Feeling Great!

If your like me and your nails and toes HAVE to match...you will be happy to know that I found a match for Gelish's Gossip Girl (the color currently on my nails).  I really love the Sinful Colors polish.  It's only $1.99, and it lasts like an $8.00 polish.  Sinful Colors Feeling Great is a perfect match!

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

Gelish Nails...at home!!!

As I stated in my previous post, my lovely husband got me a UV light for my birthday!!!  I've been wanting to do my own gel nails at home for a while, and the light is the biggest expense.  I thought my starter kit would arrive a week before my polish so I went to Sally's to see if they had any polishes on sale.  They did, so I picked up 3 colors (two different greens, and a blue)

On a side note - dont go to Sally's to get Gelish stuff.  The started kit was $30 on Amazon, and $50 at Sally's.  The mini polishes I got at Sally's were on sale for $8.00, the polishes I got from Amazon were also on sale for $8.00 and they were full-sized!  So, if you don't mind waiting, and paying a little for shipping, I would highly suggest going to Amazon.

This is the light that my hunnies got me :)

My Gelish mini kit!

See what I mean...all these polishes were on sale for $8.00.  The two from Amazon were almost twice the size of the mini's!

This is the color I used for my gel manicure.  I don't usually go for green, but this is such a pretty color.

These are the four polishes that come with your kit. 

Start with clean, dry, nails.  Shape and buff before you begin the following process...

1. First you use the ph bond, this is a thin liquid that dries your nail bed and prepares it for the gel.
2. Next you apply the foundation.  This is a very thick formula, but it goes on smooth, make sure to apply a THIN layer...put nails under UV light (the amount of time depends on the wattage of your light).
3. Now it's time to apply the color of your choice.  Put your nails under the light after every coat (two is usually how many you will need, depending on the polish).
4. After you are satisfied with the color of your polish, apply the top coat.  This has the same consistency as the foundation.  Put your nails under the light for the last time.  Be very careful not to get ANY polish on your finger.  It won't hurt anything, but it starts to "lift" all your polish off your nail.  It's a learning process...you'll get better as you go :)

When you are finished apply a bit of nail cleanser to a cotton ball and wipe all of your nails.  Lastly apply the nourish to your cuticles.  This smells so good!  And it feels good on your fingers..apply it everyday if you want!

The artificial nail remover is to remove the polish...apply a good amount to a cotton ball, place it on your nail and wrap in foil, leave on for about 15 min.  It's basically just regular nail polish remover, so when you run out, just get some at a drug store.

It took several coats to get the green the color I wanted, and I put it on a little thick, so it turned out kind of gloppy....especially my ring finger.

This is the color I put on my toes...it matched almost perfectly!!!

However I couldn't stand how my nails looked, they were so gloppy.  So the next morning I removed the green and applied a beautiful pink.  This color is called Gossip Girl, its one of their most popular polishes...and I can see why.  It's beautiful!  I made sure to apply very thin coats, and seal the end of the nail...its looks much better!  Don't you agree!!!

two posts in one

So I've been ridiculously busy with the whole end of the school year stuff, and my sisters wedding...plus there was the whole, not knowing what school I will be in next year (long story).  Anyhoo, I've haven't blogged in awhile, so I'm showing two mani's in one here.....

Mani #1

This polish matched PERFECTLY with the gel polish I already had on my nails...really quite amazing!  I don't remember the name of it, and its upstairs, and I'm outside, but its a really pretty red.

So, first I painted two coats of this beautiful red to cover any flaws and re-growth, then topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite.

I got some nail tape in the mail last week, and was really excited to use it!  I applied the nail tape to my pointer and ring finger, and painted this beautiful essie purple color over it (again...the polish is upstairs, sorry)

And voila!  Add a another coat of Seche Vite to the purple nails, and you are done!

Mani #2

For this mani I used two colors from Orly.  Liquid Vinyl is a very shiny very black, black...it's a really cool color!  On top of the black I added Be Brave.  This is a glitter polish, but instead of the glitter being small and round they are long, like confetti...very cool looking!

Here is an outside picture to really show the sparkles...they are so pretty!  Next time I will be using two top coats..some of the sparkles don't lay flat, and its really noticeable after they dry.  I just filed the stubborn pieces down a bit with the glass nail file...but another top coat would have also done the trick.

On a side note....when I was reading about techniques to get your polish to stay on longer, and also how to do your own gel polish manicures (see below!!!) I kept seeing people say "make sure you seal the nail"...I'm thinking what the hell is that?
Basically its when you paint the whole nail and then paint the very tip of the nail, holding the brush sideways, so you are "sealing in" the polish.  This is so amazing!!!  I've had the above glitter mani for 4 days and no chips!!!  With the base coat I used (because I took the gel polish off, and I didn't want my nails to break before I put new on) my nails usually only make it one or two days before I get a few chips!!!  But with this new technique...no chips!!!

For my birthday my hubby got me a UV light to dry gel polish!  Now I can do my own gel polish!!  I am super excited!!!
I am waiting on the Gelish starter kit to arrive in the mail (it should get here today or tomorrow), (just an fyi....its $50 in Sally's but only $20 at Amazon...the starter kit, not the light.  Chris got the light off Amazon for about $50), I also ordered two really pretty nail colors, but they won't be here until next week.  So I went to Sally's to see if they had any on sale - they did, they are the "funky" colors, but they're pretty.  I will also be experimenting with using regular polish in-between the gelish top and bottom coats...stay tuned!

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

wedding nails

I got another new gel mani for my sisters wedding this past weekend.  I absolutely love the color!!!  The gal that did them had a little bit of a different technique than my usual girl.  She got closer to my cuticle, which I like because the re-growth will be less obvious.  They are also thinner...I like the look, but I'm not sure that they will stop my nails from breaking....we shall see. :)

Look how thin!!!  It just looks like regular polish!

And what a beautiful polish color it is!!!  I wish I new the name of the color!  I love it!  I am really thinking about investing in a UV light and some Gelish polishes of my own.  I really think I can do this at home.

I did however get a chip on day 4...that never happens when my girl at home does them!

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4