Hey friends! Happy Thursday! Thanks goodness it is almost Friday! How are you doing today?
Don’t forget to enter to win 50 free holiday cards to Tiny Prints! I will announce the winner tomorrow!
Lately I have gotten so into doing my nails! I think it is one thing I can do for myself to make myself look more pulled together and polished. I find polishing my nails so relaxing. I do it at night after Cooper has went to bed, while I watch TV. I paint my nails on average 1-2 times per week.
I wanted to share with you some of my favorite products for manicures!
I should start out by saying I have bitten my nails for years. It’s just an awful habit of mine. The only way I can grow out my nails is to keep polish on them. I won’t touch them if they are manicured.
I don’t really care for long nails… once they get to fingertip length I cut them down and let them grow back out. They are short right now because I bit them to the quick while I was sick and had to veg out in bed. Again, bad habit!
I am not a pro. My friend Holly is a certified nail tech and I’m trying to convince her to write an (educated) guest post for us on how to do a professional looking manicure.
My favorite nail polish remover is Sally Hansen Moisturizing Formula Remover. I do have a bottle of pure Acetone, but I only use that on glitter polishes (which are notoriously hard to remove). I find that pure Acetone makes my hands and cuticles super dry.
Here’s a tip for removing glitter (or other hard to remove) polishes. You’ll need cotton balls or pads, scissors, polish remover, and aluminum foil. Use your scissors to cut your cotton pads into squares big enough to cover your nail. Soak them in polish remover, and lay the square on the pad of your nail. Tear off a strip of aluminum foil, and wrap it over your nail. The aluminum foil effectively serves as tape, binding the pad to your nail. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, and remove the aluminum foil. Rub the cotton pad on your nail, and the glitter polish should come off easily.
I start off my manicure with clean, filed nails. I swipe my nails with alcohol or polish remover to make sure I don’t have any lotion or oils on my nails. The first coat of my manicure is OPI Chip Skip. I have terrible ridges on my nails, so I use Seche Vite Ridge Filling Base Coat. I typically do two coats of polish, and I finish with Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. This is my HG (Holy Grail) top coat. My nails are completely dry to the touch in 10 minutes, and I’m able to go about my day with no smudges. I also really like Out The Door top coat. My only complaint about Out The Door is that it thickens up after time and can be hard to apply.
My favorite nail polish brand is OPI, followed by China Glaze. Sally Hansen would be my third favorite brand, then Orly, with Essie coming up last. I know people rave about Essie, but I find it applies streaky. I own lots of different brands of polish, but those are my favorites.
Here are some recent NOTD (Nails of the Day):
OPI Gone Gonzo
Butter Wallis
China Glaze Black Crackle & OPI Greenwich Village
I think I have a slight nail polish problem… these were all bought (plus 2 you don’t see) in the past two weeks.
Someone stop me.
Do you guys have any nail related questions for me?
9 comments:
Thanks for that tip about the alluminum foil and glitter polish. I'll definitely have to try that. I love OPI nail polish, my fav! :) Happy Thursday!
I used to bite my nails really bad until junior high. I had a lot of anxiety. :P I have short nail beds, too, so it takes forever to grow them out!
Oh I looove OPI! What a great tip for removing glitter/dark polishes. I'll definitely keep that in mind :)
That's how I take my Gelish off. Now, thanks to you, I put a moisturizer on my cuticles first and a sunscreen on my fingers before I use the UV light!
I so wish I had the patience to paint my nails all of the time, that's one of the reasons why I love Gelish, it lasts for 1-2 weeks!
Holly should DEFINITELY guest post on how to get a great looking manicure!
I'm still on the hunt for the OPI Muppets collection. It's sold out everywhere around here... Boo. :-(
I go through phases where I love my nails being painted and phases where I love them natural!
I, too, keep my nails short. I think it's way cuter, but I also have extremely long nail beds so they look long without even trying.
I keep seeing white glitter nails on Pinterest and I LOVE THEM. It looks all snowy and wintery! Can't wait to do it (after Thanksgiving) to my own nails. :)
I love to do my nails and buy new colors. Lately Zoya and Julep are my favorite, although I'm dying to go see the new OPI collection
Wow, girl! You are hardcore! Aluminum foil on your nails! I rarely paint my fingernails, and my pedicure is so cracked it's gross looking. I should probably care a little more, but it's cold now and no one sees my feet.
I bite my nails too, but keeping them polished doesn't deter me. The only thing that does work for me is acrylics. I get my nails done every two weeks but, like you, I like them short. My nail technician probably thinks I'm a dork because I get my nails done and keep them fingertip length, but hey, a girl's gotta type, right?
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