Get Nailed: Mermaid Nails

CVS has a really amazing deal going on right now with their Revlon nail polishes. All Revlon polishes are on sale for $4.99 and you get $3 in ECB's back on each bottle (limit 6)! So you end up spending $30 and getting $18 back! As soon as I found out, I ran (not literally, I don't run) over to CVS to take full advantage of this offer, and I was immediately drawn to all of the blues !

My Purchase (L to R) 730 Royal, 340 Ocean, and 441 Radiant.

Time for a nail poish secret of mine. I have a love/hate relationship with blue nail polish. Someone in high school once told me that blue nail polish was "so juvenile", and that particular thought has seared its way into my memory and only recently could i get past it with the help of my sister in law (I make it sound so serious, huh?) Anyhow, I saw these polishes and immediately thought "Mermaid!"

I began with this look which was cute but it was missing something. What do mermaids have (besides fabulous hair, nice shells, and amazing singing voices of course)..SCALES! Once I decided I was going to attempt scales, I gathered a few complimentary colors and begin to place rows of dots in alternating colors, layering them on top of each other.

This is my final outcome. It would have been amazing if I had a dotting tool, but I still haven't gotten around to ordering one so this is what you get! Anyone else take advantage of the current CVS sale or do you have your own Mermaid Nails to show off? Leave us a comment below or visit our FB page !

Get Nailed: imPRESS Press On Manicure Review

Hey there ladies and gents. Recently I posted about the amazing company Influenster who sent me multiple items to including the imPRESS Press On Manicure to sample and test for FREE!  I have seen these nails everywhere but was not sure if they were for me. As most of you know, I love to paint my own nails and play with designs, but sometimes you just don't have time. That is where the nails come in. They are already colored or have an awesome print on them so all you have to do is stick them on. The company boasts that "There is no drying, a killer shine, and a manicure that lasts up to a week! And imPRESS is so easy to remove you can change it to match up your mood as often as you want."

PRO's:

No Drying time for polish (obviously) or glue

Quick & Easy to apply

Come in a wide range of colors and prints, 36 to be exact (which you can view via their website)

Also on their website, you can try on their nails on a virtual hand as well as print out $1/1 coupon

In my opinion, they fit your nails better than most other press on nails

Come with multiples of sizes and shapes so there is sure to be ones that fit every nail!

If they actually stayed on a whole week with no problems, the price is amazing!

CON's:
The sizing of the nails is not perfect, but I am yet to see any company that is.

The specific color I received was my least favorite of all 36 colors and designs they offer. I received Stiletto
and it even looks better online than in person. It is a brown and I hate brown nail polish, but that is just me.

Mine did not stay put for a whole day. It may have been a fluke, but the nails on my right hand kept popping off while typing and answering phones at work and the worst was when I was folding up my daughter's stroller and three came off at once. On the other hand (literally), my left hand nails did not budge and when I tried to remove them because my right hand nails all came off it wasn't completely painless, but at least it was quick and easy.

 Overall imPRESSion?
I would use them again if I received them as a gift or buy them if they were on sale or clearance, but I did not have the most positive experience with them so I cannot honestly say I would go seek them out. I would give this product a 3/5 stars. Have you tried them? If so, what did you think of them ?

Get Nailed: Lazer Show Mani

I've seen similar versions of this mani all over the place and it is super fun! The best part about it is that it is not only super easy, but there are so many color and design combinations that it's practically endless! I first attempted to do this with my handy scotch tape, but scotch tape and Milani Holographic polishes do not mix. Every time I removed my tape design, the polish would come off too. So I dug into my nail art box of treasures until I found a suitable replacement for the scotch tape... nail art tape. Nail art tape is a cheap and fun way to decorate your nails, so you should invest in some and just keep it around as it's pretty versatile.

1.) For this manicure, after my clear base coat, I painted each a finger a different Holographic color and let dry completely.

2.) Next, I cut small pieces of nail tape and placed them in my desired designs on my nails.

3.) Third, I took a black Milani polish and painted over the entire nail, tape and all.

