Press Sample Today I've got one of my first attempts at nail art using gel polish and a quick tutorial if you want to try it out yourself!
Before I get started with the tutorial, I must stress the importance of curing every single layer. Does it take a little more effort? Yes. Will your nails come out fabulous if you don't? Not a chance.
The first step is three cured coats of nailuv What's Up.
The next step is to lay down some striping tape.
I planned on doing this pattern on all my nails, but then I changed my mind. Can you tell?
After the striping is down, paint semi circles on the right and left sides of your nail bed using nailuv Dynamic Duo and Lovestruck, remove the tape, and cure.
Finish off with a layer of gel top coat and wipe with gel polish cleanser and you're done!
Don't know what I mean when I say "cure"? Curious about the nailuv At Home Gel Polish System? See my review of the starter kit here.
nailuv Gel Nail Polish ranges from $8 to $14.95 on nailuv.com.
Here's to stepping out of my nail art comfort zone and using a medium I'm not all that familiar with!
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
Barielle
Barielle Summer Brights
Dazzle Dry
Summa Summa SummaTime!
Sunday, April 28, 2013nail a college drop outPress SampleAww yeah son! Summer is finally here! Nope, sorry, I lied. My wishful thinking and I again. However, I do have the Barielle Summer Brights Collection for summer '13.
Much like any other Barielle collection, Summer Bright consists of five pieces.
Front L-R Lemondrops, Cosmic Kiss, and Pink Flip Flops
Back L-R Sweet Addiction and Blue Capri
Because I'm not a huge fan of swatching and I'd much rather be more creative with nail art, I chose to do the latter.
Are you wondering, "How did I do this?" Alternatively, perhaps, "What is this?" Well folks, I literally dripped paint on my nails. Sounds simple right? Read on and find out!
1. Base coat your nails. My personal favorite is Nail Life Nail Revitalizer, but who asked me right?
2. Fold five pieces of aluminum foil into a shape that somewhat resembles a bowl. It doesn't need to be perfect—Seriously. See the above picture. Add nail polish to each aluminum foil bowl.
3. The lacquers in the Summer Brights Collection are opaque—don't get me wrong, opaque is good! However, if you want something close to the type of "depth" only a jelly finish polish can provide, you'll need to add some nail polish thinner.
Speaking of, I used Beauty Secrets Nail Polish Thinner from Sally Beauty Supply. I paid around $4 for a four ounce bottle.
4. Take your nail art striping brush—I bought this handy dandy nail art brush set from maytheps-au.com—and dip the polish into the first color and drip it over each nail. For an added effect, blow on your nails after each drip to spread the polish.
5. Repeat step four with the next four colors.
6. Seal with top coat. My go to top coat of choice is Dazzle Dry, but again, who asked me right?
Now enjoy your newly fantastic nails that took less than 30 minutes from beginning to end. Including prep!
Barielle Summer Brights Collection is officially available May 1st on Barielle.com as a kit for $25. As for now, you can purchase each shade individually at $8 on Barielle.com.
Press Sample
*Barielle products provided by PR/Manufacturer*
Are these easy peasy lemon squeezey nails giving you life for summer?
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
31 Day Challenge
Dazzle Dry
Gold
Pink & Gold Half Moon Tutorial
Thursday, September 27, 2012nail a college drop out
Ahh yes, I finally have some time to do my nails AND blog about them. If only I could marry Justin Timberlake and never have to work again.
Anyway, enough of my excuses, here's what you'll need.
Reinforcement labels, Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Coral Reef, QRS Nail Lacquer 24KT, and Dazzle Dry Top Coat
Step 1: (After you apply your base coat of course!) Apply two coats of QRS Nail Lacquer 24KT
Step 2: Apply one coat of Dazzle Dry Top Coat and let dry. You could simply wait until your polish dries completely, but why wait that long if you don't have to. Right?
Step 3: Place Reinforcement labels at the base of your nails.
Step 4: Apply Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Coral Reef like so...
Yes, it looks messy. Trust me this is perfectly fine!
Step 5: Remove labels and apply another layer of Dazzle Dry Top Coat.
*some products provided for review*
Voila! Magic!
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
By now I'm sure most of us have seen the Nails Inc. Sprinkles polishes. So you don't want to spend $9.50 on one bottle of polish when you have a plethora of polishes to choose from at home? Well aren't you in luck?
I was looking at updates from 'Tini Beauty's Facebook page and saw somewhat of a tutorial on achieving "cupcake inspired" nails.
Here's my attempt...
I was looking at updates from 'Tini Beauty's Facebook page and saw somewhat of a tutorial on achieving "cupcake inspired" nails.
Here's my attempt...
I used Barielle Ocean Breeze, Nailtini Sparkler, and Nailtini Blue Carnation.
*products provided for review*
Barielle polishes retail for $8 and can be purchased at Barielle.com
Nailtini polishes retail for $13 and can be purchased at tinibeauty.com
Have you tried this trend?
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
Gold
Gradient
Icing
A Simple Gradient - Wedding Nails Day Four
Thursday, July 19, 2012nail a college drop out
Alright you guys. You caught me slipping. I didn't post this on Thursday, but can a gal get kudos for keeping up with a theme?
