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