Gradient Nails

The "Fade" is a pretty popular thing in clothes right now.  This trent is one in which the color fades gradually from one color to another.  It has also become pretty popular on nails.  On nails, I have heard it referred to as "the fade", "the gradient manicure" and "sponging".  There are several different methods to do this.  I have tried many of them, and below I am going to show you the method I found the easiest.

The "fade" on a dress.

The fade on my nails!

Cool right?  It is actually easier then it looks. 

Supplies: 

3-4 nail polish colors.  Do not use quick dry formula. 

Makeup sponges

q-tips

Polish remover

Base and top coat

Small cup of water

Directions:

1.  Paint base coat on your nails. After base coat is dry, paint your lightest color over entire nail.

2.  After the first color coat has dried, take all your colors and line them up from lightest to darkest. Unscrew the caps of each color. You want to have everything ready so that you can work quickly.   Take your makeup sponge and dip it in some water. Squeeze 80% of the water out of the sponge. This is very important because if you do not get the sponge wet, it will soak up too much polish and the polish will not go on evenly.

3.  Start at the edge of the makeup wedge and paint a thin strip of your darkest color.  Paint a thin strip of each color, from dark to light.  Go over each color once more.

4.  Take your sponge and press it firmly on a piece of paper or paper towel. You will notice that the more you press the sponge, the more the colors blend. Next step, press sponge onto nail.  You can press twice at slightly different spots if you notice the color is not blended enough.  Make sure you press with firm even pressure.

5.  You will notice that the polish gets all over your skin, and has the texture of the sponge. The skin issue is easily cleaned up by using a q-tip dipped in polish remover. The texture issue is fixed by putting a top coat over.

My nails before cleanup. 

6.  Paint your top coat on and you are all done! 

Other tips:

Do not use quick dry polish for your gradient. It will dry before you have a chance to get it onto your nail.  

I found this a little more difficulty to do with metallic polishes, because most of them also dry rather quickly.  

The wet sponge is very important to make this come out correctly.

Remember to press the sponge firmly against nail so that you get the edges of your nail as well. 

For this manicure, I used the following polishes.

Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat

Revlon Tropical Temptation

Revlon Cherries in the Snow

mystery polish I have had for years

Revlon Valentine

Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat

Piggy Polish!

As some of you may know, I am sort of obsessed with getting a miniature pig as a pet. Why would you want a pig as a pet, you may ask. Well, first of all, mini pigs only get to be between 20-30lbs, about the size of a smallish dog. Also, pigs are incredibly intelligent, and can be trained to do tricks and walk on leashes. They also can be trained to go to the bathroom in a litter box.  Pigs aren't naturally smelly. Pigs lack sweat glands, so they roll around in mud (and poop) to cool off. Being dirty makes pigs smelly.  If you have an indoor pig, they cannot roll around in mud, and are therefore not smelly.

Isn't this the cutest thing ever?

Anyways, there are no mini-pig breeders in Connecticut. Also, if you are going to buy a mini-pig, you better make sure you look at the pig parents and make sure they aren't 300lb hogs. Nothing would be worse than buying what you thought was a mini-pig only to have it grow into a 300lb hog. Especially when you live in an apartment.  Someday when I get a house with a yard, Steve and I are going to take a road trip and go look at mini-pigs.  Anyways, since I can't have a mini-pig right now, I have resorted to collecting pig things.

Pig wall hanging and salt and pepper shakers, which I also collect. 

Anyways, take a look below at my pig manicure! This was done with acrylic paints over my shellac manicure. The best part about this was that if I made a mistake, it was super easy to get the acrylic off of the shellac. I just had to rub the nail with my fingers and it pealed off. When I was done, I applied a regular polish topcoat to keep this from happening. 

My ring finger is bacon. This is because I ran out of ideas for the last nail. Don't worry, if I had a pet pig, I would never eat it! My pets are like children to me, they are the most spoiled animals ever! 

What do you think of my pig manicure? Do you want to get a pet pig too? Do you know of any mini-pig breeders or anyone who has a pet pig? 

Shellac Attack!!

Hello!
I realize that I have been a little bit lame on my posting this week. So... today I am going to show you guys a tutorial for how to properly apply shellac nail polish.

 For those of you who don't know, Shellac is a "gel-polish hybrid" made by CND (Creative Nail Design).  It was released back in April of 2010, but has really gained popularity within the past year.  It gives you a shiny 14 day manicure without chips, peals or breaking. I find that when I use it, my nails tend to grow longer because it adds just enough thickness so that they don't break off.  Shellac uses a UV light to cure, so it has no dry time except for application process itself.

