!

"Panda"-monium

This design takes some time but the final product is really cute!

Polishes:

- Sally Hansen White On
- Wet N Wild Fantasy Makers black (i dont know the name)


1. Paint 3/4 of your nail white leaving some space near your cuticle for the ears.
2. Use a dotting tool dipped in black to paint two ears on top of the white head.
3. Use a dotting tool dipped in black to make two dots, on the head, for the eyes. If you want, you can add to smaller white dots in the black dots for pupils.
4. Use a dotting tool dipped in black to make one dot on the tip of your nail for the nose.

My Peeps!

Peep peep peep! Happy Easter everybody. These adorable and cheerful baby chicks are so fun and easy. I got a lot of complements on them :) I hope you like them too! I used Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear "mellow yellow" for the body and my whit Milani skinny brush for the egg. Then my black polish on my dotter for the eyes an an Orly orange skinny brush for the beak! Super simple, right. I got the coolest nail polish for Easter in my Easter basket, it is magnetic. You paint it on and hold this special magnet over it and it drags it around to make a cool design. I did it in my toes and it looked great. I also got the new Essie luxe effects pink sparkle. It is beautiful! PFYL :)

Hunny Bunny

Easter is tomorrow! Yay! I decorated my eggs already. This year was definitely my best year because of all the practice I've had painting little designs on my nails. I even made a chicken that looks just like the one I did on my nails! Anyway, here are my first Easter nails. I used Milani super pale pink (don't know the name because the sticker fell off) for a base coat. I then used my white Milani skinny brush for the bunny head. The easiest way to make the head is to make a circle and make 2 brush strokes, spread equally, that have a thin base near the head and a thick part at the tip. You can do this by simply putting more pressure into your brush stroke gradually. Then I used Milani black skinny brush on a dotting tool for the eyes and a Stripe Right pink color for the nose and inner ears. I reused the Milani pink on a dotting tool for the blushing cheeks. Then the carrot was just Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear "sun kissed" for the orange part and my Essie "pretty edgy" for the green leafy tip. That's it! Be sure to check in for another Easter design soon! :)

Wonderful Watermelon...

I am craving watermelons! Too bad they aren't good now because it isn't summer. They are to watery but I guess water is in the name. I used Essie "knock out pout" for the base coat on every nail except for the ring finger. Then I painted my entire ring finger and all the tips of my pink fingers with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "mint sorbet" (I love that color <3) I made sure to make my pale green tips super thick. You will see why. I then used my Essie "pretty edgy" on top of the light green tips to represent the skin of the watermelon. The light green is the part right under the skin. I also used that color to sponge my ring finger and then I used my skinny black brush for the seeds and squiggly lines on my ring finger. That's it!

Mini Minions!

These cute little guys from the movie "Despicable Me" always make me go "awwwwww" when I see them. They are so cute! These guys were really hard but turned out great. I started with my Sally Hansen Xtreme nails "mellow yellow" for the body and my Sally Hansen Xtreme nails "blue it" worked for the pocket. The next step was the lines that attach the pocket to their body (just used my black Milani skinny brush) and then a thick black stripe close to you cuticle. This is for the goggle band. Then, depending on how many eyes you want you put 1-2 drops of grey circles Then you put the white and black dots on top of them.  I was mobbed at school today because everyone loved them! People started spontaneously taking pictures of my hands! Tee hee :)

Nail (art) class- A+

Ok, so this may seem a little weird to you that my nails are based on school. I know that is not exactly what kids do but trust me, there is a reason. Some of my favorite teachers ever wanted their nails done by us! One of them always commented on m nails and joked around and said "When can you do my nails?" That gave Grace and I an idea so we asked them if they wanted us to do them and they said YES!!!! We were so excited we could hardly stand it. So of course, since their teachers, we had to do something school related and we both had the same idea. Before we went in to do their nails we practiced so that it would be perfect and this is what we did on ourselves and the teachers. It was super easy and the teachers showed it off to everyone. We were so happy!

Japan Hands

I almost died!!! I couldn't do my nails for an entire week because I was in Mexico. I just got home and figured that this was a good time to do them. I was still thinking about traveling so I found some inspiration online and got to work. Yes, the symbols are actually real and the red dot is the Japanese flag. This was a fairly easy design. All I used was white as a base coat, my black shiny Milani brush, and my red "sonic boom" insta-dri Sally Hansen for the dot. To be honest, you could probably just make up symbols that seem real but simple. PFYL (post for you later =])

Anchors Away!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I was on spring break! For my trip I decided to do something with the ocean because that was where we were headed. These nails were not very easy to do. Surprisingly the stripes were the hardest part. It was so hard to get them straight, evenly spaced, and equally split apart. I used my basic white for every nail except for my ring fingers. The ring fingers I painted with Sally Hansen Xtreme nails "blue it." I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri "sonic boom" for the stripes. (Obviously I used a super skinny by brush, not the one that the bottle comes with.) the anchor was done with my white skinny brush. It may look difficult but it is actually pretty easy. First draw a line the. A curve at the base. Paint a stripe somewhere between the top of the line and the curve horizontally. The hardest part of the anchor was the top circle but after that you are done! :)