Anyway, as promised in the title, this wedding manicure is going to be a simple gradient.
L-R Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White, Orly Luxe, Orly Rage, Icing Just Shimmer
Wanna know the step by step? You got it!
1. Two coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White. Can you tell it has been my "go to" white polish this week?
2. Grab a cosmetic wedge and dab on Orly Luxe onto your nails from your free edge down to the middle of your nail bed.
3. Using the same cosmetic wedge, dab on Orly Rage (gotta love a good rose gold foil right?) on the tips and try to blend it the best you can into Luxe.
4. Apply two coats of Icing Just Shimmer.
5. Apply your top coat of choice.
And POW easy peasy lemon squeezey wedding gradient just like that!
Gold - "the metal that's meant marriage since marriage began." Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
Celebrity
Dare To Wear
Freehand
Birthday Booty Shake!!!!
Saturday, June 16, 2012nail a college drop out
Today, June 16th, 2012, Nail A College Drop Out is a year old!!! To commemorate this momentous occasion I came up with some nail art based on repeated suggestions--Nicki Minaj Starship nail art!
While I'm not at all a fan of the let-me-put-my-pussy-on-your-sideburns-singers music or OPI collection; her status as a crossover artists and pop icon are inescapable. Because I've had multiple requests for this, I sat down, man-ed up, watched the video and this is what I came up with...
While I'm not at all a fan of the let-me-put-my-pussy-on-your-sideburns-singers music or OPI collection; her status as a crossover artists and pop icon are inescapable. Because I've had multiple requests for this, I sat down, man-ed up, watched the video and this is what I came up with...
How did I do this, you ask? It was actually pretty simple.
L-R Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White, Icing Peachy Keen, Icing Funky Femme, Dare To Wear Anonymity, Dear To Wear Teddy, & N.Y.C. Polyester Pink Creme
1. Paint your nails with one coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White.
2. Sponge on a gradient using Icing Peachy Keen & Funky Femme.
3. Splatter with Dare To Wear Anonymity & Dare To Wear Teddy.
4. And finally, freehand some stars using N.Y.C. Polyester Pink Creme.
And just for fun; here is a pic I took (with my camera phone) with my new ring!
This mani has a little of everything! Neons, splatter, gradients, and freehand painting!
Thank you all for sticking with me this long! As always...
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
Black
China Glaze
Gray
This Is What Happens When I Play With Tape
Thursday, April 26, 2012nail a college drop out
A group of my polish friends decided to embark on yet another nail related challenge. That's right, tape manis. I just so happened to be doing some blog hopping and I found a manicure I wanted to recreate.
I used an unnamed white polish, China Glaze Pelican Gray, and Wet n' Wild Wild Shine Black Creme, along with some silver striping tape I bought from maytheps-au.com.
Wanna try this yourself? Watch this tutorial.
Do you like my monochromatic mani?
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
Half Moon
Tutorial
Tips & Tricks: Half Moon Editiion
Monday, December 12, 2011nail a college drop out
After a series of posts about half moon manis, I've been asked what is my secret to such a perfect arch. Welp, it's no secret just good ol' fashion reinforcement labels.
DIY Divas unite!
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
DIY Divas unite!
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
Dollar Nail Art
Floral Print
Nail Art Foil
Can I Have a Spot of Tea with My English Rose?
Tuesday, August 09, 2011nail a college drop out
I recently bought a TON, okay 26, rolls of nail art foil from dollarnailart.com and one of my fast favorites was English Rose.
*This and all other nail art foils available at dollarnailart.com are approximately 1 inch wide and 5 feet long.
Before I applied the foil I painted my nails with Sally Hansen Inst-Dri Whirlwind White. It claims to be a one coat polish and to dry really fast. While it does live up to the "Insta-Dri" part it was definitely a two coat-er for me.
After the polish dries you apply one layer of nail foil adhesive. Wait 3 - 5 minutes for it to dry (it will still be tacky, but that's a good thing).
Carefully place the foil on the nail (shiny side up) and gently rub until the acetate backing starts to peel off on it's own. And then... *insert drum roll here*
Bam! Kick ass nails just like that! Apply one layer of clear top coat that IS NOT quick drying i.e. Seche Vite, let dry, then apply any no chip top coat of choice.
Enjoy my darlings! Love, Peace, and Polish!
*This and all other nail art foils available at dollarnailart.com are approximately 1 inch wide and 5 feet long.
Before I applied the foil I painted my nails with Sally Hansen Inst-Dri Whirlwind White. It claims to be a one coat polish and to dry really fast. While it does live up to the "Insta-Dri" part it was definitely a two coat-er for me.
After the polish dries you apply one layer of nail foil adhesive. Wait 3 - 5 minutes for it to dry (it will still be tacky, but that's a good thing).
Carefully place the foil on the nail (shiny side up) and gently rub until the acetate backing starts to peel off on it's own. And then... *insert drum roll here*
Bam! Kick ass nails just like that! Apply one layer of clear top coat that IS NOT quick drying i.e. Seche Vite, let dry, then apply any no chip top coat of choice.
Enjoy my darlings! Love, Peace, and Polish!
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