Chipped nail polish rescue! ... Maybe?

Hey guys! A new nail art idea, well I'm putting sure it's been around for a while but I decided to do something different for me. One of the worst thing about painting your nails is when it chips. I hate when that happens! So tonight I was too lazy to take off the polish I put on Friday night. Such a disappointment when polish only lasts 3 days. Maybe I have high expectations? 

Anyways I decided to try and save my polish that was already on my nails. I originally had Essie Master Plan, which is a purplely gray color. I came up with this random idea of using office hole reinforcement labels, you know, the lil white circle stickers when you tear a hole in your paper. I put those towards the bottom of my nail to make a small semi circle. I used them as a guide to prevent my polish going where I didn't want it to. I then painted my nails with a red OPI color. I don't have the name of it because it was a very small mini bottle and there is no name on it. Sorry! But it's a bright pretty red, reminds me of latino Miami red dresses. I'm weird. Lol. So I put two coats of this red color on and then when my nails fully dried, I took the stickers off. Then top coat it. I wouldn't recommend doing this if you don't have a lot of time. This took probably 45 minutes if you count the first time I painted my nails with the Essie Master Plan color. But I would like to see what it would look like with fresh painted nails all together, no original chipped paint. :) 

Basic hole reinforcements. Just in case you didn't understand what I meant. 

Love these colors together. 

This is my left hand. I couldn't hold my iPad and take a pic of my right hand. Just not talented enough. 

So I basically like how it all turned out. :) It was a lil rough around the edges of the stickers, but I learned you push very hard on them and I also used the end of a nail file to press the striker into the edge of my nail. That was where I found it to be worse in the beginning. I'll be trying this again! 

Technological Issues and Formal (Part One)

Oh my gosh.  Ya know, my mother always called me a tech killer, and I always kind of laughed it off, but I really do have the worst luck with technology.  My computer's ancient, and something happened a couple weeks ago that would not allow me to download images or access the internet. Once I got that fixed, my Shockwave Flash crashed. It was horrible!

But as of now, I am back in the blogging business.  So let's do this!!

At the end of every Spring semester, my sorority has a formal to wrap everything up.  We get dinner, do some silly awards, and then we have a dance at the end.  It's always super fun, and this year the theme is masquerade!  I made a mask, and I'm wearing a green dress that I bought that time Ash, Amber and I went to Springfield!  I decided that all my accessories would be black and gold, so that my dress will be the pop of color.

A while back (like a year ago), I got this four pack of mini polishes from Ulta called "Paint the Town".  There's a color in it called "Raise Your Glass" that I used for my pedicure.  It has a nice gold shimmer.

"Raise Your Glass" (don't mind my weird feet)

Then for my manicure, I used Petite's "Night" and OPI's "Goldeneye".  I used two coats of the black, with one layer of "Goldeneye".  It actually came out looking like I used a gold crackle, I think.  I love it.  I'm totally going to do this look again!

Tonight's the event, and I'll post tomorrow with the final look.  I still don't know what I'm going to do makeup-wise, but I do know that I'll be using my e.l.f. palette and I'll show you what colors I use along with hair and outfit.

-Megan

Spring is Coming!!

Don't get me wrong, I love winter. I love sweaters and scarves and boots... but the sheer amount of snow and ice that the MoArk area got the past couple of weeks just really got me down. Probably because I was trapped inside my apartment for most of it, but that's besides the point. I missed sunshine and moderate temperatures, so this weekend and this upcoming week will definitely be enjoyable.

360- "Mellow Yellow"

I got so excited about the weather that I went and got a bright new polish color.  Yellow.  (Too bad yellow is NOT my color, but I don't care. Spring is coming!)  Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear #360 "Mellow Yellow" truly looks like sunshine in a bottle.  It's so vivid and everything a yellow ought to be.

One coat. Super thin!

Four coats later...

The only downside I could see to this polish is how thin it is.  One coat definitely does not do the job well.  In fact, I used four.  Other than that small issue, I love this color.