4.) Quickly removed the tape while the black polish was still wet.

5.) Follow with a clear coat only if you are not using matte polish, and viola! there it is, an easy, quick and unique design that reminds me of an awesome lazer show!

Get Nailed: Reinforcement Rings

Here is a fun spin on the Half Moon Mani using those handy little reinforcement stickers once again!

You will need:
Clear base coat
Two contrasting colors
Clear top coat
Reinforcement Stickers


Instructions:
Paint nails with clear base coat, let dry.

Paint nails with "lighter color", or "non-textured" color" ( I used Certainly Cherry first and Purple Glitter second.) Remember to let dry completely or the stickers will adhere to the polish and rip off sections of it upon removal.

Once nails are COMPLETELY dry, place reinforcement stickers randomly on your nails depending on the shape you are looking for. (These clear ones are hard to see as I ran out of white ones but I assure you they are there.)

Paint over each sticker beginning at the rounded edge and brush outwards. Once the nails are painted with the second coat, remove stickers and you will have fun rounded, shapes and edges on your nails.

Let second coat dry and top with a clear and/or fast drying top coat and viola!

Whoreders: Get Nailed: SPLAT !

Long time, no nail art. So sorry, but I have been extreeeeeemely lazy..errr...busy. Yes, busy, that's it. Anyhow, after browsing the Internet for nail art ideas, I got even lazier, and all my ambition went down the drain. Next time, I promise something new and exciting. This time, I decided to do splatter paint nails, it may not be new, but it is exciting! I mean come on, I named them SPLAT! nails.  

How did I do it you ask? It seriously is the easiest manicure in the world, even my two year old daughter could do it...maybe even better than I did, but we won't talk about that. Anyhow, all you do is put a dollop of polish where you want the main "SPLAT!" to be, and take a toothpick, bobby pin, or other pointy tool to drag out lines and splat marks! That's it..seriously. While the manicure isn't perfect, that's the genius behind it, you can be messy and still claim you wanted it to look that way !

Originally I was thinking of doing something along these lines, but I wanted something simpler with little to no clean up. Luckily, I found the amazing Nail Nerd and saw these super cute nails that she did. I used her idea but changed up the color combo and did not use a base coat.

If you try this or have done it in the past, please feel free to post pictures as we would love to see your mani's! If you have any other ideas or requests for future posts leave a comment here or on our FB!

Get Nailed: Flower Power

Spring is almost here but the weather in Ventura, Ca is still chilly. So to prep myself for spring and the hopefully warm weather it brings, I've decided to do a floral print on my nails. I tried multiple times to paint different styles of flowers until I found one that I liked.

1.) To start with, paint your nails with a light color for the base polish. I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Blue Blast which seems to be discontinued. My sister in law found it on clearance at Target for only $3.24. Added bonus, if you use $1/1 MF coupon and $1/1 Target Coupon, it would only be $1.24, if you can still find it...

Get Nailed: Cupcakes for Penny

My tiny terror Penny is turning two this Saturday the 4th ! Time sure flies. I decided to paint my nails for her. I combined three of her favorite things, sparkles, pink, and cupcakes!

1.) Clean and prep nails with a clear base coat, let dry.

2.) Next I used OPI Italian Love Affair on all but my middle fingers. On my middle fingers I used Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet. I used 2- 3 coats on each nail, but remember to let nails dry between coats !

3.) On my ring fingers and thumbs I used Milani Diamond Dazzle because Penny LOVES "sparkles".

4.) On my pinkies I did polka dots (using a paperclip) and on my pointer fingers I did stripes. Both patterns were done with Milani White Canvas.

5.) Now for the fun part, the cupcake! I painted the bottom half of my middle fingers in bright pink using Essie Surfer Dude (no longer available). I then put stripes through that pink using Milani Draw in Pink. Together, this makes the cupcake wrapper.

Next I chose a medium pink for the cupcake itself using Milani Tip Toe Pink. I made sprinkles on the cake using Milani Nail Art in Blue Print, Green Sketch, Draw in Pink, and White Canvas.

