Fairy Wings Nail Tutorial

This week's IFB Project is all about nails! For my nails, I wanted to use a lot of glitter and was inspired by fairy wings.

The colors used

One coat OPI Las Vegas Strip Poker

A bit of MAC Bad Fairy on the tips

Some MAC soiree applied in the middle with a wet Q-tip

A coat of Ulta Diva all over plus a second coat on the tips

A dash of glitter on the middle and tips with China Glaze Cleopatra

Top it all off with Cover Girl Disco Dazzle

What are you wearing on your nails?

Nail Polish Haul

The last few weeks have been crazy busy, but I made time to splurge on some new nail polish. The polishes from Zoya were part of their facebook giveaway, so special thanks to Zoya for the awesome promotion!

Who can resist a namesake nail polish? Ashley is described as a vampy red and looks amazing on fair skin tones.

Love this cheerful, robin's egg blue! Robyn is going to get a lot of play this summer.

Ever since last summer when I saw several European bloggers sporting crackle nail polish, I have been desperate to find a bottle Stateside. So, I was super excited to find a bottle of O.P.I. Black Shatter during an excursion to Ulta.

Soirée from M.A.C. reminds me of a Chanel nail color I had in high school. I love the look of gilded nails.

This is Black Shatter over Soirée, which gives a cool leopard-print look.

Finally, Lo is my attempt to embrace honeysuckle. I don't usually rock bright pink manicures, but I'm kind of liking this.

Also, thanks for the winter coat suggestions!

Aveda Institute Manicure

Today I went to the salon and had my first professional manicure. I live near an Aveda Institute, which is an Aveda beauty school, and their special fall promotion was a free spa service with any hair service. I was super excited because I was able to get a haircut plus a free manicure (usually $24 including a free nail polish) for only $16. The color for my mani is OPI You Don't Know Jacques!

Here is a breakdown of the Aveda manicure:

• File nails
• Remove cuticles
• Hand exfoliation with massage and scrub removed with warm towel
• Lotion painted on hand and removed with warm towel
• More lotion applied to hand and removed with warm towel
• Two coats of base coat
• Two coats of nail color
• Removal of excess nail color around edges
• Top coat
• Two drops Drip Dry

I must admit the best part was the warm neck pillow that I wore throughout the manicure. It smelled like cinnamon and brown sugar!

Where do you go for manicures?

Don't forget to enter the Ms. Taken Ring Giveaway!

Fly Worthy Nails

Nail polish was a childhood obsession of mine, and over the last year, I find myself once again drawn to colorful bottles of polish. Sally Hansen's HD Hi-Definition Nail Color in Resolution is a beautiful emerald green that I have been wearing frequently. When layered over black polish, the color changes, going from green to blue-black depending on the light, and is reminiscent of an iridescent insect.

Without Flash

With Flash

diy: Spring Nail Art

Lately, I have been fascinated by Japanese nail art. I love the colors and the 3-D pieces which declare to the world, "I am wearing art on my fingers and can't possibly be bothered with the dishes right now." I've been experimenting with my own designs and created something cheerful for spring.

Supplies:

Fake nails

Nail polish in assorted colors

Base/Top coat

Nail art brush or toothpick

Rhinestones or 3-D stickers

Small Hot glue gun

Hot glue sticks

Wooden skewers

Ticky Tacky

Step #1

File fake nail and apply a base coat. I find it easier to paint each nail when it is attached to a wooden skewer (attach using ticky tacky). Allow to dry, and then apply two coats of main nail color letting the polish dry between each coat.

Step #2

Using the pointy end of a nail art brush (or a toothpick) make dots by dipping end in nail polish and then gently touching the nail with the tip. It helps to practice on a napkin or piece of paper before trying it on the nail.

Step #3

Once nails are dry (wait a couple of hours), apply rhinestones. I used scrapbook gems from the craft store and peeled off the backs before hot glueing them onto the nails.

Step #4

Apply top coat over nail and gems and allow to dry.

Et voila!

See more designs on my etsy store!