Layering

Everybody knows you can put glitter/sparkles on top of any colour nail polish. This is the most simple kind of layering. Other types of layering include gradients, glitter gradients, jelly sandwiches, and putting a super translucent colour on top of another colour, let's just call this translucent layering. 

Gradients are one type of layering. Some people refer to a gradient as ombre, but an ombre mani is different than a gradient mani, and I'll be posting on the difference soon. 
Glitter gradients are a combination of glitter/sparkle and gradient layering (obviously). I really like them because of how easy they are. The only annoying thing though is how long they take to dry! A ton of layers = a ton of drying time :( Some glitter polishes have a very thick consistency and take forever to dry. They're so thick because that's how the glitter is suspended. 
Colours used: China Glaze - Pink Voltage (base), Orly - Tiara (glitter) 

The next layering technique I have is what I call translucent layering. In this method, you use an opaque colour as the base, and put a very sheer, translucent colour on top. The top colour will alter the look of itself and the bottom colour, producing an entirely new colour. You can experiment with all different kinds of combinations, and see what you like. Here is a combination that I really love. 
Colours used: unnamed dark blue metallic Claire's polish (base), Sally Hansen - Rock 'n' Roll (translucent glitter) 

Some people may be familiar with jelly sandwiches, but many are not. A jelly sandwich is just a layer of glitter sandwiched between two layers of polish. The top layer is very translucent so you can still half see the glitter through it, and the bottom can be the same translucent colour as well but it doesn't have to be. Other colour combinations would be awesome! The point is for the glitter to look suspended on your nail. They're very pretty and extremely simple. 
Credit goes to Colores de Carol for this picture. I attempted to do one but I didn't use the right glitter (it's old and thick, and takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to dry!) Click here to see her post about the nails below. 

Glitter or sparkles on nails is pretty, but it's pretty boring. And since it's so easy, I find it to look very amateur and young. (I don't wanna say childish cause that's not what I mean but as I've gotten older I prefer classier, more sophisticated, more elegant, and somewhat simple manis.) I still like to do glitter very regularly, in fact I just did it not too long ago. Glitter/sparkle layering is best when it's subtle, at least to me. 
Colours used: China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise (base), Finger Paints - Art You Wondering? (sparkles) 

Have fun layering and don't forget to let each coat dry COMPLETELY before you apply the next coat! 

Pro FX Product Reviews

Ever since I decided to take a risk and try Pro FX products I fell in love with them, and I haven't been disappointed yet! These babies are a whole 75ml/2.5oz... MASSIVE! You'll never run out. Here's a bottle. I feel like it looks smaller in my hand than they look in real life, but maybe I'm just used to them! 

Pro FX has 9 products, but I believe only 8 are available in Canada. I've only heard of the 9th on a blog I came across while trying to search for a Pro FX website, sadly, this does not exist :( 

The Pro FX products are: Long Lasting UV Top Coat, Quick Dry Top Coat, Complete 3, Mineral Botanical Strengthener, Protein Enriched Base Coat, Epoxy Bond Base Coat, Fiberized Ridge Filler, Apricot Cuticle Oil, and Quick Dry Drops. This last one I have never seen in stores but I really really want it so if anyone in the USA is willing to get it for me I will graciously pay for it as well as shipping, and even send you some goodies! 

There are 3 amazing things about Pro FX which in fact cover the entire polish. What I mean is that the bottles are huge, the price is great, and the quality of the product is amazing so you are literally (at least in my opinion) getting a PERFECT product! I've already told you the bottles are 75ml/2.5oz, so let me just tell you how much they are and I'm sure you will all be jumping up to go grab them asap! Drumroll please... Pro FX products are ONLY $5!!! Based on price to volume, you won't find another product with this amazing value. On top of great value, the products do exactly what they are meant to do and they give long lasting results. Like I said, this is the perfect product! Let me put this into perspective... a 15ml bottle of seche vite top coat sells for around $10 USD, meaning a price of $66.67/100ml. Pro FX 75ml bottles sell for $5 USD, meaning a price of $6.67/100ml... Pro FX is a TENTH of the price of Seche and I've actually heard of some ladies who prefer Pro FX over Seche! 

*** The only downside to Pro FX is they aren't big 3 free :( Sorry to the ladies who don't use products that aren't, or who are allergic! 

Long Lasting UV Top Coat 

This is the last Pro FX I added to complete my collection. Initially I would have bought this one first but then I saw Complete 3 so I figured I would just get that since it's an all in one - more on that in a bit. I heard excellent reviews about the top coat before I finally got to use it, so you can imagine how excited I was to use it with epoxy bond... the result would be a mani lasting longer than 2 weeks! There's nothing else to really say, this top coat is wonderful, quality top coat, and a top coat is perhaps the most important part of a mani. 

