My Nail Care Routine

I've gotten some questions regarding my nail care routine, and what I do to keep my nails healthy. The answer is, not much...I don't do anything special to my cuticles or have an intricate mix of potions to make my nails grow out strong. My routine is very basic, I have outlined it below and added a few pics for reference.

The first step in a fresh manicure is to remove the previous polish. For this, I just use the cheapest remover from whatever store I am at when I remember that I'm out of remover...I use the nourishing formula. The cotton pads I use for removal are Face Secrets Disposable Facial Cloths. These lint free pads can be found at Sally Beauty, and are around $5.99 for 50. I can typically use one pad to remove two manicures, using half of the pad per manicure. For more difficult polish removal I will end up using one pad. I always wash my hands after polish removal, I personally don't like the smell of polish remover.

The next step is to MOISTURIZE! It doesn't matter what you use for this step, as long as you use something to moisturize your nails and cuticles. Above are a few things that I rotate depending on my mood or how my nails feel that day. Pictured are JR Watkins Aloe & Green Tea Hand & Cuticle Salve, LUSH Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter, and Julep Essential Cuticle Oil. Whatever you use, rub the product into your nails, all the skin around your nails, and even into the skin up to your first knuckle. I do this every time I start a new manicure, which is about twice a week.

Step three, shape and clean. After moisturizing, shape your nails however you prefer. Mine are square at the tips, so I use the darker file above to create the squared tip. I put my finger on the desk, use the file to create a T shape with my finger, and use a side to side motion with the file to keep the tips even and straight. The metal file with the rounded tip is great for cleaning under the nails. I purchased the metal file at Walmart, and the darker file at Sally Beauty.

After I moisturize and shape my nails, I wash my hands again to clean away any dust from filing, and any residual oil or product that may still be on the nails. I use this cute little monkey nail brush that my bestie gave me to scrub my nails clean. 

Pick your products! Base coat, polish color, top coat. Today I have used one layer of Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat, two coats of Sinful Shine Royal Flush, and one coat of Seche Vite Top Coat.

And there you have it! All of my nail care/new manicure steps from beginning to finish :)

Zoya Maya

Today I am wearing a lovely pink/coral jelly, Zoya Maya. I started with Zoya's Anchor base coat, added three layers of Maya, and finished with Zoya's Armor top coat.

Products Used:

One coat Zoya Anchor Base Coat

Three coats Zoya Maya

One coat Zoya Armor Top Coat

May 2013 Birchbox & Ipsy

May 2013 Birchbox (2)

As you may or may not know, I receive two Birchboxes every month. This month, I received two of the same box. This doesn't happen to me often, this is only the third time since adding a second account in June 2012. There was one slight difference in the two boxes, but I have only taken one picture since all the products were essentially the same.

Amika Obliphica Nourishing Hair Mask - Packed with omega acids and vitamin C, this lush conditioning mask boosts shine and even helps repair split ends. Sample Vaue: $1.60

Marvis Classic Mint Toothpaste - A stylish Italian import with an invigorating peppermint flavor. Sample Value: $1.40

COOLA Classic Face SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for Face - This mineral sunblock is infused with organic anti-aging ingredients like evening primrose extract and borage seed oil. Sample Value: $4.33

Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner (Suman - Black) - Inspired by traditional Indian formulas, this velvety liner glides on easily and lasts for hours. Mini Size Value: $5.25

Isaac Mizrahi FABULOUS Isaac Mizrahi Eau de Parfum - For his first scent, the designer created a fanciful blend of mandarin and jasmine laced with vanilla. Sample Value: $2.03

Birchbox Find: Acroball PureWhite hybrid ink pen (I received one that writes pink, and one that writes purple) - Vibrant ink colors and all the smoothness of a gel ink pen with none of the smudging or smearing. Comes in multiple shades. Value: $1.56

Box Cost: $10.00

Box Value: $16.17

Join Birchbox: My Referral Link

May 2013 Ipsy (2)

Ipsy had a change of format this month, with lots of fun bag variations. I decided to add a second account and try my luck at scoring two different bags. I ended up with a few duplicates, but just enough variation to be happy with.

