Feelin' Minty Fresh

I've had a strange desire for pastel blue or green nails for the past couple weeks. I considered ordering the Eyeko Vintage polish, but since I've never used Eyeko before and don't really want to pay s&h on one item, I've been trawling Target, wading at Walmart, unearthing at Ulta, desperate to find the perfect shade. I've seen a couple by Essie that I'm considering buying, but to tide me over, I bought Minted by Revlon. It's a gorgeous color, just like liquified spearmint gum, and so light and frothy looking. I don't even care that Fall is the wrong season to wear pastel on my nails, it just feels soooooo right.
 But of course, nothing can ever truly be perfect. While the color is amazing, application is horrible. It's streaky and prone to drag marks, takes forever to dry, and bubbles if you look at it wrong. I finally had to use four coats of color and two coats of topcoat to get it to look somewhat decent, but I think the work is worth it.



Revlon polish is $3.99 at Target.

I've Done It!

If you follow my Tumblr, then you know that I've been wearing the OPI Burlesque collection and wearing a new color almost every day. The glitters from this collection apply so much better than the Alice glitters, but it was still a bit of a pain in the ass, something that I don't really understand. China Glaze has beautiful glitters that apply and wear well, so why can't OPI? Heck, even Hard Candy has some great glitter polishes that practically have to be sandblasted off.
And then, inspiration hit. I was playing with Sparkle-icious and thought "Maybe it doesn't stick well because my nail bed is too smooth from frequent buffing...?" so I got my buffing block, and really lightly buffed the surface of my nail to take of the sheen and give the polish something to cling to. I then did three thin coats of Sparkle-icious with a layer of CND topcoat between each coat.
Using that method, I only had one casualty at work, which is pretty amazing. I'm constantly opening boxes and moving around furniture, so it's amazing if regular polish gets through the day unscathed.



I really like Sparkle-icious. It kind of reminds me of Mad As A Hatter, but it isn't nearly as blinding, and it has gold, teal, and fuchsia glitter

I bought my OPI at Ulta for $8.50

One Big Tease-y

Tease-y Does It, part of OPI's new Burlesque Collection is a gorgeous, vampy shade.  The base color in it is a deep, plum-y shade and it has very fine, red sparkle that's evenly distributed throughout so when the light hits it the right way, it glows.



 This'll be a great shade for the dark Autumn evenings and will transition well into the Holiday season.




As usual, OPI runs about $8.50 a bottle depending on where you get it. I usually pick mine up at Ulta because they run specials fairly often.

From A to Zurich

Last post I mentioned that I reccommended From A to Zurich (OPI) as a perfect shade for Fall. I bought a bottle of it, swatched it, and absolutely fell in love with it. From A to Zurich is a gorgeous berry red that reminds me of cranberry jelly and makes me want to pull out my trench coat.







Since I have solar nails* right now, I had to apply three coats of polish to completely cover the white tips.

xoxo,
Ashleigh

*post to come

How to...

Patch a nail!

Earlier today, I snagged my index fingernail and wound up taking off a layer of my nail, leaving it very weak. Since I've been growing my nails for about two weeks now, I wanted to save it, instead of having it break off and leaving me at square one.

You'll Need:

• *Tea bag
• *Krazy Glue
• *Scissors
• *Nail file
• *Tweezers

Step one: Clean the nail using non-acetone nail polish remover, to ensure that there is no oil or lotion that may prevent the tea bag from adhering to the nail.

Step two: Cut a small rectangle of tea bag material, enough that it will cover the area of nail that needs to be patched.

Step three: Put a couple of drops of Krazy Glue on your nail and, using the tweezers, place the rectangle of tea bag over the affected area.

Step four: Trim any over hang.

Step five: Lightly file over the top of the patched area to smooth it out.

Now, do keep in mind that it takes a little practice. If you mess up, soak it in nail polish remover for a few minutes and try again.

Cost: Free, most people have these things around the house. If not, under $5

Is It Worth It: Yes!

Right Said Red

I was wondering around Walmart Monday night, perusing the make up aisles as I often do, when I stopped in front of a Sally Hansen display. At first, it looked like they were just reissues of old favourites just in time for the holiday, but then I actually read the sign- Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. It's supposed to be base coat, nail colour, and top coat in one simple step, which is great for me, because I hate the drying time between layers.
I actually really liked Complete Salon Manicure, which surprised me, because I typically have an on-again-off-again relationship with Sally Hansen products. Complete Salon Manicure has a wider brush that tapers into a slightly thinner point, which means that the polish gets better, more even application across the nail bed, without painting your cuticles. I'm pretty sure Miss Manners says that's a no-no.