Quick Dry Top Coat 

Like the name suggests, this top coat dries really fast! I didn't time it or anything but it is significantly faster than any normal top coat. The thing is though, after a few uses this one gets thicker, as is the case with most quick dries. I find this top coat doesn't smear designs underneath as much so I'll use a coat of this, then put my UV top coat on. I do typically like to do a couple top coats, I just find it seals the mani in better, makes for a smoother finish, and makes it extra shiny! I also use it when I'm in a rush because if the polish underneath is still a bit tacky, I can put this on, cure it for 2 minutes in my UV lamp and I'm good to go. 

Complete 3 

This is the first Pro FX product I ever purchased! It was great for me at the time because I could use the same product as a top coat, base coat, and strengthener. Although this polish isn't exclusively a strengthener, I did notice a difference in the strength of my nails after one use. My mom also owns this because I recommended it for her and she loves it! 

Mineral Botanical Strengthener 

Other than my Sally Hansen strengtheners, this is my only other strengthener. As the name suggests, it's got minerals, and botanical just means that it's natural and comes from plants so it's not like this is going to hurt your nails at all. Trust me, this strengthener is amazing. Again, my mom bought it after I recommended it to her and she's very happy with it because being a mom her hands are constantly in water and she just has really weak nails. This helps her and she loves her now strong nails. 

Protein Enriched Base Coat 

Half the reason I bought this was to complete my Pro FX collection. I obviously knew I would use it but I wasn't 100% sure what exactly it would do for me. Its full name is Protein Enriched Base Coat & Revitalizer. Pretty much, it's similar to a strengthener so it's for sort of weak nails that need a little bit more protein. Strengthener is for weak, thin nails. Protein is for nails that are prone to actual breaking or splitting. The first time I used this I instantly loved it. My nails were a tad yellow from having so much polish on, so when I took my mani off after having used this base coat, almost all the yellow was gone! I noticed a significant difference and I rotate between this, strengthener, and my epoxy bond for base coats and the result is unbelievable. My natural nails are beautiful. Yes, they're a bit brittle and prone to splitting, but that aside, they're not weak or yellow at all! This protein enriched base coat will make your nails healthier. 

Epoxy Bond Base Coat 

I came across this beauty of a base coat when searching for Pro FX reviews. At the time I only had complete 3 and strengthener so I wanted to know what other people thought of it. So many girls were going on and on about how amazing this was and how their manicure lasted forever! So I got it as soon as I could and I gave it a try right away! I left my polish on for a week with this base coat and there was very minimal chipping - only because of washing dishes all the time. 

Here's a picture from my Instagram. These are my nails after a week of heavy wear. All you ladies who regularly wash dishes you know what the water does to our handsi and nails! 

 I use this on my friends a lot, and if they don't get their polish changed this base coat EASILY makes a mani last two weeks! If you're looking for extremely long lasting manis, I suggest epoxy bond and the uv top coat, I promise you'll see amazing results! 

Fiberized Ridge Filler 

Like the protein enriched base coat, I pretty much only bought this to complete my Pro FX collection. I don't have big ridges, at least not big enough that a base coat + 2 coats of polish + 1-2 top coats won't cover so I didn't think I would actually be using this. I wanted to test it out one day so I put the protein base coat on, and this overtop because I had some craters in my nails from splitting. Let me tell you, this works wonderfully! Even if you don't have ridges I recommend this because it just makes your nail so much smoother to paint on. The only downside is it takes a while to dry, but it's totally worth it. If you're like me and your nails split a lot, just put a little bit thicker of a blob where the "crater" is and wait for it to completely dry and your nail will be smooth to perfection :) I find my toes have big ridges so I love using this on them because it covers all imperfections! 

Apricot Cuticle Oil 

This isn't the first cuticle oil I've used and it's not my favourite but I wanted to try it out and again, I got it to complete my collection. My favourite cuticle oil is Sally Hansen's Vitamin E cuticle oil. The reason I prefer that over the apricot is because it's vitamin e. My cuticles are constantly dry and it seems the only thing that can keep them moisturized and soft is vitamin e. I use the apricot cuticle oil on my friends and they love it! Like all Pro FX products it's a great value for a great price so I can't complain too much and when it's summer again I'll be using this as I won't need to moisturize as much. 

Here is my whole Pro FX army! They're lined up like this in my Helmer and I love seeing them all when I go to paint my nails! When I show people they ask what they are because I guess so many oversized bottles looks a little intimidating!

I recommend these products to anyone and everyone because they've given me such amazing results. For top coats, I still do want to try Seche Vite but I'm in no rush because I'm completely satisfied with the top coats I have. I haven't used my OPI top coat since I got Complete 3 about 8 months ago (Maybe I should!) As far as base coats go, I will never go back to anything else! I love the strengthener, protein base coat, and epoxy bond. I also like the ridge filler as a substitute to Orly's nail rescue and who could live without some cuticle oil in a massive bottle like that! This whole set only costed $40+tax and as a broke university student I really do love finding products that have a great value with reasonable prices!