Random question... How do people decide what shape to make their nails and HOW DO THEY DO IT SO PERFECTLY?! The struggles of an uncoordinated person with oddly shaped nails.  Nail beds are still wonky. #Girlprobs, I guess.

P.S. Now that I look at the pictures, the yellow doesn't look all that bad with my skin tone... Hmm...

Ulta "Envy"

Fun fact about me: I get crazy obsessed with TV shows.  Like, it gets really bad. Doctor Who? Binge watched 6 seasons in a week.  Supernatural? Seven seasons in the same amount of time.

My newest obsession is "Arrow" on the CW, starring Stephen Amell.  I binge watched two and a half seasons in four days.  And I mean, can you blame me? Look at him. Loooooooooook.

Anyway, enough fangirling.  In honor of my new favorite show, I picked a deep rich green.  Get it? Green? Green Arrow? Yes, I'm hilarious.  It's actually one of my favorite colors. It's Ulta's "Envy" and it's definitely a go-to color for me.  It covers well, is super pigmented, and it has a subtle shimmer when the light catches it right.

One Coat

Two Coats

I do want to say that it has a blue undertone, and captures differently in different light.  I took a picture in my living room last night, and the color comes off more blue in that picture, so it keeps you guessing.

Little more blueish in this light.

Also!  At lunch today, I got a compliment on the color from the waitress. She also complimented my shoes (my plaid Bobs...) which was a little strange, but we had a long conversation in the restaurant about nail colors.  It definitely shut up the loud frats in the corner. Ha!

Does anybody watch "Arrow"? I definitely have a feeling I'm going to be emotionally distraught after this episode...especially since I'll have to wait a couple of weeks for the next one!

Nail Update and "Raving Hot" Rage

Hey guys!

I know it's been a while since my last post, but there's a good reason. I promise.

I found this brilliant red color on sale at Ulta the last time I went, and being in an "Agent Carter"-I-need-bright-red-nails sort of mood (after binge watching most of Agent Carter, as you do), I wanted to use it.  I was also aware that most of the time that I use a red polish, my nails always get super stained, and nobody's got time for that.  I decided that, as well as my Sally Hansen nail hardener base, I would try another base coat on top to see if that would stop the stain.

Long story short? It didn't.  And then the unimaginable happened. THE POLISH STARTED BUBBLING. Little tiny bubbles in the red, under the top coat. How frustrating is that? So before I blogged about the color, I wanted to try my normal routine without the added base to see if that was the cause of the bubbles.  It wasn't. Ugh.

The color in question was Covergirl's Glossy Days glosstinis in "Raving Hot".  I wanted to like this so much.  It's very thin.  I ended up both times using three coats and I could still see the free edge of the nail.  The color shows all sorts of imperfections in the brush strokes.  The red is fabulous despite all this- a brilliant color, just too thin on application.  And then there's the bubbles.  I'm sure it's probably user error, but two different top coats and base coats with the same result? I don't know, y'all...

One Coat

Three coats

Now, a couple weeks ago I did a post on cuticles and nail shape and I wanted to give you an update.  I've been using cuticle oil and lots of lotion and not picking at the undersides of my nails, and I really think I've been seeing an improvement, especially on my index and middle fingers.  They are starting to get that nice rounded shape at the edge of the quick.  I'm excited and will give another update soon.

Do you think I should give the "Raving Hot" another chance? Throwing it out to you guys.  What am I doing wrong, or is it just the polish itself? Help!

-Megan

I Caramel About You and For Gold Times Sake

Hey! I decided to paint my nails for valentines but not in the traditional red, more purple and gold. 

I learned the importance of using a base coat from Megan. I just use a cheap base coat from Wet N Wild. The purple I used was Nicole by OPI in I Caramel About You and the gold, glittery color was also in Nicole by OPI in For Gold Times Sake. I love OPIs' bottle names. They're also random and creative to the colors.my top coat is no chip by Sally Hansen. Love any top coat from Sally Hansen. 

Disclaimer: Yes, I need to totally slow down and really work on painting my nails. 

Over all I love this combination and will be painting my nails like this again, slowly. Lol. 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Xoxo. 

