Thursday, December 20, 2012

Nail Tutorial: Here Comes Santa Clause!

Christmas is without a doubt my favorite holiday!! In honor of this awesome day, I decided to do a Santa themed manicure. I found a lot of different ideas online when I was getting ready to do this, so I decided to put everything together, and do a different design on each nail. Keep reading if you want to see how I did my festive nails!

What You'll Need:
  • Basecoat and Topcoat (I love Orly's Bonder and Won't Chip!)
  • Red, White, Silver, Black, Yellow, Nude, and Pink Polishes
  • Green Striper
  • Glitter Polish
  • Dotting Tool/ Bobby Pin
First Step:
Apply a coat of basecoat on all of your nails to protect your nails from staining.

Pinky: Fancy French Tip
Use the red polish to do a French tip. Then, use the silver to add a thin line under the red. 

Ring Finger: Santa's Coat
Paint the entire nail with two coats of red, and let it dry.
Then, make a vertical line down the center of the nail with the white polish. Make dots at the tip to make fur.
Paint a black line across the nail for Santa's belt. Then, use the yellow to make the belt buckle.

Middle Finger: Santa!
Paint the bottom third of the nail red.
Then, paint up to the tip with the nude polish for Santa's face.
At the tip of the nail, make white dots to form Santa's beard. Then, make two small dots for Santa's eyes, and a pink dot for his nose.

Index Finger: Santa's Hat
Paint a red triangle with the point at the bottom of your nail. Then, make a white dot at the point  and more white dots at the tip of the nail to look like the fur on Santa's hat.

Thumb: O Christmas Tree!
Apply two coats of red polish, then let them dry.
Use the green striper to make a triangle with the point at the bottom of your nail.
Then, make a yellow dot at the top of your tree to serve as the star. Finish off the design by adding some glitter to the tree for Christmas lights. 

Finishing Touch:
Apply a coat of topcoat to all of your nails to add a nice shine and make your design last longer.

There you have it, a super cute holiday manicure! If the full mani is too much for you, you can always choose just one design, but I think it's perfect. Happy holidays and thanks for reading!
XOXO Kayla

Monday, December 3, 2012

Nail Tutorial: Purple & Glitter with Leopard Print Accent Nails

Thank you to everyone who read my first two posts! I'm new to this blogging thing and it's been hard fitting in blogging with school and college applications. I haven't even done my nails at all since I did them for my galaxy tutorial! I finally found some time this week, so I decided to do purple with glitter and leopard spots for an accent. Keep reading if you want to see my first attempt at leopard print!



What You'll Need:

  • Basecoat and Topcoat (Orly's Bonder and Won't Chip are the best!)
  • Base Color (I'm using Metro Chic by Sephora by OPI)
  • White Polish
  • Black Polish
  • Striper/Bobby Pin/Dotting Tool/Toothpick (any of these will work)
  • Glitter Polish


Step One:

Apply one coat of basecoat to protect your nails. Then, apply two thin coats of your base color.

Step Two:

Paint a coat of glitter (or more if you're a glitter addict like me!) on four of your nails, followed by a coat of topcoat to keep them from chipping and make them more shiny.

Step Three:

Dot the white polish randomly on your accent nail. Be sure to leave some space between each dot. I prefer to do this with the brush from the bottle, because leopard spots aren't naturally uniform.

Step Four:

Use the striper to outline the white dots with C shapes. If you're like me, you'll actually have to try not to make the outlines too neat. The messier they are, the more realistic they look.

Step Five:

Make random small black dots in the spaces between the white dots to make your print look more realistic. If you feel that there is too much empty space, you can add more spots by starting with the outline and applying the white over it. This will also contribute to the messy look. Then, apply a coat of topcoat to protect your design.


There you have it, pretty glittery nails with a leopard accent. I hope you guys like it, and thanks for reading!

XOXO Kayla

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Tutorial: Galaxy Nails

Galaxy print has been everywhere this year! I've seen it on shorts, leggings, and even sneakers. Since there have been so many pictures of galaxy nails on Tumblr and Instagram, I decided to try them for myself. If you want to see my take on the trend, read on!



What you'll need:
  • 100% Acetone
  • A Makeup Sponge
  • Basecoat and Topcoat (I recommend Orly's Bonder and Won't Chip)
  • Black, Pearl, Pink, Purple, and Blue Polishes
  • Blue and Silver Glitter Topcoats
  • Q-Tips
Step One:

Apply a coat of basecoat to protect your nails from the dark colors. Then, apply two coats of black polish, and allow it to dry.