Deborah Lippmann - Mermaid's Dream

Lately I've been in a crappy/stressy mood so I figured swatching 1) an untried polish and 2) a fancy polish would de-stress me! Mermaid's Dreams by Deborah Lippmann happened to fall in both those categories so I figured I'd swatch it.

Before I even bought this polish I told everyone it was one of my favourites. I wasn't disappointed; this polish is absolutely gorgeous! The pictures do it no justice because I used my iPhone 4 camera, I was too lazy to get out my Canon Rebel T1i!

Here's Mermaid's Dream in the bottle. Who else loves the DL bottles?! They're so classy and elegant.

This is after 3 coats, no top coat. I find the polish to be very thin so 1 coat is definitely not enough, 2 coats was almost enough but there were still a few bald spots although they were not noticeable unless you stared, so 3 coats was just perfect to achieve opacity. It dries a bit textured which is okay for some, but I don't really like textured nails, and I find stuff gets caught or snags on it. 

Here's it is again with two top coats - sorry for the glare! There's still a tiny bit of texture, so I'll be applying a 3rd top coat tomorrow when I get my Pro FX UV Top Coat! For the two top coats pictured I used my Pro FX Quick Dry since I did this before bed and didn't wanna see ugly smudges when I woke up.

Ughhh sorry for my terrible cuticles :( They don't even look as bad in person as they do in this picture! I attempted to get a macro shot of the polish so you could see what's going on here... I did not succeed, clearly! There's all different sizes of the teal glitter, some bigger silver pieces of glitter, and of course the big blue pieces of hex glitter. This polish is just jam packed! Everything works so well together which makes for an absolutely stunning polish.

And one last picture of my whole hand, again, sorry for the glare, that top coat sure is shiny!

Overall, I LOVE this polish. The colour is breathtaking and anyone who purchases it won't be disappointed. Application was good - not bad at all, but definitely not the best. Probably because it's intense glitter, the actual polish is thin (not the formula) and because of the DL brush. The brushes aren't terrible or anything, but I prefer a pro-wide OPI brush, just my personal preference. Glitter placement was probably one of the easiest I've had. There's definitely a good amount of blue hex in this polish; I knew this would be fine since I've seen so many swatches. 

Would I recommend this polish to EVERYONE?! Umm, YES! I know DL's are a bit pricey but this one is absolutely gorgeous! Besides, every girl needs a few expensive polishes to use when she wants to feel extra glamorous or to cheer her up when she's feeling down :) 

A Relaxing Friday Night

I'm being totally lame tonight and didn't wanna go to "country night" at the bar with my friends. I like going out but... country night isn't really my thing. Not because I don't like country music, because I don't know any of the songs! 

So, I chose 8 untried polishes to swatch! My New Year's Resolution is to try all my untrieds... I'm sure many of you also have this resolution LOL! You'll have to excuse my deformed middle fingernail :( It broke last night! Also, there's no topcoat on any of these swatches, I wanted you guys to see the true finishes because we all know what shiny looks like! One last thing, I did no tidy up on these swatches (sorry some of them are brutal) and I sincerely apologize for my AWFUL cuticles... they're extremely dry and need some tending to asap :( 

The first polish I've got to show you is China Glaze - Peachy Keen. I got it about 6 months ago with a bunch of other CG colours - mostly neon/bright ones. I absolutely love peachy colours so I was really excited to try this one. It applied very well, a little bit see through on the first coat but perfectly opaque on the second coat. My only complaint is that the colour in the bottle is more of a peach, whereas the swatched colour looks more like a coral. It's still pretty, just not completely true to the bottle colour. 

Next up I've got Finger Paints - Fall-ing For You. I randomly got this one from Sally's because it was on sale for $2 - what a deal! Like most metallics, some streaks are visible but they aren't too bad. No problems with application. I didn't think I would like this colour as much as I do, since I normally don't like dark colours, and I like blue but I prefer pink. But having said that, I LOVE this polish! I'll be experimenting putting sparkles over it soon - the sparkles are fine silver sparkles with blue hex :) This polish was opaque on the first coat, but I've done two for the picture.  

Now we have Orly - Synchro. It's a beautiful light duo chrome, I also got it at Sally's for $2! Gotta love those sales! I wasn't sure how translucent it would be, so my first and ring fingers have white base coats but as you see it makes no difference, as this polish is opaque in two coats. No problems with application. It's a nice rosy pink/red, I really like it :) 

This polish is Sinful Colors - Lets Meet. I was super excited to try this one, because it's my first and only SC. I'm not really a huge fan of yellow to begin with so I didn't have any expectations for this polish. My first and ring fingers have white base coats, and middle and pinky have only a clear base coat. Application was fine, but this polish is extremely translucent. All nails have two coats, and as you can see there are still patchy parts. It's a nice shimmery yellow, but I don't think I'll be using it very often. If anything, it'll be a base for a design, possibly a saran wrap mani, maybe even a half moon mani. 

