Watermelons!

It's summer!  Why not celebrate it by eating some fresh fruit, hanging out by the pool/ocean, and having some good 'ol fun?  I'm quite the homebody myself, but I do enjoy the things that summer offers!  Therefore, I decided to go for some watermelon-themed nails!  Can't get much more summery than that, right?

How I did it:
1.  Start with a base coat.
2.  Paint a pink polish across entire nail (various pinks could work for this - this was the closest I had)
3.  Paint a french tip on all nails with a green color (I used Sally Hansen Hi-Def color)
4.  Allow to dry
5.  Using either a nail pen or a nail brush with a very thin tip, paint your watermelon seeds.  I did these diagonally outward towards the tip.  I chose to do 3 per nail, but more or less would work fine I'm sure.
6.  Finish up with a top coat

Hope you enjoy them!

Calling for Reinforcements!

I've been extremely upset the last couple of days.  I cried last night, I cried this morning on the way into work, I cried during work, I'm crying right now.  I know that something is wrong.  I have a general idea, but the more I think, the more of a headache I develop.  I've had a headache since I woke up.  I know that I will figure this out and then I can actually articulate it and not sound all weepy.

That being said, I know I still have some serious updates to post.  I'm hoping that will make me feel a bit better, because, let's face it, nails are what keep me happy these days.

For starters, look at the ridiculous amount of products I got at Bath & Body Works a couple of weeks ago.  They had a buy 3 get 3 free special (is that a regular thing?  If so...that's dangerous).  I'm obsessed with everything I got except for this 'Sensual Amber' shower stuff.  It's just way too sweet smelling - I feel like I'm rubbing maple syrup all over myself.  A bit much, although it IS a nice smell depending on how much of it you smell at a time.

On to the nails.  I have no idea who came up with this, but it is brilliant and seems to work like a charm.  Reinforcement labels.  Amazing.  Up until now, I have used Scotch tape that I had cut into the right shapes (ghetto, right?), but it turns out these are just the right shape for french tips, reverse french, etc. 
As you can see, you just put the reinforcement label where you want it, paint over your nail and let it dry, and BAM!  All fanci-fied!  Remove the label, put some top coat on, and you're set.  In my case, I didn't let the undercoat dry quite long enough so I had to go in and make a couple of touch-ups.  I've tried this since then, though, with that in mind, and it worked like magic.

Hope you enjoy, and next time I'll be in better spirits, promise!

XXOO,
Steph

p.s. sorry for the crappy phone-taken pics!

Hello Kitty!

Hi!
Ok so, I have to explain how excited I am that I actually have followers!  Now I actually have a valid excuse to do my nails all the time ;)  Welcome all!  Hooray!

This time around, I've got some Hello Kitty nails (of course)!  I found this pretty shimmery color and stamped with some black polish on top to come up with these guys.  I was walking in Walgreens the other day when I noticed a huge tub full of nail polish for 99 cents each!!!  I went a little nuts, needless to say, but that's where this shimmery guy came from.  The color is Glass Pink by Sinful Colors.  I hadn't heard of the brand before, but so far so good :)

I found these stamps on ebay, and let's just say i'm now obsessed!  They are Faux-nads, but can you guess why I got them?  Yep, this one single Hello Kitty stamp.  But, now I have the luxury of having 8 new stamp plates PLUS a Hello Kitty stamp :)  Here's the link if you want to buy some yourself:  http://cgi.ebay.com/8-Nail-Art-Stamp-Stamping-Image-Template-Free-Gift-U01B-/280509858850?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item414fb0c422

Yep, that's right.  For 8 dollars you get all of those stamping plates plus a free stamper/scraper!  Don't walk, run to this one, it is TOTALLY worth it!

Ok, yes, I do have a Hello Kitty keyboard - don't judge.  It's amazing and I got it at Best Buy.  Psh!

XXOO,
Steph

P.S.  I got a great mint lemonade that matched my Krypto-nails!  Had to take a picture ;)

Green French Tips!

You know when you've been wearing dark nail polish for too long and the outer part of your nails end up stained?  I decided I wanted to give my nails a bit of a rest and go for a simple (ish) French tip so that they can get back to normal.  I started with my most important product of all:  Sally Hansen Hard-As-Nails.  OMG, if you haven't used this product before, I highly recommend it.  I always kind of rolled my eyes at it when I'd walk by it in the store, but one day I decided to try it out, and I am NEVER going back.  My nails look like a totally different person's nails, for real.  Several months  back, I had been really sick and depressed and was having thyroid problems, which I think added to my nails being unhealthy, and ever since I started using this I can see a DRASTIC difference.  So, for all of you non-believers, I'm telling you this one is WELL worth it.

AAAnyway.  I started with my Hard-As-Nails as a simple base coat.  Then, I used this random greenish polish I have (I have no idea where it came from) as my tips.  When I do french tips, I've found that it helps to paint from the outside to the middle of the nail from each side along the smile line (is that what it's called?).  Then, I do little up-and-down strokes along the tip where I just painted to thicken it up.  Works like a charm. 

Then, I put some nail decals along the smile line of my nails.  I'm not sure what kind of decals these were, I have had them for a  loooong time and they don't have any labeling.  To finish it off, I used my other awesome Sally Hansen product, the Insta-Dry Top Coat, and voíla!  Hope you like them :)