Bag #1 (top)

Island Vanilla Perfume Roll-On - Inspired by the unique magic of Tahitian vanilla, this sensual blend sets sweet and sultry vanilla absolute, with honey-jasmine notes and a touch of fruitiness, against a deep and beautiful base of tea. Full Size: $12.00

Zoya Nail Polish in Gie Gie (pink) - Zoya Nail Polish in GeiGei can be best described as a full-coverage, blushing cherry blossom pink metallic. A shimmery light shade for an always-appropriate natural pink nail look. Originally created as a custom runway shade for fashion designer Zang Toi. Full Size: $8.00

Anastasia Clear Brow Gel - This clear brow formula tames unruly brows without leaving them stiff, flaky or sticky. Sample Value: $6.68

Mirabella Colour Sheers Lipstick in Posy - Beautifully sheer lip color to wear all day and night. Mango butter base nourishes lips. Full Size: $22.00

Yaby Concealer Refill in Buff - Full Size Refill Value: $4.85

Bag #1 Cost: $10.00

Bag #1 Value: $53.53

Join Ipsy: My Referral Link

Bag #2 (bottom)

Yaby Concealer Refill in Honey - Full Size Refill Value: $4.85

Mirabella Colour Sheers Lipstick in Bellarina - Beautifully sheer lip color to wear all day and night. Mango butter base nourishes lips. Full Size: $22.00

Zoya Nail Polish in Gie Gie (pink) - Zoya Nail Polish in GeiGei can be best described as a full-coverage, blushing cherry blossom pink metallic. A shimmery light shade for an always-appropriate natural pink nail look. Originally created as a custom runway shade for fashion designer Zang Toi. Full Size: $8.00

Island Vanilla Perfume Roll-On - Inspired by the unique magic of Tahitian vanilla, this sensual blend sets sweet and sultry vanilla absolute, with honey-jasmine notes and a touch of fruitiness, against a deep and beautiful base of tea. Full Size: $12.00

St. Tropez One Night Only, Instant Glow Body Lotion - This lightweight cream simply smooths on to give you an instant, even, beautifully golden tan that will wash off whenever you choose. Sample Value: $6.08

Bag #2 Cost: $10.00

Bag #2 Value: $52.93

Join Ipsy: My Referral Link

Dazzling Monica

Above is two coats of Zoya Monica, followed by one layer of Zoya Armor Top Coat.

To that, I have used a piece of cosmetic wedge sponge to dab a bit of Sally Hansen Gem Crush Razzle Dazzler to the tips, and a bit down the nail.

A layer of Gelous gel top coat helps to smooth out the rough glitter, and after 24 hours I will seal the manicure with a coat of Seche Vite. Seche Vite does not mesh well with Zoya polishes, so it is important to only use it after the Zoya has had plenty of time to cure.

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

Two coats Zoya Monica

One coat Zoya Armor Top Coat

Sally Hansen Gem Crush Razzle Dazzler

One coat Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat (after 24 hours)

Diamond Studded

Today's manicure begins with a gradient of Sinful Shine My Kryptonite and Sinful Shine In The Limelight.

These are the steps I use to create a gradient. *Normally, I will paint one coat of the lightest color that the gradient will contain as a base color for the gradient polishes to grab on to (or a coat of white for a neon gradient). This time, however, I forgot to start with a base color, doh!, and just started with plain base coat.* Using the back of a metal stamping plate for a palette, I placed some Kryptonite and some In The Limelight next to each other. Taking a small piece of cosmetic wedge sponge (very lightly dampened with water and squeezed out), I dipped the sponge into both colors at once, and lightly dabbed it onto the nail keeping the lighter color toward the tips, and darker color toward the cuticle. Since I forgot the base color, the polishes didn't want to *grab*, and I had to repeat the dabbing 3 or 4 times for each nail (waiting a bit between dabs to let the polish dry) to reach desired opacity. I then added a layer of Seche Vite to smooth out the gradient.