Next up is Finger Paints - Take It or Leaf It. It's like a darker version of CG Swing Baby, which is a darker version of NOPI The Next CEO. I've gotta say, I LOVE all three! I didn't think I would really like the FP one as much but man I think I'm in love! I do enjoy a dark polish every now and then, I think they're rather classy and elegant and that's what this polish is, but it's still fun cause it's metallic! Also, I really don't like gold... jewellery that is. But there's just something about a beautiful gold nail polish! Like most FP, application was great and this colour, like Fall-ing For You, was opaque in one coat, but I've done two coats for the picture. 

This one is Nina - Pearly Brights. I'm not sure if that's the actual name, or it's the collection because this colour is pearly and bright... but that was the only thing written on the bottom of the bottle. This colour is absolutely gorgeous! It looks oddly pink in the picture but it's more of a coral/pink/pearl in real life. This colour is pretty up there with the colour of CG Flip Flop Fantasy... I love how bright it is. It's neon but doesn't need a white base which is awesome! Like most neons/brights, it dries semi matte. The absolute WORST part of the polish though... THE BRUSH IS TERRIBLE! I should have taken a picture of it because it was just awful. Maybe some of you like the Nina brushes, or maybe I just got a terribly cut one... but it's awful. It's way too wide (like the width of my pinky!) and one side was rounded but the other wasn't so it was a square! Umm talk about annoying... The application was okay even though the brush wasn't, and the polish was opaque in two coats. 

Next is Revlon - Minted. The first time I saw this colour was on @higasaurus's instagram. I had a couple other mints but something about this one just stood out to me and I knew I HAD to have it. Revlon did another mint, very similar, called Jaded. I almost bought it but I'm glad I didn't because I was holding out for Minted! I think what sets this mint apart from other mints is that it's got more of a green tinge. Yes, I know mint is supposed to be green, but it's usually a lot whiter and softer. Application was great, this polish became opaque in two coats. The formula was a little on the thick side though but it's still very easy to work with. My only complaint is with Revlon brushes, they're rather skinny so it's a little annoying cause I like brushes like OPI's where I can polish a nail in 3 sweeps. With Revlon it's about 5 sweeps. This gorgeous colour makes up for the sucky brush though! 

This last one is Revlon - Whimsical, over Minted. I've been seeing lots of people talk about this polish on instagram, as well as Girly. I bought them at the same time and I finally got around to using Girly yesterday on my friend over Revlon's Lily which is a beautiful light purple. Girly was very pretty, I'm going to try it over pink next. Like Girly, Whimsical is stunning in the bottle. However, when applied, the glitter is very sparse and placing it is frustrating. There are two coats of Whimsical pictured below, but that's after extensive glitter placement. I might try it over a ligher mint again, because like I said Minted is just greener than most mints so it altered the colour of Whimsical a bit, I think it looks a little odd with the glitter but it's still pretty. I'm not completely sold on this polish. I think I'll need to experiment with it on top of different colours, or even in a jelly sandwich before I can make up my mind about it. 

If you're reading this, thanks for sticking with me through my first swatching session! I had a lot of fun swatching, because I got to see lots of new colours that I haven't before, and I even fell in love with a couple new ones! I've still got a ton of untrieds which I'm slowly getting around to using... and I have more polish on its way so that means even more swatching! I think this was a great way to end the week, I've been a little stressed lately but somehow polish always seems to relax me. I realize how sad that is... and that I'm rambling... so have a great weekend ladies! 

Nail Care

Our nails can be extremely tricky to work with. Some people are blessed with amazing nails, however I am not one of those people (so sad). My "claws" if you will, require a great deal of care and attention. I cannot stress enough the importance of caring for your nails properly! Every little thing you do affects your hands, simply because they are the most frequently used part of our body. 

The very first thing I will say about nail care is DO NOT BITE THEM! Seriously. I probably say this once a day, at least. Biting your nails is is an awful habit, and I'm glad I broke it many years ago. Not only is it terrible for your teeth (mine are all bumpy along the bottom because of biting) but it's terrible for your nails! It causes them to split and just in general makes them extremely weak. 

Plus, biting your nails to excess can cause pain because of how deep you bite them, and that's not pleasant for anyone. It also makes your nails way harder to paint, and they don't look as pretty :( I know everyone would prefer pretty nails over ugly ones! 

