Nail Foil Application

I ordered a big bunch of nail foils from Amazon then had no idea how to apply them...lol. Hope this helps someone in the same predicament :)

 The most important thing to getting this to work is nail foil adhesive. The foil will not stick without this. I actually tried other things to get it to work....almost-dry topcoat, school glue, etc. None if it worked, at all!

 When you order your nail foil, it will come in small plastic containers with the foil rolled up inside. The foil itself is fairly delicate. Scratching the back of it will remove part of the design, so be careful with it.

 Before you apply your foil, choose a basecoat that closely matches the color of the foil. Sometimes during transfer to the nail, a small spot or two might not transfer but it wont be visible if the nail underneath is the same color. I learned this lesson the hard way. Usually, even with thin polishes or jellies, one coat will be enough. 

Apply the foil adhesive just as you would polish. One coat is all you need. When it first goes on, it will have a hazy look to it. Be careful to only put it where you want the foil to stick, trying to avoid the cuticles. It will be slightly runny so wipe your brush on the bottle opening a couple of times before applying to nails. When the adhesive is ready, it will be completely clear like on my index finger here. It will still be tacky to the touch but that is exactly what you want.

 The foil will come in strips like this one. Its usually about 2" wide and 60" long. Enough for alot of manis!

 Its easiest to cut it into smaller pieces before you start.

 Start by placing the foil over the nail, design side up, and lightly pressing it down.

 Rub over the foil with a qtip, cotton ball, or anything else that will press it onto the nail all the way around, paying close attention to the edges around the cuticle and the very tip of your nail.

 You will see the plastic backing start to pull off the nail. Once it does this, go ahead and gently pull the backing all the way off.

 This is what the foil will look like after you've gotten them all done. You can see, if you place it right on the nail, theres very little waste so this stuff will go a long way.

If you do end up with a larger spot where the foil doesn't transfer, just reapply a drop or two of the adhesive over that spot, wait on it to turn clear then stick the foil onto that spot and rub gently. It should stick just as if you were doing the whole nail. There is a special topcoat available for foils but I dont have it. I change my manis so often that it didnt make sense to buy it. It can be found wherever you buy the foils and adhesive. I have tried to use regular topcoats but this will definitely ruin the foil. It causes it to crinkle and dull.


 Good luck with all your future manicures and mail art and just let me know if you have any questions :)

Watermarble Tutorial

Since recently discovering everything I was doing wrong when attempting to watermarble, I decided to do a tutorial on how to do it right. I finally got it to work after watching Young Wild And Polished's video here

Before starting any watermarble design, no matter what colors you are using, its best to start with a good white basecoat. It makes the colors pop more than just the colors alone. My favorite white polish has always been Wet N Wild Megalast Whipped Topping. It applies opaque in one coat.

The next, and I think the most important, thing is the water you use. I watched and read so many tutorials and it seemed no one really went into any great detail about what type of water to use. Some say that simple tap water will work but, think about this....all tap water is different. It all has different chemical makeups therefore it won't work for everyone. In the video I watched, that was right, you need to use bottled water. It can be any brand, I use store brands, but it can't be refrigerated first then warmed. It must be kept in the room where you normally do your nails. This is the only thing I have found that works. You can try your tap water, if it works great but if not, try this.

Next thing you will need is tape. I always use scotch tape, like pictured, but just for the purpose of visibility, I will be using narrow masking tape.

Wrap one piece of tape around finger under nail then another piece up one side of the nail, under nail edge, and down the other side. It should cover essentially everything around the nail.

Now to the fun part! You can use any number of polishes you wish but I like using 2 or 3 at most. Loosen the lids of all colors and place them close to the side of your water bowl. Speed is the biggest factor in getting this to work. Holding the brush just barely above the surface of the water, drop in your first color, just one drop.it should start to spread as soon as it hits the water.

Immediately drop your next color in, trying to keep all drops centered in the one before it.

Continue until you have the number of rings you want. Just remember, work fast!

On to the design!! Using a toothpick or needle, start at the second circle from the outside and barely drag across the surface of the water.

Drag toward the center, working from opposite sides with each drag. Be sure to wipe the tip of your toothpick off each time you pull it out of the water.

Continue until you have the design you want to put on your nails.

Position your finger over the part of the design you want on your nail. Ever so slowly, dip your finger in on a slight angle. Dont dip it straight in or straight down. This will cause poor transfer of the design.

Dip your nail all the way under the surface and hold it there. Take a qtip and remove the rest of the polish from the water's surface.

Make sure the surface is clean before removing your finger. Anything left on the water will end up on your design.

Gently pull your finger back out of the water on an angle so your design stays put.

Cut the strip of tape on the back of your finger

Peel the tape off slowly. Sometimes the design may stick to edge of tape so go slow.

All done except for cleanup!

Use acetone and a cleanup brush to clean up the small amountofpolish that may have found its way around the tape.

I usually do all my nails before removing the tape. Gives it a few minutes to dry before adding topcoat.

