nailed it 002: how i do it.

So I've gotten questions about HOW I do my nails, and WHAT I use. 

I'm a firm believer in Essie's Protein Base Coat. Use it.

 Apply one coat after the base has dried. It WON'T look good:

Take the brush down the middle of the nail, then sweep on either side of that middle stroke. Three swipes of the brush should cover the nail.

A second coat of the polish, if applied evenly will cover the whole nail and even out the inconsistencies of the first. 

To add the glitter:

I use Martha Stewart glitter because it is the BEST.

 Firstly, sweet a little bit of top coat over the tip of your nail. 

Dip a paint brush (one you don't plan to use again) in the glitter and dab it onto the nail tip. You will get stray glitter. I like the way it looks, so I work it in. I tend to add a little extra sprinkle to the rest of the nail to make it look a little ombre. Or something. 

Once you've applied the glitter, let it dry.

Then, use the brush to remove excess glitter before you cover the whole nail with top coat. 

I like to use my extra paint palette to catch stray glitter. 

Martha's glitter isn't cheap, so I don't like for it to be wasted. 

Over the nails I don't put glitter on, I use Essie's top coat:

Over the glitter nails, I use OPI's Designer Series Top Coat. The DS makes a difference.

I put the top coat on the glitter nail pretty thick, to cover the glitter completely. I don't like rough, ragged edges. The top coat seals it all in.

The removal of the glitter isn't really very fun. But, it's no harder than any other glitter polish.

I also don't like OPI's nail polish with the glitter. I find the Essie holds better. 

Give it a try! See what you come up with!

{colors above: Essie's Absolutely Shore & MS glitter in Aquamarine Crystal}

Nailed it 001

Alright, I said I as thinking about another recurring post and here it is!

I love to do my nails. 

I think, for me, it's almost therapeutic to do my own at home, rather than go and get it done. 

Besides, I figure for every one mani at a salon, I can buy what, two? three? bottles of nail polish. 

And as often as I like to change colors, that fits me just fine.

Right now, I'm really into Essie's nail colors.

My particular favorite of the summer is Tarte Deco.

It's a really bright coral, with lots of orange undertones. 

I've worn it all summer, but this last time, I used a little Martha Stewart glitter in turquoise to add a pop.

See how dramatically different the color looks in each photo? I was trying, trying to get the color to photograph right, and just wasn't satisfied.

I think the truest to color images it the largest photo.

Lots of fun.

I get tons and tons of compliments on this color.

There are lots of other things I can cover, so stay tuned.

I've tried the Sally Hansen Nail Effects (I love in Blue Ice! Notsomuch in the multi glitter) and the newest OPI shatter, Silver, which is a blast and a half. I'll cover all those things in the future.

For right now, though, I am going to sit and remove my coral and give Absolutely Shore a try with a little Aquamarine Crystal glitter. We'll see. 

I'm fully expecting glitter removal to be a complete pain in the butt.