DO NOT BITE YOUR NAILS! I have a rule with my friends... I don't paint their nails if they've bitten them :) Seems to work pretty well! I should buy them all nail clippers and files hmm... 

Another major part of nail care is fixing weak nails. This is probably the most common flaw of nails. Weak nails can happen for numerous reasons. You may be lacking something in your diet, your body chemicals may just give you weak nails, or it's just part of your DNA. Not to fear though, this can be easily fixed! In fact, strengthening weak nails is the easiest thing to fix when it concerns nails. 

To fix your weak nails, first go out and buy a decent strengthener. I recommend Pro FX Mineral Botanical Strengthener - you can get this massive bottle (I'm talking 75ml/2.5oz) from Walmart for just $5 - what a deal! See my post on all Pro FX products here. It looks milky in the bottle but dries clear - a little textured though. 

If you don't want the Pro FX strengthener, I'd suggest Sally Hansen. Now, I'm all for finding bargain polishes, and some extremely cheap drugstore brands are still great quality. But when it comes to strengthener, don't cheap out. Spending the extra money is what will get you BEST results. (But like I said, Pro FX is super cheap and you get a ton so it's the best value for your money and I find it works just as well as Sally Hansen or other top brands.) 

To use strengthener, apply two thin coats. Then apply another thin coat every other day. Do this for about a week, until you've got about 5 coats in total (two the first day, plus 3 more from the other days). Once the week is over, take it all off and start again. This is if your nails are extremely weak and need a major intervention. Otherwise only apply a couple coats of strengthener every few days - in between polish paintings, or even as a basecoat. Strengthener is one of my favourite base coats, because it strengthens your nails while you still have a beautiful colour/design on top! 

Other problems with nails include: splitting and cracking/breaking/chipping. I grouped these last 3 together since they're so similar. There are many causes for splitting, cracking, breaking and chipping. Some of it may be due to genetics, or because of improper use of tools. My main problem with nails is splitting. Your nail is made up of several layers, and when your nails split, these layers are separating, causing your nails to become extremely thin, and unfortunately strengthener can't fix this as it's at the tip of your nail. 

Splitting makes nails look extremely ugly (at least in my opinion) because it creates a crater at the tip of your nail. There are a number of different things you can do to fix this. First of all, do NOT pick at your splitting nails! I know I'm guilty of this, and I really need to stop but I just hate that they always get caught on things! Try to file the split down so it's level with the rest of your nail and apply a base coat before applying any polish. 

• What I do for my splitting nails is apply a base coat of strengthener, then apply a coat of ridge filler that's just a bit thicker in the area where the split was so the whole nail surface is smooth and even. The strengthener will protect your nail in the meantime as you let your nails grow so you can slowly file down and remove the split area. 

Another solution is to just cut off all your nails so you remove the split tips altogether. This is extremely annoying though because I absolutely hate waiting for my nails to grow out again, but sometimes it's the only option. 

If you are completely against trimming the claws, you can invest in Orly's Nail Rescue kit. Or, if you already have the materials you can make your own "kit." The materials are: nail glue, acrylic powder, and a fine file. To use, put the glue on the split part of your nail (this also works for ripped nails!) and immediately dip in acrylic powder. Wait for the powder to dry, then file to blend in with the rest of your nail. 

Cracked, prone to breakage and chipping nails exist because the nails are too weak and dry. We've already discussed how to strengthen them, so onto how to make them less dry. First of all, you need to drink lots of water! Your nails are dry because your whole body is dry, lots of water every day will help this. Secondly, the frequency of your hands being in water dries out your skin and nails. Anyone who consistently washes dishes will be all too familiar with this, so the key is to moisturize after you've been in water for a long time. Actually, just moisturize a lot in general. Remember we're trying to make your nails/hands less dry. 

There are some products/tools that greatly affect the brittleness (is that a word?) of your nails. The first and most dangerous is acetone. Most nail polish removers are acetone based, because this is the ingredient that removes your polish quickly. If you use an improper technique to remove your nail polish, this can be the main cause of splitting. The proper technique is to stroke the cotton ball in only one direction: from your cuticle to the tip of your nail. If your nails are extremely prone to splitting and you're using the proper technique, you may want to switch to a non-acetone polish remover. This is what I've done because the use of so much acetone makes my nails extremely dry. 

Another thing that contributes to splitting/breaking is improper filing. By this I mean using a file with a very coarse grit. Finer grits are much better for your nails. Also, when cutting your nails, whether you use a clipper or nail scissors, make sure your nails aren't going to chip/rip. By this I mean you may want to soak your nails in water first so they're softer and aren't dry/brittle when you clip, causing chipping, breakage, or splitting. 

