French Manicures

Well this Padiwan did it again. I jumped off that diving board... I will have a bunch more pictures this time but still not a good camera so I apologize in advance. Anywho, jumping off the board. Well let's see, I tried the cuticle apricot cream and it turned my nails yellow. Talk about freak you OUT. I went running to my Obi-wan thinking I was turning into one of Dr. Who's Aliens!! She said no it was probably an ingredient and to super pay attention and only get jojoba oil. Well off I went online. I found some Organic Pure (come to find out this is the ultimate treat for us we can use it on nails, skin, hair even mix it with lotions etc and very very safe!!!) and nabbed a bottle. While I was at it, I really liked doing dots so I said let me nab this dotting set... The brushes and tape can't be toooo hard. Boy oh weee did I do it again. The dotting tools confuse the tookus out of me. I got everything in yesterday and decided I was going to dots on the tips. HA yea right not this Padi. So I had to fix it. Well I had my base on and a pretty coat on didn't want to take it all off and start over. I nabbed the short thin brush (will show in picture) and "corrected" the ugly dotlings. And that was the beginnings of my version (haha) of a French Manicure. Now I will say this is only left hand. Right hand will be done today and after serious though I am going to solid the nails alternating the red/white and stripe then at the cuticle instead. Told ya I was weird (but seriously blame my mini-Obi for that fine fine idea!) Now let me explain what I am wearing my base is Orly bonder (rubber), I have Color Club (Redical Gypsy), Tips (L'Oreal I Will), Topcoat Rimmel. I am going to show a few different pictures.I hope it helps :)

This is the main base color I covered the entire nail with this (after the top coat dried).

This is the brush and the White I used to tip the nails.

This is the final product...

Accidental Art

Okay so rounding off Autism Awareness, I wasn't sure what I should do next for my nails. My mini-obi had sent me bunches of nail polish that I just had to venture and try. I was chatting with my Obiwan about what I should try next and she said how about dots. I said dots?? No way I can't do dots. That is way too technical. Well she pointed me to some videos to watch. If you are like me, then you have the attention span of a dust bunny. Oh look SQUIRREL! What were we talking about? Oh yes, dots. Okay so the videos were too chipper and didn't hold interest. She said just get a paintbrush use the opposite end and try it. See what happens. Well after numerous attempts, I have to say I am quite proud of myself and my OCD. It isn't perfect but it is cute. Looks like miniature flowers on my hands :) Now I have to give you the how to on how I did this. Easy steps.. Use a q-tip cut the fuzzy off grab a paintbrush (for wide dots) and your polish. Put your normal color (whatever you want) on and let it dry. I used a matte (Fairytale) for the beginning. Then comes the fun. Pick a couple (or one) color(s) you want to dot on. Dip your q-tip or opposite end paintbrush into the polish and dab off excessive otherwise it does run (learned this after the twentieth time) away. Do this color on any nails you want and then repeat with a different or more color if you so desire. I suggest using a different q-tip or brush for each color so you don't mix it. And voila your art is masterfully done. Now you might ask yourself why did I blog this as accidental. I was aiming for a simple dotting but wound up with a flower pattern. It is amazing how accidents happen when we have fun! I used Color Club Almost Famous (the yellow) Color Club Wham Pow (orange towards cuticle) Color Club Warhol (pink in center) Enjoy until next time :) Again, I apologize for the poor quality on picture still using built-in webcam

Texture Polish

Alright it has been a bit since my last post. Let me say why. I can't decide what to do next!! Plus my camera broke. I hope the picture I post today shows good enough the polish I put on today. I decided to try out some polishes that they call "textures". Basically, they are matted so not shiny and they are rough like sand. This one is called Milani and as you can see it is yellow. I decided this will be the color I am doing for Easter. :) I have also tried out a new basecoat/topcoat but I dislike it. Possibly, this is because I have such tiny fingers and the brush is so wide. But either way it just doesn't work as a basecoat for me. So back to the drawing board to find something more appropriate for moi. I have a bunch of polish coming in this week, so I hope to find a good camera to be able to take pictures and make you some good blog posts. I do have to say this is a fun journey into a very big world!! Everyday is learning something more whether it is just a crumb of information or an entire gold mine, you are always learning. Usually it is from my own mistakes, but I will figure it out! I hope this finds you well and I hope you like this polish!

Awesomeness Squared

I had to come share today...

First off let me share this:

Basecoat - good to protect your nails but don't get hardener it hurts your nails in long run!

Oil and water are necessary to nail health. It keeps them from becoming brittle or hard and let's us keep making them pretty and awesome. (jojoba is the best for cuticles)

Topcoat helps keep our polish and art on longer!

Okay that was what I have learned in a nutshell so far.

Now I mentioned the other day I was jumping off the deep end fast and had ordered some decals for Autism Awareness month. They arrived today! Of course I had to go ahead and fix up my nails to show everyone because I have had a super vision ever since I started this path. Now a few tips I just learned (yep I had a few mishaps again haha) do NOT touch the decals with your fingers it messes them up. Use your tweezers, so much easier ;) I decided to add the topcoat to streak my blue into the pieces. I wanted to do something fun and not so stiff. I hope you like my work as much as I enjoyed doing it and I enjoy looking at it. I hope it lasts for awhile because I don't want to take it off. SOOOOO CUTE!! If you want to find these decals just leave a comment and I can link you to them. :) This is SH Insta-Dry Blue polish and SH topcoat.

Beginner's Tale

This is a beginner's tale.. A beginning into an unknown world. Never was I the girl that worried about my make-up or nails. Heck, my hair gets minimal attention. Until the day I met the person I now call my Obiwan. She introduced me into a world beyond my norm. And now I am hooked. I know how fish feel when I taunt them with that worm!! A month ago, I asked her sage advice because I wanted to just try nail polish. She gave me a few brands to look for. Well it so happened they were on sale and I had coupons (I am a coupon junkie!). So I picked up some Sally Hansen (called SH in the nail world) X-treme Magenta, X-treme purple,  and a double pack that had Insta-dry blue and a topcoat (though I didn't know that is what this was yet) clear polish. I got home super excited and told her all about it. I ventured off to try to it. I tried Purple first as this was my FAVORITE color! I loved it. I left it for a week and decided I had to try the Magenta. I put it on and WOW! So pretty. I figured I would save the blue for April as it was Autism Awareness month. Well I left it for awhile then I realized my nails were uneven. ME??? Worried about different nail lengths??? What was happening to me? So I asked again for her sage wisdom. And she explained about a good manicure set. Off I set to get one. Watching one of my typical action movies for 2 hours I took off the polish and sat there leveling out my nails and making them pretty and even. I said they look so nice I don't need polish. I will just let it breathe. By the night, I asked her what is wrong with me. I felt like my nails were naked! I had to get polish on fast. She just laughed. I put my Magenta back on as it is Spring and it is so bright and pretty. I realized it looked so plain though! I wanted to add something but didn't know how. So that is the beginning of my journey. I now have some nail decals being shipped to add to my April design (yep me again!) and I am so excited. Talk about jumping off the deep end without knowing how to swim. It will definitely be a lesson in the making. Today, I received a package of OPI Euro mini collection from a new dear friend that is also taking me under her wing. And after much consideration, I decided to layer two of them. Now back to my studies to learn about basecoat, topcoat, cuticle oil and all that jazz! I hope you continue with me on this journey into the unknown :) The under color for this picture is Suzi's Hungary AGAIN (2 coats) and OY-Another Polish Joke (thin layer coat)