A twist on french tips ;)

I apologize for the delay in a new post but finally we got a request on how to do the half moon manicure.  I decided to make a post more fulfilling, and show you all the types of french manicures that I've seen.  I'm sure there are more but this should cover the basics.
                                    -Hannah <3
1: A twist on the traditional french.

First is probably the most traditional but still a bit different.  This style french tip doesn't really need much explaining.  You use the same technique but instead of a nude or clear base you use a color of your choice. (Note: Base color should be thinner than your tip color so that the tip shows.)  Next you just add the french tip like normal.


 2:A pointed half moon (this is the most accurate description I can think of...)

 a.  First outline your point as shown above you can adjust the size an angle of the sides to the triangle.

b. Fill in the above portion of the nail.  Try to make the coat as even as possible since the section where you outlined may be slightly thicker.

3:Half moon mani

a.  To make making the circle easier you will want some reinforcement rings.  You can get these at most any office supply stores.

b. Once your base color has dried cut a slit in one of the reinforcement rings so that it can form to the shape of your finger.  Press the ring as shown above but as in the pointed version you can adjust the size to your liking.

c.  Paint you darker color and after a few seconds (About 3-5) Remove the sticker.

Thanks for reading!!!  Don't forget to subscribe by email on the right hand side in the tool bar!!!  :)

Credits:
*Model/Artist: Hannah W.


          

Unicorn nails!!!...complete with glitter puke!!!

It's been a while but we are finally doing a post together!!! and of course we had to do something as epic as UNICORNS!!!!!  :)  There are quite a few steps so lets get right into it!!!

Supplies:
(A thin brush will be useful but stripers work if you have the right colors, and sorry for the length :)
 -A base and top coat
-Bright purple (We used Essie "Play Date")
-White (We used China glaze "White on White")
-Hot pink (We a used hot pink striperite)
-Neon yellow (We used China glaze "Sun Worshiper")
-Neon green (We used China glaze "In the Lime Light")
-Neon blue/teal color (We used China glaze "Turned Up Turquoise")
- Black (We used striperite for outlines the on the puke we filled in with a thin brush and OPI "Black Onyx")
-Rainbow glitter (We used Icing "Pre Game")
-bubble gum pink (We used Zoya "Jolene")
-Gold (We used OPI "Symphony in gold")
-White sparkles (We used China glaze "Techno")

1.  Apply a base coat and allow to dry.

2.  Paint your thumb and pinky white, and the rest of your fingers purple.

3.  We'll start with the easiest finger, the thumb and the pinky.  Using stripers or the colors and a thin brush apply stripes in neon rainbow order (Pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue/turquoise)Above is the finished product.

4.  Next the pointer finger with the unicorn horn shooting a white cloud of glitter.  We didn't take pictures of each step but we'll do our best to walk you through it.  First outline the horn and the cloud in the upper left hand corner.  As you'll see when we do the full unicorn face just cover the horn with goldand apply the white sparkles on the cloud.

5.  For the glitter puke on the middle finger first lay your base of black in one big blog and a few smaller blobs.

6.  Once the blobs have dried apply an even layer of glitter.  Depending on the the thickness of the glitter you may need two coats.

7.  Finally for the Unicorn!!!  Outline the unicorn in black polish. 
8.  Next fill in the outline with a white polish.  This is when you can perfect the outline and cover any mistakes.  Oh and don't forget to outline the mane.

9.  Fill in the unicorns features and fill in the mane with the bubble gum pink.  Also not pictured is covering the unicorn horn with gold, you can also add black lines to the horn to make it look more...uh...realistic...(?)
10.  Finish with a top coat and show off your unicorn puking sparkles!!!

Credits:
Model-Hannah W.
Artist-Sydney

Olympic nails!!!

Very busy 2012 London Olympics nail art!!!  :) For this tutorial since I used so many colors I'm just going to tell you as we get to each color.  Also I didn't take pics showing "London" or the "2012" I just used a toothpick and OPI's "Black Onyx".

1. As always apply a base coat and allow time to dry completely. (I used Sally Hansen "Green Tea and Bamboo nail strengthener")

2. Paint your thumb, pointer & middle finger white.  (I used China glaze "White on White") Paint your middle finger any neutral color. (I used OPI "French Quarter For Your Thoughts") which happens to be one of my favorite colors :)  Next Paint your pinky finger a nice royal blue (I used Essie "Aruba Blue")

3.  On your thumb start by outlining the torch with two dots as shown above using a gold. (I used OPI "symphony in gold")

4. With the same gold draw a dot in the middle at the very tip of your nail and fill it in like a triangle.  I used a tooth pich for this rather than a dotting tool.

5. Using a red striper or just a red color and a small brush (like I did with Essie "Really Red", creative name right?)  Make a flame shape as shown above.

6. Leaving some red showing fill in with white (I used a white striperite)

7. Cover up the white with a red-orange color for transition (I used OPI "Cajun Shrimp")  Rather than wasting a but of space on pictures...: leaving a bit of the red-orange showing fill in with white polish and ten cover that with yellow (I used a yellow striperite and that step is shown below):

 

( Oh I don't know why the pic is sideways but I don't know how to rotate it sooo...you get the idea right?)

Moving on to the rings...

8.  Using a tooth pick and a light blue polish (I used OPI "No room for the blues") Form a ring like shown in the picture.

9.Still using the toothpick make more circles using the colors in the same order as above and shown below is a picture of the rings.  Black: (OPI "Black Onyx")  Red: (Essie "Really Red")  Yellow: (OPI "Need Sunglasses?")

10.  Finish with a green ring.  (I used OPI: "Greenwich Village")

11.  Finally the pinky!!!  For the British flag draw white lines like the ones shown using a striper. (I used a white striperite) 

12.  Finish with thin red lines on top of the white lines (As always I used a red striperite) *On the diagonals don't quite combine the lines all the way across if that makes sense.  You can see this best on the bottom left corner in the picture :)

13.  Finish with a top coat and you're opening ceremony ready!!!


                                                          - Hannah <3
*Credits:
 Artist: Hannah W.
Model: Hannah W.

DIY:dotting tools

Not many people want to spend money on something they can make at home with stuff they already have.  I'm going to show you two different ways to make a dotting tool using supplies you probably already have in your house.

Dotting tool using a pencil... (like this:)

...and a pin (Like this).

Insert the pin into the eraser end of the pencil and you have a dotting tool. the dot next to the tool is the dot size this particular pin makes.  I'm not a seamstress so I don't know if they come in different sizes but if they do It would work the same to get multiple sized dots.

Dotting tool using a bobby pin:

Just a normal bobby pin is all you'll need!!!  :)

Unbend the bobby pin so that you only make one dot.

As you can see the bobby pin makes a smaller dot...

Just for comparison I put them side by side to show the difference in dot size.

                                                                          -Hannah <3