The last and maybe most important thing to help your nails (as well as not bite if you are a biter) is let them breathe. Give your nails a break every once in a while! I'm sure you all know lots of polish will make your nails yellow. They turn yellow because they don't have the proper nutrients since they're constantly suffocated by polish. Let your nails be completely free of anything - even strengthener - for at least one day out of the week. This is the best thing you can do for your nails since (believe it or not) they aren't meant to be painted! 

Hope this helps those who weren't sure why certain things were happening to their nails despite their best efforts to make them healthy. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions below! 

Today's Mani - Blue & Gold Leopard

Hey guys! So I finally got around to trying a leopard mani! The inspiration for the colours comes from @strawbrie on instagram. I was also happy to cross Sally Hansen's Pacific Blue off my untrieds list! 

These colours are: Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue, Nicole by OPI - The Next CEO, Rimmel - Black Satin 

When doing your nails more than one base colour, does anyone else forget that until they've painted all their nails one colour?! :( As I was painting my pinky I realized I forgot to leave the middle and ring fingers blank for gold... and as I was doing my right hand I only painted my middle finger blue before I remembered! I gotta fix this problem somehow so I don't have to always be restarting some nails and have them not a the same pace as the rest. 

Anyway, here are my nails pre-leopard and pre-cleanup: 

Here are my nails with the leopard dots, minus the outlines. Through watching many, manyyy, maannnyyyy tutorials on leopard manis, I've realized you don't need to have a TON of spots if you're gonna do them a decent size that's manageable to work with. If you're going for major leopard, then you can do them smaller and closer together but you'll need a much finer tool. I'll probably try this someday soon :) But for my nails the key is to have them spread out nicely and all different shapes, as you can see.

To create this look I used different size dotting tools. The biggest to create blue dots, and a medium one to create the black outlines and other random dots. When doing the outline, be as freeform as you like. It looks so much better when it's not all perfect, that's the point! Lopsided outlines are great, and all different types too. You'll see for some of the dots I did two outlines (like brackets), some are disproportionate brackets (one way bigger than the other), and some are almost completely outlined. 

Then in spaces where there's a big gap, fill it in with a blob the same colour as your outline. Do NOT overcrowd the empty spaces with the random blobs, you'll ruin the print! 

The only thing I wish I could change about my leopard print is the size of the outline. It's thicker than I'd like, although I still think it looks really good. I'm so proud of myself for doing this great of a job on my first attempt at a leopard print mani! (P.S. Sorry for my SUPER dry cuticles, I haven't been tending to them as often as I need to, and I took this picture after my first topcoat - I applied two - so I'll be using my Pro FX Apricot Cuticle Oil right after I post this!) 

Happy painting girls! Comment below with a link if you've got a leopard mani you'd like me to see :)

Cuticle Care

I just thought I'd share my cuticle routine with you! I never used to care about my cuticles until a couple years ago, but I only really started getting serious about them 6 months ago. Since then I've noticed they're a lot healthier and happier! 

The first cuticle product I ever used was Burt's Bees Cuticle Cream. It's semi expensive for a little jar but it lasts a long time because it's very compressed. It's got a lovely lemon scent too, which I love! Just use your fingers to rub some on your cuticles. You don't need an excessive amount just enough to moisturize. For best results do this 2-3 times daily. 

The Second product I used was Sally Hansen's Vitamin E Cuticle Oil. Now, I loved my Burt's Bees, but this stuff was amazing! Probably because it was made with vitamin e. For those who don't know, vitamin e helps with repairing scar tissue while providing moisture so that's why it's so good for your cuticles. Putting vitamin e on a wound that's starting to heal will help decrease the appearance of the scar later on! 
All sorts of vitamin e products can be purchased at a drugstore or even Walmart, such as pure vitamin e oil (a little expensive but totally worth it in my opinion), and Webber's Vitamin E gel and cream, which I own and have applied to my tattoos as recommended by my tattoo artist. 
I'd recommend vitamin e if you have really dry cuticles with a lot of hangnails. Mine tend to be dry, especially in this cold Canadian winter weather! 

My next product is Freeman's Bare Hands Cream. Not only do I love the scent of this mint & lavender cream, it reminds me of an Avon cream from when I was younger. It's hand and cuticle cream, so when I use it I make sure my cuticles get a nice moisturize too. 
I'd recommend this, or any other similar hand/cuticle cream if your cuticles are under control but you just want something to moisturize them nicely everyday. 

My last product is Pro FX Apricot Cuticle Oil. I haven't been using this for too long but it works like any other cuticle oil. I love the giant bottle though, so I know it's gonna last me FOREVER! My only disappointment is that it doesn't actually smell like apricot but it works great nonetheless. My friends also love it and made me apply it multiple times on them! 

As far as tools go, my favourite cuticle pusher is my own fingernails. I tend to do this when I'm bored (I always have) or only a little while before I know I'll be changing my manicure (so the gap between my cuticle and polish isn't massive). I do own a couple cuticle pushers, and I prefer metal over anything else, and I like a round edge. 