And heres my finished design. Occasionally you may have some white polish show through the color, as it did here on a couple of nails. Notice the silver? Its a coverup. You can add a few stripes of another color or even dots or rhinestones to hide the "oops".

I really hope this helps some of you out there that may be struggling to get it right. I tried to do this for two years before finally getting it to work. Don't give up. Feel free to contact me (see contact tab) if you have any questions or suggestions for future posts or tutorials. Thank you so much if you actually read all the way through this. I didnt want to leave anything out.

Sorry About the Absence

Just a quick post to let you all know that I have not dropped off the face of the planet...lol. I have had family from out of town staying with me this past week, therefore I have devoted my complete attention to them. My beautiful sister, her handsome boy and adorable little girl and my beautiful niece have been such a joy to have here. I love getting to see family and catching up with everyone.I have several posts in the works for the next week so be sure to keep checking back or, so you don't miss a single post, you can sign up via email to recieve email notifications each time a new post is up. Thank you for sticking around and I promise my next post will be up in the next couple of days. God bless and I hope everyone is having an amazing weekend.

Wet N Wild Textures

 

Okay, I know this collection is from last year, a limited edition collection in fact, but I just recently picked one up and dusted it off and fell in love all over again. It's what's on my nails as I type this up. Wet N Wild has always been my favorite brand of polish so I was thrilled when my sister told me she had spotted these in stores. She even helped me to complete the set, thank you sissy!

I used two coats in all of these pics but you could definitely get away with just one coat with the blue and green.

Femme Trouper

ATTEN Hut!

Tough Girl

Fatigue Glam

Beauty Is A Battlefield!

Left, Left, Left, Right, Left

(Just wanted to add that, unlike other texture polishes, these polishes are super easy to remove.) 

All polishes in this post were purchased by me for my own use. I am not being compensated by any person and/or company for this post.

My Nail Care Routine

I get asked ALOT if these are my natural nails. I am happy to say that indeed they are. I put alot of time and maintenance into keeping my nails at their very best, polished or not. I know that everyone's nails are different but I thought I'd take a few minutes and tell you what products I use and what I do to keep my nails healthy.

I always start by scrubbing them with Nail Aid Whitening Paste. I do this at least once a week. I let it sit on my nails for about 5 minutes then rinse of with soap and warm water.

Usually, once a month, I use Sally Hansen Cuticle Remover and push back my dead cuticles. This stuff works super fast, 1 minute, and does an excellent job. After one minute, I push my cuticle back then use a cuticle nipper to get any DEAD cuticle left behind. Never cut into live cuticle at the base of your nail!

This is probably the most important step in anyone's nail care routine. Cuticle oil. I use Beauty Secrets found at Sally's Beauty Supply but there are so very many ones out there. You can even make your own. Check YouTube for countless recipes. Even if you only do the most minimal of manicures, please do not skip this step. Your nails and cuticles depend so much on moisture to stay healthy. I have some in every room of my house, even in my purse. Just massage it into your cuticles several times a day or whenever it crosses your mind. This increases blood flow and aids in the strength and growth of your nails.

My go to basecoat is Kiss Growth Activator. This works wonders on speeding up the growth of my nails. I use it before every single polish.

My topcoat of choice is INM Out The Door Fast Drying Topcoat. This stuff is so super fast! Dries in a matter of minutes, even the wet polish underneath. I do my manis at night and usually go to bed right after. I haven't had sheet marks in a long time, thanks to this.

Like I said above, I know that all nails are different and my routine and/or products will not work for everyone but I hope this helps someone out there struggling to get healthier nails.

 

All products in this post were purchased by me for my own personal use. I am in no way being compensated by these companies for this post.

OPI Sheer Tints

Today I'll be sharing with you the OPI Sheer Tints polishes. I know these have been out for a while but I haven't seen many swatches or reviews of these.

These are the four polishes in this set. They are meant to be used mostly in nail art but I'll be showing you what they look like on their own. In all of these pics, the polish was applied as follows.....

Index-one coat

Middle-two coats

Ring-three coats

Pinkie-two coats over white

First up we have I'm Never Amberassed. This is a gorgeous color but, in my opinion, it just looks like bad staining over the natural nail.

Next on the list, I Can Teal You Like Me. Its a beautiful light blue color but streaky even after three coats. Again, alot prettier over white.

Here we have Don't Violet Me Down. This one is my second favorite of the set. The tint is subtle but beautiful over the natural nail and white, just depends on the look you are going for.

I saved the best for last. This beauty is Be Magentale With Me. I love this one! I think even just one coat is very pretty on the natural nail. the white undies just dolls it up more.

Just for fun, I'm adding a couple of manis I've done with these. Hope this gives you some ideas.

Just to let you know, When I bought these polishes I thought something was wrong with them because they were thick and a little stringy, kinda like "hot glue" stringy, especially the blue and purple. Turns out that this is normal for these polishes. I tried adding thinner to make them easier to apply but it didn't help. They are still worth it though. Very pretty spring and summer colors.

The polishes in this post were purchased by me for my personal use. I am in no way being compensated by this company for this post.