Thursday, March 20, 2014

St Patrick's Day and Nail Art


Hey Everyone!!! I was supposed to have a great blog post ready for you Monday for St. Patrick's Day but things have been so hectic and then I was feeling so ill that it didn't get done. I love St. Patrick's Day too. So lame. I figure better late then never so today I have what I was supposed to post Monday for you all. 

Recently I was contacted by a lovely lady named Jackie over at HSN about an upcoming blog post HSN was doing on festive nail art. She asked if I would be interested in checking it out and sharing it. I absolutely love that nail art is becoming more main stream and getting more attention. I remember when I was growing up my grandmother used to watch HSN all the time. I simply had to check out the post they were putting out and their revamped nail page. I am sharing it below but you can check out the post on the HSN blog here or you can check out the revamped Nail page here. I just realized I can also get swagbucks if I shop on HSN so this is going to be dangerous for me.

The post is entitled Festive Nail Art Ideas for St. Patrick's Day and is written by Carly Woods. She shows several different nail art techniques to make your mani more festive.


Festive Nail Art Ideas For St. Patrick’s Day
by CarlyWoods a week ago - last edited a week ago (613 Views)

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, many people are looking to celebrate the spirit of the Irish with some creative uses for their beauty products! How better to get into the festive spirit than with a little themed nail art? From simple to a little more technical, see below for my top looks and tips to create some fun nails to celebrate!


Preparation & Tools

With any form of nail art, preparation is key. You don't want to be fiddling around opening nail polishes with your nails still wet. So my top tip is to have a plate with all your polishes and equipment laid out. If you are new to the game, sometimes finding the appropriate nail kit is your best bet to ensure you have all of the basic supplies. The nail tools I used are as listed: polishes, nail polish remover, cotton buds, bobby pin, nail stick, nail art pen and tape. Be sure to also prepare your nails – ensure nails are clean, cuticles are pushed back and you layer on your base of choice. Here I opted for green for the simple manicure and white for the more technical designs.


1. Simple Accent Nail & Glitter

For a simple manicure that still has a twist, add a leprechaun glitter green to one or more of your nails. You could also go the full throttle and add glitter to all nails for a super sparkly look.





2. Dotty Nails

This is where the bobby pin comes in. Pour a little of your chosen colors onto your plate, dip the pin into the polish, then gently dot onto your nail. Here, you can play around with different colors and patterns. I opted for two different greens, but it would also look great with a little gold too.


















3. Shamrock Design

For those of you with a steady hand, why not try adding a teeny shamrock to one or more of your nails? You could pick up a nail art pen which makes it pretty easy, or use the bobby pin again. For the shamrock, think of it as three hearts and a line – then it's not too daunting! Don't just stop at one! I added two smaller shamrocks and a few decorative dots for a busier look.

















4. Gold & Green

For St. Paddy's day you always have to add in a little leprechaun gold. For the last nail, I used a little tape to create a gold design. Cut off a small piece of tape and place over the top corner of the nail. Then, paint over with your chosen gold or glittered polish. I decided to go with the Love Angel Music Baby gold nail polish from OPI. Wait for the gold polish to dry completely before pulling off the tape! Here, I also added a few green dots with the pen for an even more festive look. Always make sure you finish with a high gloss top coat too.


















What will you be putting on your nails for St. Paddy's day? Post your own designs and share them with us!



Love,

Carly Woods 


What do you all think of nail art getting more and more attention from companies and brands?
I couldn't not post my St. Patrick's Day mani this year since it is one of my favorite holidays. I wasn't thrilled with this mani but I didn't have time to redo it and apparently nothing wants to show up on this glitter.


That's all for now :)

Monday, March 3, 2014

Small break

Hey Everyone!!!! Just wanted to stop in and give an update. I am FINALLY getting over this stupid flu/cold thing that knocked me out for the past week. We have had some issues and stuff going on which sidetracked me until the germs completely put me down. I think we have all taken our turn getting sick and are finally on the mend. My nails were breaking so I finally just gave in and filed them down to nubs. I am on my second gel mani where I have pretty much just done the mani and left them alone. Mostly due to feeling like garbage. I keep thinking of stamping over them to at least change it up a little but I haven't had the energy. I am thinking I will probably take at least this week off from blogging and hopefully will be all rested and back to feeling good by next week. If not it might be another few days. We will see how it goes. C is STILL getting over this bug and he started with it around the 15th so it is a pretty rugged one. 

I hope all is well and I will talk to ya'll soon :)