Birthday Emoji Nails!

Here's the manicure I did on my sister for her 24th birthday! She requested birthday themed emoji nails. So here they are! ;) 

Happy birthday, little sister!

Hope you liked them! 

;) Lindsay

ORIOLES MAGIC 2014!

I know I don't have to tell you how "O'mazing" this season has been for the Orioles so I will keep this short and sweet. It's geared to the true Baltimore orioles fan… Meaning there are references you may not get otherwise! ;) Enjoy my Orioles 2014 PLAYOFF manicure! Hope you like it! 

Let's go O's!!!

❤️, Lindsay

And this last picture is showing the images that inspired each design. :)

Nail Repair Rescue!

Today on the blog I'm going to show you how to repair a nail that has a tear. It's a sad day when this happens but it's not a total loss! You don't have to cut your nail down to the tear and have one nail shorter than the rest....or worse....trim them all down!  

So, today I come to you with a tutorial solution! This is not a permanent fix but it usually lasts for about 2-3 weeks (or 2-3 manis) on me. It's also only intended to be used until you feel comfortable with filing the nail down to the tear. 

As you can see in the photo below, the tear in my nail is on my thumb and would be pretty painful if I tried to cut/file it down that much. 

Allow me to show you how I deal with this situation.

First you'll need to gather your supplies.

Here's what I use: 

- A tea bag (does not have to be Lipton...you'll be dumping the contents)

- scissors

- a nail buffer (my favorite is the Tropical Shine 4-way buffer from Sally's)

- a bottle of brush-on nail glue

- an orange stick

- a base coat (I used Orly Bonder for this tutorial)

- a nail color (I chose OPI "Goldeneye" from the James Bond collection)

- a top coat (I don't use anything but Seche Vite!)

Open the tea bag by cutting the top of it off.

Dump and dispose the tea. You only nead the actual bag for the repair.

Open the tea bag up and cut one side so that you have one flat piece. (You're only going to use a small portion of the tea bag per repair. Save the material for future use!)

My tea bag once it has been cut open. 

Next, you are going to cut a small piece out to fit over the tear in your nail and little bit around it. My piece is about the size of half of my tumb nail.

Take your nail glue and brush some onto the nail where you'll be applying the tea bag. Try not to get the glue on your skin or cuticle...it's not easy to get off!

Working quickly, lay the tea bag on your nail covering the tear. Being careful not to let it overhang your cuticle or the side edge of the nail. If it hangs over the tip of the nail it can always be filed off.

Use your orange stick to gently press the sides of the tea bag onto the nail. 

Chances are you will need to apply more nail glue as it dries pretty quickly. No problem. Just brush some more glue on top of the tea bag being careful not to fold, wrinkle or pull the tea bag off the nail.

Using your orange stick again, gently press down all sides of the tea bag (focusing on the tear) and work out any bubbles or wrinkles.

At this point in the process, your nail will probably look something like this. Kind of rough, not really pretty. Don't worry though! We're not done yet. ;)

Once you're sure the nail glue has dried completely use your buffer and gently buff over the surface that you've just repaired. Don't go too crazy with the buffing! You just want to smooth the surface, not remove the tea bag entirely.

My repaired and buffed nail....not finished yet!

Next you're going to take your base coat and apply a thin layer over the whole nail and allow it to dry.

It should start looking much better at this stage of the process!

Take the polish of your choice and apply two thin layers and finish it off with a top coat!

Voila! Just like new! :)

I hope this tutorial was helpful to you! Let me know if there are other nail care issues you would like me to cover on the blog. Thanks for reading!

;) Lindsay

St. Patrick's Day Nails!

Just a quick, festive mani for the upcoming holiday! I'm not even a little bit Irish but my married name is so that counts...right?! 

The main green I used in the manicure is China Glaze "Running In Circles". Love this color! Just a quick French mani with some hand painted lines (in the colors of the Irish flag!) for added flair. :)

    

   

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Love, Lindsay :)

Jamberry Nail Lacquer Review!

Well, hello there! 

I was recently given the opportunity by a friend to try out Jamberry's new line of nail lacquers and I promised to write a review on the blog about how I liked them and how well they wear. You might know Jamberry from their cute nail shields. Well, they're now expanding to nail lacquers! Yay!

Last Monday I decided to paint my nails with Jamberry's "Kiss". It's a beautiful bright pink with blue undertones. I usually find pinks and reds hard for me to wear because my skin has pink undertones and those shades tend to make me look like I have "lobster hands". This pink was perfect for me though. It's fun and bright but still manages to be classic. Something everyone could pull off. 

Below is a picture of my nails right after I painted them. I did three thin coats. I also used Jamberry's base coat and a top coat of Seche Vite. LOVE this shade!

So, how did it wear over the course of this week? 

WONDERFULLY!

I was NOT easy on my nails this week by any means! I had done a lot of cleaning around the house including cleaning with bleach and other harsh chemicals. I think this polish held up very well!

See for yourself!

Below are two pictures of my nails taken today, exactly one week after painting.

There is some obvious tip wear and nail growth but nothing that isn't to be expected from a week old mani! Also, I always have more tip wear on my right hand than I do on my left. Not sure why though because I'm left-handed! :P

As you can see, there is absolutely NO chipping! I did nothing to refresh the top coat and did not touch up this mani throughout the week because I wanted to give an accurate review on the product. 

Overall, I give this product an 8.5 out of 10.

I did not give it a 10 because of two factors: 

1. Price. At $15 a bottle, it's at the higher end of most brands of polish. Maybe not affordable for everyone but it's long wear time makes it good buy in my opinion.

2. I feel the opacity of this particular color could have been better. Like I said, I used 3 coats for this manicure to get the opacity I was happy with. When paying $15 a bottle, I don't really like to use up a ton of the product after only the first use.

Would I spend my own money on this nail polish?

Yes! I think that this color is unique enough that I don't have anything like it in my collection and it is a good quality polish.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the Jamberry nail lacquers, I can put you in contact with my friend who is a Jamberry consultant. :) These polishes are not available in stores but you can view the entire line on Jamberry's website, jamberrynails.net. :) 

Have a wonderful day! :) 

Lindsay

A Long Time Ago In a Galaxy Far, Far Away... STAR WARS DAY!

Happy Star Wars Day!!! May the fourth be with you. ;)

Of course, I have another Star Wars manicure for this year's Star Wars day! I had a hard time coming up with something different from last year but I did it...and I really like it! 

I decided to incorporate a galaxy manicure with some famous Star Wars ships. 

This was my first time trying the galaxy mani and I'M IN LOVE!!!!

It was so easy. Even when you make a "mistake"...it adds to the beauty of the finished product. Once I finished the galaxy design, I hand-painted an X-Wing on my thumb and a TIE Fighter on my ring finger. Those were...not so easy. :P 

I hope you enjoy my Star Wars mani as much as I do.

GO RAVENS! Super Bowl 2013 Manicure!

As promised, here is my Ravens Super Bowl manicure! :) 

 I told my husband and my dad that if the Ravens made it to the Super Bowl that I would do a Ravens manicure! I'm not a football fan but I do love Baltimore.

I decided to do the menacing Raven's eyes on my middle and ring nails with some "explosion" accent nails.

I used Orly Charged Up, Sinful Colors Black On Black, OPI Dazzled By Gold, Essie Laquered Up, Sinful Colors Snow Me White and (of course) Seche Vite as my top coat.

Hope you enjoyed this mani and have a great Super Bowl weekend!

GO RAVENS!

Lindsay