6.) Last thing I did was I used Nicole Berry Sweet for the cherry on top, and slap on a clear top coat and voila !

I went home last night and Penny saw my nails. She said Momma pink nails pretty, OOOOHHH SPARKLES!!! And then she did her sign language for cake and got really excited, mission accomplished ! :)

Get Nailed: Baby You're a Firework !

I've been thinking and thinking....and thinking about what the heck to do for "New Years" Nails. Now that it is far passed New Years, it came to me lol. Firework nails! I googled and Pinterested ( Yes, I made that word up, and no it will not catch on like "Googled") the crap out of firework nails, new years nails, explosion nails etc. I kept coming across this picture but I couldn't find a tutorial anywhere.

I finally found the original picture at nailside (which has tons of awesome nail designs by the way), and you can find her instructions here. I'm glad I started on my own because I was a little confused by her instructions anyways, but that's just me. However, I also didn't find the tutorial until I started my own version lol.

I say mine came out pretty dang good as seeing it was my first time trying these, and I didn't have the instructions to begin with. I tried to cut a zig-zag pattern out of scotch tape that would fit on my nail but it really is much easier to cut small triangles out of scotch tape like nailside suggests. I used Milani One Coat Glitter in "Purple Gleam" (which is really "two coat glitter") and O.P.I "I Get A Kick Out Of Gold" for a Any way that you do it, I'm sure it will come out fun and good looking (much like myself). Well Whore(der)s, I'm off to slowly attempt to paint my left hand now. Good thing fireworks are erratically shaped.

Get Nailed: This Little Light of Mine

There are many things I love about Christmas, but my absolute favorite thing is the lights! I love them so much that I went a little overboard and painted them on my nails! I was originally inspired by TheBeautyDepartment's fun and unique tutorial where Lauren uses actual string for her string of lights. I am not that ambitious, nor do I have string on hand, so I improvised.

1. Prep your nails with a good base coat. I got a new one when I took advantage of Milani's Cyber Monday sale (I went a little too far buying bought 26 polishes), and I love it so far. It really gives you a smooth canvas to work with!

2. Apply your base color. I went for a fun, holiday gold O.P.I., which happens to be a super rare polish that I found laying around Heather's desk.

3. Next, I took my new Nail Art Polish in Black (also by Milani of course), and made loops to resemble a string of Christmas lights (minus the lights).

4. I used three more of new Milani glitter polishes to dot on lights. You can use any color you want, just have fun with it!

5. Follow with a good top coat, and voila, you've got some fun(ky) Christmas nails!

Get Nailed: Out Damn Spot!

So usually I write about how i did me some awesome nails, but this week, I'm writing how to undo these damn nails I did last week! Imagine my surprise went I went to remove my O.P.I. nail polish, and it didn't come off! What is this world coming to when you can't even count on O.P.I nail polish ?? ?Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but I looked like I fingered the Hulk. Yeah, I said that, now deal with it.

I don't know if any of you have ever suffered the embarrassment of the dreaded "Nail Stain". It usually occurs when you don't use a base polish, use a really cheap polish, or a heavily pigmented polish. I never knew how to completely remove the polish stain, so I usually just painted over it, but this time I ventured  to my magic machine (the computer), and researched (aka Googled) the hell out of it.

I found the simplest way to remove the stain is this:

1) Remove as much as you possibly can with Nail Polish Remover.

2) Get  a cheap manicure kit, and go to town! No seriously, buff and smooth your nails with buffer stick (I may have made that name up) push back your cuticles and cut them with the cuticle pusher/cutter, which is super easy (even thought it looks scary). Next clip and/or file your nails as necessary. Lastly use the "Shine aka Side 2" of the "buffer stick" to polish your nails, and voila, the stains are gone! At most, this took me 10 minutes for both hands.

                                

    IT STARTED LIKE THIS

(DON'T JUDGE ME, I WASN'T DONE CLEANING THEM UP YET)