Zoya "Marney" & Two New Faves

Hey guys!

I WENT TO DALLAS THIS WEEKEND AND IT WAS AWESOME!! I got my first pedicure while I was there, with a hot stone massage... It was glorious as well as gloriously expensive.

But of course, as soon as I left Fayetteville, my old mani started to flake off. Ugh, I hate when that happens.  As soon as I got back last night, I immediately took the old polish off and was off to Ulta for a new color. None of my other ones looked appealing.

I picked up Zoya's "Marney" lacquer.  It was on sale, and looked like a rosey purple in the store, but on my nails it looked more mauvey, chocolatey in color.  It definitely changes in different lighting.  I am in love with it either way.  Here's a picture of how it came out looking last night.

Zoya "Marney"

While at Ulta, I also picked up two other products that I'm going to rave about for a bit.  I've been seeing a lot of posts about nail polish remover pens. THEY ARE AMAZING, and everyone should get one.  It was seriously the best $5 I have ever spent.  It came with several replaceable tips, and it's great for cleaning up the edges around cuticles. The tips are angled just for those hard to reach areas.  I'm still working on the steady hand while painting, and this cleans my mess perfectly.

Ulta Quick Touch Nail Polish Remover Pen

The next product I'm going to rave about is this four sided nail buffer I picked up at Ulta, the "Ms. Manicure Block Party" four way smoother.  Each side is numbered so you know where to go with each step.  I used it last night after removing my nail polish, and it smoothed my nails out so well, it looked like I was wearing a clear coat! No lie, I am in love.  I am also in love with the price.  At Ulta, you can get it for a dollar.  Yes, that's right $1! Now, you can't get a lot of major work done with the file side, but once you've done your major shape work, this is great to give that finished look to the nail. 

Ms. Manicure Block Party

Look at those smooth, shiny nails. LOOK AT THEM.

-Megan

PS. When I was getting my pedicure in Dallas, I almost fell asleep because the place also served wine with the pedicure. Talk about your relaxing pedi... Everyone should try it at least once.

NYC Enamel "Plaza Plumberry"

On Saturday I went with a friend to her work's banquet via the best friend pact- when you don't have a date to a fancy function, take your best friend haha. For that I wore a pretty gold polish that I got a while back from Ulta.  The thing was, it was glittery so removal for a new color was... difficult.

Ulta "High Roller"

When removing glittery nail polish in the past, I'd always just scrubbed with acetone, a frustratingly slow process.  Glitter is crazy hard to get rid of!  I decided this time to try what Pinterest has been going crazy about: wrapping tin foil around acetone soaked cotton on your nail.  All the tutorials I looked at said leave it on for a couple minutes, but I found that I had to leave mine on for around four or five minutes.  Not being able to use my hands for five minutes was a real pain, but it definitely removed the glitter easier than normal.

After five minutes, no gold glitter!

Tired of the light gold I'd had for the past few days, I chose a deep purple.  It's cheaper than my last few colors I've used, and one that I've had for a long time.  Definitely a fave.  It requires two coats.  One coat is definitely too light, you can see through it and see brush strokes, but two coats blends perfectly with great coverage and opacity.

One coat

NYC Long Wearing Enamel "Plaza Plumberry"

Let's Talk Cuticles

Let's be real here.  I, Megan, have never touched my cuticles.

Ok. I tried a cuticle trimmer when I was like seven-ish and it hurt really bad and I bled (because I didn't know what I was doing obviously, I was seven!).  I was then promptly traumatized and never touched them again.  And I think my nails have suffered for it.

I have super short nail beds, and the edges of them are not curved.  They're straight across.  My nails always peel, and they're almost always brittle.  I thought to myself, "There must be a way to change the shape of my nail bed."  That's how I came across this.

I wanted to shout from the sky.  I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH BAD NAIL BEDS!  Kristina has some really great tips that I am now adopting into my nail care routines, like the nail brush and buffing down (gently) any flakes.  Definitely going to be doing those.

