Cuticle Care | Tip Off Tuesday

This is a quick step to help keep your cuticles soft and pushed back.  Dry, cracking and over grown cuticles can be a problem year round but as the months get colder it gets harder to maintain pretty fingers.

When you step out of the shower your hands are softened from the steam.  Take this oppurtunity to gently push your cutlicles back when you dry off.  All you have to do is use your towel to quickly push them away from growing up the nail.  Add your moisturizer generously.  I make the most of my facial cream in this step, read my method here.

Pretty in Pink | The Nail Files

I polished this Mani in a few shades of pink and added the breast cancer ribbon on my thumb.  The salon in which I work is all a buzz with fund raisers and promotions in support of Breast Cancer awareness. My mani joined the decor and cause this week, of course my thoughts did as well.

Joining The Nail Files this week!

Make Nail Polish Last Longer | Tip Off Tuesday

Keep your favorite polish looking good longer.  Instead of shaking it before polishing your nails roll it between the palms of your hands for thirty seconds, give or take a few ;)  It mixes as evenly, creates less air bubbles and keeps the polish running smooth longer. 

Read more nail polish and manicure tips here.

Palm Tree Nail Art | Step by Step

1. Apply your base all over color, allow to dry for a minute between coats and before starting art.

2. Make the trunk by using your brush to make to small lines next to each other.  Each line slightly curves away from the other.

3. Add a leaf using a thin brush stoke that tapers off at the end.  Fill in with two more leaves on each side and one just off center.

4. Slightly overlap the dark green with a lighter shade near the center of the leaves, not entirely, just to give the leaves two tones.

5. Brush on a coat of glitter at the base of the tree for your sand and you are done.

If you like nail art try this super easy tribal pattern.  Look through my entire nail polish tab for other manicure how to's and tips. 

The Summer Beauty Series has been fun!  See all the DIY's and tips here.

Fourth of July Manicure Idea

I reviewed Priti NYC nail polish on USA Love List last week.  The sent us the Olympic inspired London 2012 Red White and Blue Kit.  Find out more about this eco friendly, non toxic, luxe polish on my weekly feature, American Beauty.

DIY a Pro Pedicure at Home | How To

Sandal season is here so it's time to up your pedicure game.  Save $30. this week and do it yourself with these tips from the spa.

Of course your toes are not going to look as polished at home if you just whip out a quick polish change.  There is a method to the pro magic.  Follow these steps to get top notch results and save hundreds of dollars a year.

Do It Yourself Pedicure by amariebeauty featuring The Body Shop beauty products
1. Soak feet for about 5 minutes in a foot soak.
2. Remove old polish.
3. Clip, file and clean toe nails. 
4. Massage in foot scrub, rinse well in your soak tub.
5. Treat any callus at this time, use a callus softener then file in a circular motion using a foot file or pumice stone.  A product with Alpha Hydroxy Acid helps slough off the outer layer of dead skin making it a prime ingredient for callus softening.  Salicylic acid is easily found in acne treatment gels, that is what I use with much success. 
6. Push back cuticles, then brush the nail bed with a wet nail brush.
7. Apply lotion.
8. Clean nails with polish remover, this removes the lotion from the nail to insure the polish will adhere for longest wear.
9. Apply base coat,2 coats of color and a top coat.  Wait one minute between coats.
10. Allow polish to sit and spray with a quick dry spray (optional).

This is post 2 of the Summer Beauty Series.  Read the intro and post 2, SPF for Lips.

Hide Nail Polish Chips | Tip Off Tuesday

Hide polish chips in between color changes with this fun and easy trick.

 "Silver Glitter Nail Polish. Each week I change my base coat and tip it off with silver glitter. When the glitter chips, just add a little more. You can't tell they have been touched-up because of the texture. I hate nails that look touched-up." -Jen of Whitefield Awesome Blog
 
See her manicure here in her weekly Obsession Confession Sunday post.  Look around for some laughs and great photography.

More quick tips using nail polish.
A Free Quick Dry for Your Mani
Fast Fixes Using Clear Nail Polish
How To Keep a Steady Hand

Image Source

Tribal Nail Art | Pictorial

1. Apply coral color all over.  This one was compliments of Mom2Memphis&Ruby.
2. Add 2 coats of gold nail polish as a side stripe.
3. Make tiny connected triangles using a nail art brush in black polish.
4. Connect the triangles with a solid line across the bottom using the same black.
5. Connect the triangles across the top.
6. Using a nail art brush in green make three dots above each triangle and diagonal slants in the opposite corner.
7. Alternate black lines with the bright green ones from step 6.

I love nail art but my attention span runs thin.  That is why the ring finger design is perfect, not just for the tribal design but any design.  It doesn't take all day and it isn't as busy as a pattern on every finger.  Win, win.

This is my first pictorial so please share any feedback you have via comments or inbox.  I have some fun how to's coming up and want to know how you would like to see them?

Try these tips next time you are doing your own manicure to make it look better and last longer.

Pictorial?
Bigger, more detailed tutorial?
Video?

Loving tribal prints?  Check out yesterday's post for some wearable looks.

Tip Off Tuesday: Fortiy with Mayo

Fortify your nails with mayonnaise.  You might not always have luxurious cuticle cream around but most of us have mayo on hand.   It helps stop nail chips and breaks.  Apply some mayo to each finger for5 minutes or so and wash off with warm water. This can also help reduce the number of hangnails you get.