I've got a few different cuticle cutters, like scissors, the trimmers, and nail clippers of course. I find that the only tool to get close enough for my liking is the Sally Hansen Trimmer, but you've got to be extremely careful when you use it, I cannot stress that enough! Trimming cuticles too close could lead to an infection, and in some cases you actually need antibiotics, so let's just not go down that road. If your cuticles aren't long, you dont' even need to push them back. If you do want to push them back then just do that because they will settle down after pushed. Only cut them if necessary! 

So, we've talked about all the cuticle products I own, now for my actual routine. I push my cuticles once or twice a week so they're fairly small. I only need to trim them once every 1-2 months because I regularly push them. I do my cuticles first to get them out of the way of my mani. I only apply cuticle oil after I've finished the mani and put top coat on, or else the polish won't stick to the cuticle oil on your nail and your mani won't last as long (duh!). I apply my hand/cuticle cream maybe every few days, and I only use my Burt's Bees Cuticle Cream once in a while. This is mostly because it's in my purse and I forget about it since I'm typically at school with my backpack and don't often need to use my purse. 

I used to get a LOT of hangnails when I was younger and I would peel them and bleed and go to school with ugly bandaids :( I've learned since then though... NEVER EVER PEEL HANGNAILS! Don't touch them until you can cut them off! When you do cut them, use nail clippers and try to get as close to the base as you can then moisturize right away. I still get hangnails sometimes, but they're very tiny. I don't moisturize as often as I should so that's why they're drier than I want them. As long as you moisturize them after you push them, and you moisturize at least once daily then you should be set! Like I said, you only really need vitamin e as a remedial measure, although it is nice to have once in a while! One little secret I have is if you're out and don't have anything to moisturize them, I just use a bit of my lip chap (carmex exclusively) and rub it on my cuticles to make them happy! 

Hope this helped you if that's what you were looking for! Comment below and let me know what you guys do for your cuticles :)

2012 Favourites

Orly Nail Rescue
This stuff is AMAZING. I've only had it for about a week but I've used it probably five times... on myself and on my family. It's basically just a little bottle of nail glue with a brush for applying and a little jar of acrylic powder. Plus it comes with a small double sided file for smoothing after. 
My only concern is it takes a while to dry (though well worth it to fix cracked/ripped nails) and sometimes when you file it, little chunks come off because it hasn't stuck to the nail properly. Maybe I didn't let it dry long enough but this is pretty annoying since I hate sitting around waiting. 

Pro FX 
This brand sells oversized bottles of base coat and top coat, and they even have cuticle oil! When I say oversized I mean 75ml/2.5oz bottles of beautiful polish! The best part of Pro FX is how cheap it is... $5 at Walmart for a massive bottle that will last forever! They have 9 products, though I've only seen 8. They are: Complete 3 (base coat, strengthener, top coat), UV Top Coat, Quick Dry Top Coat, Mineral Botanical Strengthener, Epoxy Bond, Fiberized Ridge Filler, Protein Enriched Base Coat, Apricot Cuticle Oil, and Quick Dry Drops (haven't seen this - not sure where to get it). 
All of the Pro FX products work extremely well, and they do exactly what the label says it will. I'll be posting reviews on all Pro FX products sometime soon so stay tuned :)

Konad Multi Stamp 
The first Konad stamp I bought was just a small one and I thought it was great until I tried to get a certain stamp on a certain spot of the nail but couldn't line it up too well. Then I discovered there was a double sided stamp, and then saw the multi stamp. I love the multi stamp because it's double sided and has a scraper built in so there's less shuffling when stamping. 

Nail Polish Remover Dip
My mom introduced me to polish remover dip and I instantly loved it! Removing polish has never been easier with this baby. It's just a little jar with a sponge inside. The sponge has an x cut into it so you can put your finger in there, and it's soaked in nail polish remover so all you need to do is twist your finger back and forth until the polish comes off. Normally I use 100% acetone, which, if any of you know, is fairly sticky and a little annoying to work with at first, though it does remove polish faster. My friends prefer to use the dip, but I tend to only use it when I need to redo just one nail. I also use my old one to clean my dotting tools! 
My only complaint is that you have to buy a new one when the sponge gets full of nail polish, you can't clean it and add new nail polish remover. Trust me, I tried it and it did NOT work! They're really cheap though, like $3 at Walmart for a Sally Hansen one so well worth your money because they do last a long time and are super convenient. 

Sally Hansen Cuticle Pusher & Trimmer
I'm a huge fan of pushing my cuticles back, but I don't often have to trim them since they don't grow too long, but when I do, this tool cuts nice and close. I tend to push my cuticles back with my nails (my favourite method) but the pusher on this tool is pretty good, although I do prefer a metal one to this one. Mostly I just like the trimmer. The only thing is you need to be careful you don't cut too much cuticle off and bleed or cause an infection! My advice is try to cut smoothly and not too deep. 