But there was one thing I balked at.  Cuticle care.  Flash backs to that trimmer episode abound.  I followed a link on her blog to a basic manicure video, where she does a prep routine.  I'll link it here.  She mentions a cuticle remover and cuticle oil.  The oil was way too expensive for this broke college kid at the moment, but I bought a cuticle oil in the same brand as the remover.

I tried it out this afternoon and I'll give you my first impression. It tingled, which now that I think about it is understandable as it is eating away at your cuticle.  I followed Kristina's steps and I really enjoy the ease I had at reshaping my cuticles.  It was gentle and I actually used a cuticle trimmer again and didn't hurt myself, which I would say is a win!  

Top (before) Bottom (after)

Already they look better (to me at least).  I followed this up with Sally Hansen's "Hard as Nails" base coat and two coats of  Ulta Professionals' "Island Hopper".  I think I see an improvement in the manicure already with my taken care of cuticles.  Tonight before bed, I'm going to use the cuticle oil (as per directions).  I'll definitely do a catch up post if I notice any nail changes.

Ulta Professionals "Island Hopper" in a little baby bottle. So cute.

Do you take care of your cuticles? Send me tips below!-  Megan

Trying out Nail Stickers for the First Time

Hey guys! It's Ashley. I intended to do a January Boxycharm today but... I had A.D.D. Lol. Megan does a lot of nail polish posts so I decided to do one. I've never done the nail sticker things before so today was the day! I wanted to try out Essie sleek stick nail strip stickery things. I got 3 different packs of these at the Dollar Tree a while back and haven't been brave enough to try them out yet. 

I'm not sure what the other brands include in these stickery nail type things but Essie had 18 nail strips, 1 cuticle stick, 1 file and buffer, and 1 instruction sheet in their package. The style I did today is called Stick with Style. 

Starting out I was pretty worried about how this was gonna turn out...the instructions on the back of the unopened package is super vague. Basically all it said was prep, apply, and perfect with little pictures beside each step. Yeah, time to research it on YouTube. I actually used this video here to see more info on how to do it. http://youtu.be/mvwDDECmKk8 The style she used is actually the same one I did today too! Once I opened the package, I found the instruction sheet very helpful too. 

Anyways I started out using nail polish remover just to clean my nails up. Essie recommended using rubbing alcohol, I didn't have that so nail polish remover it was. I then pushed back my cuticles. Wow, I could really tell I haven't pushed back my cuticles in a long time. Next I put my fingers up under each nail sticker, starting at the cuticle, to see which sticker would fit best. Once I found the right cuticle size, I took the sticker off and applied it to my nail starting at the bottom of my nail working pressure into the sides and up. I applied a lot of pressure during this step. You'll see that you're left with a lot of the sticker off of your nail, at least I did cause I have really short nails. I then bent the excess sticker over to the edge of my nail. Next I started filing my nails. I tried to use the file it comes with but, ehh...I found my own file works much better. It was pretty simple, actually. I didn't have any mishaps so I still have 8 stickers left over. I think I might try and use them as an accent finger or toe nail. Gotta get the full value, even if it was only $1. Lol. 

The only con I really saw with this is it takes a long time to do. I don't know if it is because I'm new at this and with practice it'll take less time? It took me about an hour to apply these bad boys, I could've painted my nails and had them dried way before that. That's the only real complaint I can say about that so far. 

Here's a picture! Top is my right hand and bottom is my left hand. 

They're a light pinky color with tiny circle dots which are raised up, adding a texture to it. 

I'm not sure how long these will last, hopefully at least the week. Fingers crossed. I'll update how long they lasted later. If this goes will I really wanna try other brands...such as Jamberry! I've heard great things about them. Anyways hope you all have had a great weekend and talk at you soon with updates on Essie sleek stick! 

Update! Three days later....

Okay, here's the deal. After wearing these for three days now, it's peeling at the tops of my nails. I realize that polish usually starts to chip after a few days too but I thought maybe these would last longer. I did make a mistake with them though. After making my post, I decided that I wanted to try and make them last longer. I started researching it. I found many people suggesting it may last longer with a top coat, therefore I applied a layer in my pinky nail. Not the best idea. The top coat just ate into the nail polish sticker. 