If I had one complaint about the polish, though, I would have to say that I don't particularly like the drying time, but that's more because I want my polish to dry like it was yesterday. It will take a little bit of time to get used to not having to apply topcoat at the end.



Cost: $6.49 at Walmart
Is It Worth It: Yes

What's short, black, and red all over?

I couldn't think of a witty title tonight, but the answer is "my nails."

In case you haven't noticed by now, I'm a fan of things that are typically considered "vintage," especially when it comes to make up. Last night while chatting with one of my girlfriends, I decided to try the reverse French manicure that was popular during the 20s til about the mid 40s. With the reverse French manicure, the focus is on the moons of your nails instead of at the end and the colors used are typically more contrasting than the classic pink/nude and white French manicure we're so used to seeing.

I decided to go a bit bold with mine and did the moons of my nails black in a triangular shape, then did my nail bed a striking red. The triangular shape is two-fold: my moons don't really show too well/are hard to trace and the triangular shape is easy to make.

The reverse French mani was definitely easier than attempting to do my leopard print nails, but it was a bit difficult trying to keep the lines clean. Next time, I'll be using some clear Scotch tape to serve as a clean edge for the polish and that top coat saved me from having some crazy uneven surfaces.



I used "Cardinal" by Sally Hansen and the same black polish I used for the leopard print nails, "Black Lace Cream" by NYC.

Cost: For me, free since I already had both polishes, for everyone else under $5 since both polishes are very inexpensive.
Is It Worth It: You'll garner some stares, so yes.

A Walk on the Wild Side

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a fan of animal print, particularly leopard. It's fun, it's sassy, and a bit sexy. Last night, I got the idea to do leopard print nails, kind of a "go big or go home" personal challenge. It turned out, well... not as well as I had expected, but not bad for a first try.

Check it out:






I used NYC In A New York Color Minute in Bryant Park (base color), Milani Nail Lacquer in Brown-A-Licious (leopard spots), and NYC Long-Wearing Nail Enamel in Black Lace Cream (outline the spots) as my polishes, then standard fine-tip orange sticks to do the spots. In retrospect, because you know hindsight is 20/20, I should have just trimmed the brushes for Brown-A-Licious and Black Lace Cream to have better control and better polish distribution.

Best thing about this, though, is it only cost about five bucks to buy all three polishes and the orange sticks.

Cost: About $6
Is It Worth It: If you have the time and patience to do it and are comfortable with "out there" nails, then yes.

Nailed It

One of my favourite go-to colours is "Charmed By A Snake" by OPI. It's a slightly burnished looking gold that looks great against my skin tone, and most others for that matter. It's definitely not a nude, but it goes well with almost anything.







Cost: $8.00 at a salon in TN, but can be found at Ulta, some Targets and some Walgreens.
Is It Worth It: Yes, love it.

High Roller Red

I love all things red. Red lipstick, red nail polish, red hair, red shoes, red cars, red flowers... you get the idea. Because I love all things red, I have enough different red nail polishes to fill a shoebox. That's right. I collect red nail polish like how some people collect stamps.
My bottle of "High Roller" by China Glaze has been sitting on my coffee table, taunting me, for about three days now. I thought that perhaps I could ignore it's siren song and try different colours, like the gunmetal polish I picked up three weeks ago and haven't opened, or maybe a blackened purple like "Midnight In Moscow" by OPI. The more I saw "High Roller," the more I wanted to use it again.
"High Roller" is a gorgeous, blue-based red that would compliment about any skin tone. I would say that it is almost a classic, bright red, but it has more depth to it.







Items used:
Pink Cuticle remover (unknown brand) from Sally Beauty
Revlon full-jaw cuticle nippers
Ulta crystal nail file
Ulta Base Coat
"High Roller" by China Glaze (obviously)
Seche Vite top coat

Price: $6.50 at Ulta
Is It Worth It: Look at my nails and tell me it isn't.

Today's Nails

It’s no big secret that I change my nail polish almost every day. I get bored of looking at the same colour all the time, so it’s rare that I have the same polish for more than two to three days, maximum.

The constant changing does a number on my nails, so I try to pamper them as much as possible. I use nail polish remover instead of just chipping the polish off, I (almost always) use a base coat, and I don’t use my nails as tools. That last bit seems obvious, but if you stop to think about it, we use our nails for so much that is definitely not their intended purpose- prying things apart, anyone?

Today’s nails are “A Peony for Your Thoughts” by OPI. It’s a very pale pink, almost nude shade, with a slightly opalescent finish. It’s perfect for using in French manicures, since it is an almost nude, but it’s also great worn alone.

It has a great, smooth formula that layers well. I usually do between three to four coats of it so it isn’t so sheer.