Step Two:

Sponge on a random shape with the pearl polish. Make sure that you don't cover all of the black, but make your shape big enough to make smaller shapes inside.

Step Three:


Sponge on some pink inside of the pearl, then blue inside of that. This will add more dimension to your galaxy.

Step Four:

Sponge the purple polish on the edges of the nail to add a little something extra to the black. Do this lightly so you don't completely cover up the black polish.

Step Five:


Apply the smaller glitter first. Then, add the bigger glitter on top of it. The glitters will act as your galaxy's stars.

Step Six:

Apply a thin coat of topcoat. This will make your nails shine, and keep your hard work from chipping.

Cleanup:

Dip a q-tip into the acetone, then use it to clean up any polish that gets onto your skin. This way, no one will ever know that you made mistakes!

And there you have it, galaxy nails! I hope you liked my attempt as much as I do. Thanks for reading!
XOXO Kayla

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter Review and Swatches

For my first post, I wanted to talk about a product that I love, but had a hard time finding swatches of myself. Revlon's ColorBurst Lip Butters have been one of the big trends on the beauty blogs since they debuted at the end of last year.



Here are the Facts:
       Revlon describes the lip butters as " buttery balm with beautiful shiny color to give you baby soft, healthy glowing lips." Basically, the lip butters are supposed to be moisturizing like a tinted balm, but with as much color as a lipstick. They have a gel formula containing mango, shea, and coconut butter, and they come in 20 shades. The range of colors include different shades of pink and red, as well as a bright orange and some light and dark neutrals.
       You can buy the lip butters at most drugstores that sell makeup. They're available at Target, Walmart, CVS, Duane Reade, and other stores, as well as online. They usually are priced between $6 and $10. I bought mine from CVS for about $8.

Overall Review:
      I have four of the 20 shades, Pink Truffle, Berry Smoothie, Candy Apple, and Tutti Frutti. The lip butters definitely live up to their claim of being super moisturizing  On the lips, they feel more like a balm than a lipstick. When I wear them, I usually don't even need to put on a balm underneath. The color payoff is pretty good too. Though they go on sheer, you can easily bump up the color to about a medium opacity with a few layers. They also last pretty long, I can usually go about two to three hours before I need to touch up. The only drawback I've had is that the soft formula makes them prone to slipping around the outside of my lips.

Individual Reviews:
Pink Truffle (001)
This is without a doubt my favorite of the four colors I have. Pink Truffle is a glossy rose color that doesn't have any sparkles or glitter in it. I love this color because it my perfect My Lips But Better shade. It looks natural on me, but still adds a bit of extra color to my lips. If you just want to buy one lip butter to try out, this would definitely be the one to get, because it looks good on different skin tones.

Berry Smoothie (050)
Berry Smoothie is a really pretty bright pink color. The color isn't too bright to wear during the day. On my lips, it looks like a sheer pink gloss, but it can get brighter and more opaque with a few coats. It has a little shimmer to it, but not too much. The sparkle is just enough to catch light and make your lips look a bit more plump. I personally like this color for days when I want my lips to look a little brighter, but still natural.

Candy Apple (035)
Candy Apple is a bright red with a bit of an orange undertone. It doesn't have any glitter or sparkles to it; it's just sheer, glossy color. I have a love-hate relationship with this one. Though I love the bright, cherry-red color, I think it looks weird on my lips by itself. Building it up still doesn't give me the full red look that I like, but I would recommend wearing it over a liner or lipstick just to boost the color and add shine.

Tutti Frutti (015)
This is a more opaque orange color, also without glitter or sparkles. When I picked this one up, I was in love with the bright color, but I was disappointed when I put it on my lips. This color looks horrible on me, but that has more to do with my coloring than the lip butter itself. Though I don't like this color on myself, I do think it's worth buying, as it might be more of the color for me over a brown liner.

Swatches:
Lip Butters Without Flash
(L-R) Tutti Frutti, Pink Truffle, Candy Apple, Berry Smoothie

Lip Butters With Flash
(L-R) Tutti Frutti, Pink Truffle, Candy Apple, Berry Smoothie
XOXO Kayla