Tip Off Tuesday: Keep a Steady Hand for Polishing Nails

If you are shaky when you polish your own nails try anchoring your pinky finger to polish smoothly.

Simple. Make sure the pinky of the hand you are polishing with is touching something. You might rest it on a part of your hand or on the surface you are polish your nail on. It stops the shakiness.

This is perfect for trying nail art too.  Get more manicure help here.

Pro Manicure Tips

Remove old polish.

Trim, file and shape nails.

Clean and exfoliate your hands and nails.
I use a teaspoon of sea salt mixed with a pump of my favorite hand soap.  Packaged exfoilator will work too.
Pay attention to dry or rough areas and work in around the cuticle and nail.
Rinse well.
 
Care for your cuticles.  Apply cuticle cream and push back the cuticle gently.    

Moisturize to the maximum, massage in a rich cream.

Clean nail bed off with polish remover.  Leaving the oils from the moisturizer on your nail make it hard for the polish to adhere. 

Apply base coat.  Bonder from Orly does just that, bonds.  I get my longest wearing mani using Bonder.

Apply two coats of color.

Finish with a top coat.  The shine a salon mani has seems like magic.  It's not, it is just a good shiny top coat like Glosser from Orly.

If you need a quick dry method use a drying top coat, manicurist's finishing sprayor this free DIY method.
Your DIY manicure can look and last like a salon job.

The quality of the products make a difference but the steps you follow when you do your own manicure really define the results. 

About the products, as far as polish goes if you have a good quality base and top coat the polish color is going to stick and last longer without chipping.  The polish color itself doesn’t have to be top of the line to look primo.

5 Colors for Your Manicure Stash

nail polish by amariebeauty on polyvore.com

Polish is a quick outfit pick me up.  This is especially true for a girl who likes her clothes simple.  You can get experimental with trendy colors and use polish as a simple accessory.
 
To stock your at home manicure stash start with 5 colors from these groups.

Nude.  Very modern, light colors wear easily and chips are harder to notice.

Nearly black.  Goes with everything and looks sophisticated.

Signature color.  I mentioned knowing and using your signature color here.  You will look at yours hands and feel happy and it will add your personality to basic outfits.

Glitter.  Enough said.

Trendy.  Just because it will keep you from getting stuck in a rut and its seasonal.  ‘It’ colors change each season so it will keep you trying new things.

**TIP** Don’t forget to grab a good base and top coat.  If you buy these two things right you can make less expensive polish colors look pro and last longer.  Pro manicure steps coming next week!

I linked up to other ladies sharing polish stories below.

Tip Off Tuesday: Fast Fixes with Clear Nail Polish

photo source

Got a runner in your panty hose or tights?  Save them, for the night anyway, by brushing clear nail polish over the snag. This will keep it from getting bigger and bigger by the minute, allowing you to keep your outfit in tact.

3 more handy tricks using clear nail polish...

• Coat costume jewelry with a thin layer to keep it looking like new.
  
• Tighten up a pair of sunglasses by putting a drop of polish on the wobbly screws.
• Polish the post of cheap earrings to keep the irritation away.

Easy Sparkle Tips for Your Nails. Only 1 Extra Step!

Prep and polish as usual, try these steps for your best DIY manicure.  Next up no dipping, dusting or crazy hard work to get the pretty little glitterama look at the edge of your manicure.  Grab yourself a bottle of nail art glitter polish.  Then add vertical strokes all across the top, seal with your favorite top coat.  Done. 

These nail art polishes are available at the Dollar Tree.  They work fabulously!

photo source

Tip Off Tuesday: A Free Speed Dry for Your Manicure

Speed dry your manicure with this quick, easy and FREE tip.  After you apply your final coat of polish dip your nails in a bowl of ice water for sixty seconds.  Pat dry and your done.

Remember just like any other quick set method of drying polish it is still easily smudged so be easy for a bit.

Tip Off Tuesday: Keep Your Polish Flowing Freely

Polish is pricey so why not make it last!  These quick tips will keep your nail colors from thickening up on you.

• don’t shake the bottle, roll between your palms for a minute before applying
• store bottles upright in a cool dry location
• keep from gobbing the polish all over the brim of the bottle

Lastly if you find yourself needing to do some thinning don’t use nail polish remover or acetone.  Polish thinner is available for around $5 and works like a charm.  The chemical make up in remover actually hardens the polish after the initial use and causes your mani to chip.

My Small Stash

MoD MaNiCuRe

Now more than ever manicures are more of an accessory then a simple polish job.  One of my favorite trends is color blocking.  I love era fashion and this is so reminiscent of the mod sixties style. 

 

For pro manicures always...

• moisturize hands and cuticles before polishing wipe with polish remover so polish will adhere
• trim or file nails neatly
• apply a base coat
• wait a couple minutes between coats of color
• finish off with a shiny top coat

To dry your manicure instantly stick freshly polished nails into a bowl of ice water for 45 seconds, completely free and a time saver!

Pricey polish does produce some great manicures but many savvy brands can do just the same with proper technique and reliable base and top coats.  Read my post on DIY manicures for more tips.