Valentine's Day

Happy late Valentine's day everyone! Whether you had big plans or stayed warm inside, I hope you had a great, relaxing day to start off the long weekend! I had no plans, but I spent the day with the fam which was all I needed. I did treat my Valentine's well.. And by "my Valentine's" I mean myself. 

I wanted a neutral polish that was similar to my natural nail color, so I used two coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails' Sheer Vanilla. Two coats wasn't enough to cover up my tips properly, but I knew that applying more than two coats would make the polish white. Not what I wanted. With that done, I used black, red, and white paint to create the nail art. I went into this mani with two thoughts: I had to have hearts and on top of that I wanted to create a stitched look, as if the hearts were sewn into fabric. 

I feel like all of the nails can be easily understood, so I won't describe what you all can see. The middle finger is harder to see, but the back ground is red, white, light and dark pink hearts that overlap. I painted a top coat before painting a stitched heart on top of it to keep the theme going.

I covered everything up with a top coat, but I didn't want to it to look glossy. I painted a coat of NYC's Matte Me Crazy last. I LOVE Matte; it's a miracle in a bottle. For those who don't know what it is.. A top coat seals in paint, helps your polish last longer, and it adds extra shine to the polish. A matte coat on the other hand has the opposite effect on nails. Instead of making the polish shine, it dulls it. I only crack out the matte when I think it will enhance the mani, otherwise I stick with a clear coat, so the magic of matte still gets me. 

I have this paranoid thought that NYC will discontinue their matte, so I've stockpiled five bottles already.. But don't worry! It isn't expensive! For those of you in the States, you can find them at your local Target for $1.99. I believe they are sold in London, but besides that I have no idea. I know that other, more expensive brands sell their own matte for $8 or more, but they do the same thing as NYC's for more money. Wet n Wild even came out with their own matte for 99 cents that can be bought at Walgreens.

HOW TO APPLY MATTE:

1. Apply the polish of choice with the necessary coats. If you do any nail art, apply one coat of clear polish.

2. Once dried, apply one coat of matte. It dries quickly, but refrain from touching it. It may dullen after a few seconds, but it still needs to do its thing and dry completely.

3. You're done! You really only need one coat. Applying more is unnecessary and it wastes the matte. If you missed a spot then go back in and touch the brush of the matte onto the spot. 

Tamz

Live Laugh Love

Valentine's Day is coming up on Friday, does anyone have any plans? I will be having a little rendez-vous  with my t.v and junk food.. A normal day really! I've been playing around with the idea of this mani for a week now and I couldn't wait to do it. I didn't want to do the traditional (and obvious) pink/red heart explosion and hearts. I wanted something subtle that could be reused at anytime of the year with different color combinations.

I painted on four coats of Sinful Colors' Purple Diamond which is a sheer light purple that is jam packed with shimmer. You have to do at least four coats, otherwise the white of your tips will show through. For the design, I mixed a drop of black paint into silver paint to make a gunmetal color. Silver would have been to light against the base and black.. Well I could have done it in black, but it felt to "dark" for a happy design. 

I really think this is the cutest design I've ever done. The thumb and pinky got tilted hearts while "live laugh love" were painted on the remaining nails in cursive. All of the words and hearts connect in a continuous line from the first heart to the last. "Live Laugh Love" is a popular saying, but I wanted to use them in a Valentine's mani that doesn't have to do with having a special person in your life. You can do all three without having a boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband, etc. So on this year's day of love, think of it in a different perspective.. 

LIVE:

Live your life to the fullest. You will have a dull day here and there, and that is okay. The boring days make you appreciate the highlights of your life even more. But you can make sure to brighten up each day with the simple things. Do the things you love at least once a week. Make time for it!! Whether it's working out, reading, or getting together with friends, make sure you actually do the things you enjoy. I make time to do my nails at least once a week because it relaxes me and brings a smile to my face every time I look at them. 

LAUGH:

Smile, smile, smile! Laughing, smiling, and being generally happy will drastically change your day for the better. Some days you won't be in the mood to laugh - I know all about being in a bad mood - but those sour moods will pass. It's scientifically proven that laughter can lead to beneficial health benefits from lowering anxiety and stress, boosting the immune system, helping circulation, and just putting you in a better mood. Hopefully every one of you has felt the satisfaction of laughing until your tummies hurt after a day with your best friends. AND laugh loud, hard, and long when you are feeling it; I have a loud laugh that I am not embarrassed of. Embrace your laugh and smile!

LOVE:

Spread the love, folks! When it comes to Valentine's, people think of loving your significant other, but that certainly does not apply to single people. On this Valentine's, take time to show your love for your family members and friends that you care for with a tight hug, or simple words of gratitude. And for the loners this year, and anyone, you can think of this day as day to love yourself. Loving yourself is the foundation. Love will radiate throughout all of the other relationships in your life. Start with yourself: treat your body right, praise yourself for the amazing things you have accomplished, and just love every inch of yourself, inside and out. Don't get egocentric about it, but know and feel that you are worth it, ladies!

Tamz

Seattle for the win

I'm past the whole Super bowl game at this point almost a week after the game, but I had to post the nails I did for the Seahawks. I wanted the Broncos for the win, but I felt like I had to represent both teams on my sister's nails: Broncos on the right and Seahawks on her left hand.

Started off with two coats of Sinful Colors' Snow Me White - I could have done another coat, but I didn't need one with the design I had in mind. Next, I grabbed NYC's Sidewalkers and a makeup sponge and got to work on a gradient look that The Nailasaurus explains wonderfully. I dabbed on some polish onto the sponge and then dabbed it onto the tip of each nail (except the middle finger). I don't do it exactly like she does, I just dab on the second color instead of mixing the two colors together. I made several applications to the tips so it would be darker, lessening in applications as I went up the nail. If you ever go too far up with the second color, you can always dab on the base color to fix it up and blend the colors together better.

On the middle finger I painted on the Seahawks logo with Sinful Colors' Midnight Blue for the bottom left corner. Sinful Colors' Cold Leather for the blue section on the top and the outline, and Wet n Wild, Wild Shine's Nerd Alert for the bright green eye. On the gradient fingers, I re-did the design from this video, but with the Nerd Alert green and Cold Leather. The green branches turned out too thick (I think it was the brush I used). For the blue I used the striper brush which helped a bit, but I just need some extra practice to make it better! And the top coat was the last thing to seal it up.

 The blue on the thumb turned out to be the best overall I think.

Tamz

Broncos

As everyone knows, the Super bowl was on Sunday and the Broncos were utterly destroyed as was my heart. I'm a little late to posting, but I did my sister's nails the day of; during the game in fact. I needed something to cheer myself up from the depressing game, so I turned to nails.. And a pan of brownies.

The thumb, pointer, and pinky nails have two coats of Sinful Colors' Midnight Blue while the middle and ring fingers have two coats of Rimmel London Wear 10's Tequila Sunrise. The orange nails got the number "18" on them in honor of Peyton - I hoped the nail love would boost his performance, but alas, it did not work. I painted the numbers in white paint before outlining them with the Midnight Blue polish. 

With the blue nails I taped off the tips of the nail and the top of the nails to create a thick, horizontal band. I painted two coats of Tequila Sunrise where the nail was exposed. Once the polish dried, I carefully peeled off the tape to create fresh and accurate lines that I wouldn't have been able to pull off if I free-handed it. I framed out the orange with two stripes of white before sealing everything in with a top coat.

Tamz