Next, I used individual holographic glitter pieces from Sinful Colors Watch It Shine, stacked against each other to create a wavy pattern down the length of the nail.

For this step, I used the 'water marbling tool' from my Bundle Monster Nail Art Kit to fish the glitters from the bottle and place them in a stacked design. This was not as tedious as I had thought it would be, it took maybe 5 minutes to complete each hand. 

The diamond glitters have lots of pointy sharp edges, so it took 3 or 4 coats of Gelous gel top coat to smooth them out completely. When applying the Gelous, I kept it concentrated to the strip of glitter, rather than covering the entire nail with each coat. When they were fully smoothed over, I finished the manicure with a layer of Seche Vite top coat.

Below is a picture of the polish and materials used for this design, minus base and top coat.

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

Gradient of Sinful Shine My Kryptonite and In The Limelight

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

Glitter accents from Sinful Colors Watch It Shine

Four coats Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat (Concentrated to the strip of glitter)

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

Cookies & Cream

This manicure begins with two coats of Zoya Carey

Then, I spaced out and put a layer of Seche Vite on top....forgetting that Seche makes Zoya shrink back from the tips and sides, doh! Normally, when doing a glitter mani, I'll lay the glitter right on the color with no top coat in between. However, I did the the color last night and the glitter today...so I needed to have a top coat for overnight, and just grabbed Seche cause it's my fave! Shrinkage was minimal this time, thankfully.

Anyway...today I added the glitter, two coats of Hard Candy Sugar Rush.

I then added one layer of Gelous top coat to smooth out the glitter, and ended with a coat of Seche Vite.

This manicure reminded me of Hershey's Cookies & Cream Chocolate Bars!

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

Two coats Zoya Carey

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat (Oops, Zoya doesn't mix with Seche!)

Two coats Hard Candy Sugar Rush

One coat Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

One coat Seche Vite (OK to use over Zoya after it dries for 24 hours, and over glitter that is over Zoya that is dry.)

Raging Rock Stars

I created this manicure for a Will Hoge rock show Thursday night. I wanted something bright and fun, with a musical design. *Bonus pics from the show at the bottom!*

The base color is two coats of Sinful Shine - All The Rage. Over that, I put a sparse layer of the glitter pictured above, Icing - Radio Superstar. 

I was somewhat disappointed as I flipped through the book I keep my stamping plates in, I thought I had more music related stamp designs. It turns out all I have are a few piano-type stamps, and this wavy musical design. I love the way this one turned out though, despite not having many to choose from. I must get more music stamps!

The stars are very hard to get from this this bottle of glitter polish, which ended up working out for me. After I placed the stamps, I fished out the stars and individually placed them onto the nails around the stamps with a dotting tool. (There is one star peeking out from the stamping on my pointer nail, it was the only one that came out naturally when applying the glitter. I left it where it lay, and I think the music pattern on top is pretty cute.)

The star glitter has some sharp edges at the points, so I went over the design with a coat of Gelous gel top coat to help smooth it out. If you look close at my ring finger nail, it is slightly smudged...I learned that Gelous will do this to your stamps if you aren't super-super careful. I know that now :/ lol. Over that, I applied a nice coat of Seche Vite and it *almost* smoothed everything out completely. I still had a few star points poking up which I could have solved with another layer of Seche Vite, but it didn't bother me enough to add another coat.

Products Used:

One coat Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Base Coat

Two coats Sinful Shine All The Rage

One coat Icing Radio Superstar

Stamping Plate M22

Konad Black Special Stamping Polish

One coat Gelous Advanced Gel Top Coat

One coat Seche Vite Top Coat

*Bonus pics from the Will Hoge show!*