***For the polishes below, I'm sorry I don't have swatches, I never bothered to take any pictures and that many swatches would be too time consuming considering I want to publish this post not sit around swatching! 

Color Club - Halo Hues Collection
My first holographic polish was Color Club's Harp On It. Originally I wanted the whole collection, and I had seen it on www.nailpolishcanada.com before but when I went to order more polish it was gone and most of the other polishes from the collection were sold out. A couple weeks later it was back up so I instantly ordered it! I'm glad I ordered the whole set because I broke my Harp On It after only using it twice, so I got a replacement with the Halo Hues collection. 
These holos don't need an aqua base unlike many other holos, which is definitely a plus since more nail polish = more money and more drying time. Every single colour in this collection is absolutely beautiful! The only thing I don't understand though is why they needed to have two pink(ish) colours. Cloud Nine and Halo-Graphic both have pink tones and in most lights I can't tell the difference. I haven't gotten a chance to swatch them yet, though in other peoples swatches I have been able to see a difference. 

UV Lamp 
Most UV lamps can be pricey so they're really only for dedicated nail polish folk, or if you've got the money. Since a UV lamp is primarily for gel and acrylic, it takes longer to dry actual polish which can be frustrating. While this is the case, I still use it on every manicure because it's faster than waiting for polish to air dry, and it warms my cold hands in the winter! I got mine on eBay for about $40 (36W) and I'm very happy with the quality - no complaints whatsoever!

Nicole by OPI - Sensational Scarlet
These dark red sparkles are beautiful for the holidays! The glitter is all different sizes and the fine glitter is very obvious in the light. Two coats is good for this polish, one is a little thin and  the glitter isn't as obvious. It's a little textured when dry, so I like to put a couple top coats on. 

Orly - Miss Conduct
I've only used this once but I was instantly in love with it. It's a deep raspberry colour with holographic sparkles. It's classy but still fun! You don't even need a top coat with this one, but it's probably better so your mani is sealed in. 

China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy
My absolute favourite summer colour! (And absolute favourite pink too!) I love this on both my nails and toes, in fact it's the only colour that I will ever match both nails and toes with. It's like a neon, but it's not. You need at least two coats for this one, sometimes even three but it's worth it! It dries a little matte so I always put a glossy top coat on. 

China Glaze - Rose Among Thorns
This colour really was a rose among thorns... I randomly saw it as I was looking for other polishes! This beautiful pink/red is a neon so a white base would probably be better though I've only used it on a clear base. 

Revlon - Guava
I love this pink, because it's bright yet it's a little deeper so it's fun but not tacky if that's what you're worried about at work etc. I use this a lot for designs, it's very opaque on top of darker colours. 

Orly - Cotton Candy
This pink is cute and girly, it's true to the colour in the bottle. So far I've only used it with some designs but it works well with most colours. 

Revlon - Lily
I'm not normally a fan of light purples, but I am of this one! It's absolutely gorgeous! I did a simple dot mani with this polish as the base and it was probably one of my favourite manis yet. 

WetnWild - On A Trip
If you're into bright purples, this one is a must have. It's extremely vibrant, and I think it pairs perfectly with Revlon's Guava (mentioned earlier). My only complaint is it dries a little darker than in the bottle, but still a lovely colour nonetheless. 

Nicole by OPI - Positive Energy
I've had this for so long, and I'm sure everyone's seen it, but I just love this metallic silver. I've never really used any other, so I don't have anything to compare it to. I've found that it is a little streaky though, but it's pretty good considering some metallics are just awful when it comes to streaking! 

Nicole by OPI - Look At Me, Look At Me
This is my favourite silver glitter. It's fine silver glitter, with some pink hex glitters. You can get away with one coat, but two is idea. It dries very textured so you'll probably want to apply two top coats. 

Nicole by OPI - The Next CEO
This one is a light metallic gold which looks silver in some lights. It's extremely classy and I would wear it on its own. It's also a great base for pink/purple leopard designs, and I love it with black accents, or as an accent on black nails! 

China Glaze - Secret Peri-wink-le
I love this periwinkle, it's not too dark or too light. It's definitely one of my must haves because it's so pretty! 

China Glaze - Aquadelic
I believe this one is similar to "For Audrey," also by CG. It's a deep mint/teal, and I absolutely love it, especially on toes or with Silver accents. 

OPI - Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow
This is a metallic dark green with a suede finish. I've had this for a while and only used it a couple times but every time I use it I just ask myself why I don't use it more often. It's very elegant, and it's a must have if you like dark colours with a bit of sparkle.