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!

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