Bottom line- would I recommend this to other people? I honestly don't know. I would like to try some other brands to see how they hold up to them since this was my first time. I do like the idea of using them before a special event for example. Just a tip, apply them a day before so they will look fresh and pretty. 

Top- left hand, as you can see my pinky is a lil missed up. Lol. 

Bottom- right hand

Zoya Matte Velvet "Veruschka"

Hey guys!

So remember my last post when I posted a picture of those three new colors I got? Well, I'm wearing one of them now!

Zoya Matte Velvet Lacquer in "Veruschka"

It's a matte color by Zoya, called "Veruschka", and it's a deep, gorgeous green.  I have to admit, when I put on the first coat, it came across as a different and lighter green than what the bottle looks like and I was a little disappointed, but hey, that's why you ALWAYS put on a second coat.  Second coat, and bam! there was that deep green that I wanted. I've got a picture of both coats, and it didn't photograph as differently as it looked in person, but second coats are a must.

Top - first coat, Bottom - second coat

The texture of this lacquer is a little gritty, which I wasn't expecting since it went on like a regular polish, but it dried within seconds (which I need, because I am always smudging my nails, even hours later- it's a curse). All in all, will definitely wear again!

-xoxo Megan!

P.S. What's your personal preference for green?  Light or dark? Mine's dark, obviously!

OPI Bubble Bath

Hey guys!!  Megan here, and I'm back with another nail polish review!

It's been forever since I made a solo post, but I have a good reason I swear!  Over Christmas break, my family got a new puppy! And let me tell you she's a handful with like razor sharp claws.  Therefore, my hands got tore up really bad, to the point of not being able to use nail polish because she'd eat it off of my fingers. Seriously.

Lucy!! I can't take a serious selfie to save my life, don't mind me.

Isn't she adorable?  Behind that face hides a demon puppy. Hahaha.

Anyway, I am now back in Fayetteville, and I can do my nails in peace. So here I am with newly painted nails to tell you my unasked-for opinion on OPI's "Bubble Bath".

First off, I love it.  It's a very pale pink and is very transparent.  I took pictures between coats to show how thin it comes across.  There's barely a difference between the first coat and the second, I can still see the nail bed with the second coat.  It's a great neutral for those that may have jobs that don't allow for outrageous or bright colors, so I would definitely recommend it for that purpose.  I'm super obsessed with it, I've used it several times since I got it and am pleased with it every time.

First coat

Second coat.  Little to no difference from the first coat, it's so transparent.

I wondered this last go around what it would look like with a matte top coat.  That I don't recommend with "Bubble Bath".  It looks nearly as if I hadn't painted my nails at all, which to me seems like a waste.  Without the matte, you still get a sheen so it looks like your nails are done but the matte, of course, takes that beautiful shine away.

I also made a trip out to my favorite beauty supply shop, ULTA!!, and picked up three new polishes that were on sale.  Expect a post on those in the next couple of weeks.  Here's a sneak peek!

- xoxo, Megan!

OPI's "Viking in a Vinter Vonderland"

Hey y'all!

My finals are OVER!!! We can now resume our regularly scheduled blogging schedule... umm... yeah.

Anyways.  I recently got a couple new fingernail polishes when Ulta was having a special (buy two OPI polishes and you get a free scarf).  Free scarf?! Heck yes. I went with a friend and I picked up an old favorite (Bubble Bath, which is a pale pinkish nude color) and I got a new purple called "Viking in a Vinter Vonderland".  I can hear Ashley now ("Of course you got a purple").

It was a different purple than what I thought it would be, and looked different in different lights.  Sometimes it looked like it had a more blue undertone, and other times it looked like it had a redish undertone.  I couldn't pin it down.  It's definitely a rich color, but you definitely need to put on even layers, at least two, because it highlights imperfections.

One coat of Viking

Second coat

All in all, I liked the color.  It's not one of my favorites, to be honest, but it's definitely going to be put to good use.