What is the difference between shellac and acrylics or gels?  Well, shellac is supposedly better for your nails because the application and removal process requires no fileing. If you have been to a salon and gotten a shellac manicure which involved fileing, your nail tech was doing it wrong.  Shellac is also easier to apply because it paints on just like nail polish.

I first got a shellac manicure in a salon, but then decided to buy the supplies to do it at home.  I bought mine online at amazon.com.  If you are looking to purchase shellac, make sure that any product you buy is actually shellac. There are other products out there, such as gelish, which are similar, but not the same.  You cannot use gelish with a shellac color or base/top coat and vise versa.

Anyways, if you are interested in doing shellac at home, check out my tutorial below.

Supplies:
Shellac base coat
Shellac top coat
Shellac color
36 wat UV lamp with 4 bulbs (I bought one called uspicy lamp off amazon)
Scrub Fresh (A mix of acetone and rubbing alcohol)
99% isopropyl alcohol (I bought this online, rubbing alcohol in standard drug stores is only 70%)

My shellac supplies

1.   Do a basic dry manicure. Push back cuticles. File nails to whatever shape you want. Do not buff nails.

2.  Use scrubfresh on a cotton pad and gently scrub each nail, like you would with polish remover.

3.  Paint on thin layer of shellac base coat. Make sure you cap your ends. This is very important, because if you don't cap them correctly, the shellac will chip or peal off early. Also, if you get any polish on your skin or cuticles, use an orange wood stick to remove it. If shellac is on your skin, it will lift off the polish and peal.

4.  Place your hands in the UV light. For the base coat, you only need to place them in for about 20 seconds.

My UV light. 

5.  Apply thin layer of color coat of your choosing. I chose to use romantique. This is a very sheer, pale pink shade.  Cap your ends.  Place your hand in your UV light again.  For all color coats, you need to keep your hand in the UV light for 120 seconds. My light has an automatic timer and shuts off after this time period.

6.  Apply second color coat following same steps as 5.

Shellac Romantique with 2 coats on the first three fingers, and only 1 coat on the last 2. See how sheer it is?

7.  Apply top coat using same steps as 5.

8.  Use 99% isopropyl alcohol on a cotton ball. Lightly swipe over nails. This will remove the sticky layer and give your nails a shiny finish.

9.  Go do whatever you want!  Your manicure is now 100% dry and ready for all the dishwashing, key grabbing, whatever you need to do for the next 14 days! Kiss chips goodbye!

My complete shellac manicure.  That is paint on my thumb, not polish.  

If you think shellac is not for you because you like to change your polish color frequently, think again! You can paint regular polish over shellac if you want. It will keep it from chipping!  To remove regular polish without taking the shellac off, just use a non-acetone polish remover.

Nautical Nail Art

Hello everyone,

Earlier in the week, I was super excited because this week are going to put my brothers new sailboat "Riders on the storm" in the water for the first time!  This inspired some nautical themed nail polish.

A sailboat and anchor! I love accent nails! 

The base color for this polish is Revlon "Fashionista" It is a wonderful blue-green shade.  Not quick dry.  Revlon formulas always apply smoothly and this polish was full coverage in 2 coats. The brush for revlon polishes is easy to work with and medium thickness.  

To paint the sailboat, I started with the red bottom. I used my acrylic paints.  After painting the bottom, I made a straight line using the brown from the base of the boat to the top. 

After that, I just painted little triangles on either side of the pole with white for the sails. 

When you are done, you can go back and touch it up with any of the colors you want. I thought I painted the sail on the left a little too big, so I went in with my nail art brush and put a little more nail polish over that area. I also accidentally got some white paint on my index finger nail, and I used the regular polish to cover that up as well. 

How to fix a broken nail

Doesn't it suck when you are trying to grow out your nails, then one nail breaks?

Well, today I am going to show you how to fix a broken nail so you will never have to clip all that awesome length off.  The pictures today are of my toes, because I didn't have a broken fingernail, but I stubbed my toe a while ago and broke that nail. 

Supplies:

1 teabag

scissors

nail glue 

nail file

Look at my poor broken toe after being stubbed on something months ago. my toenails are orange because i just took off neon orange polish. I don't have fungus!!

1.  Take broken edge of nail and place small amount of nail glue on crack to hold it level with the rest of your nail.  You can use tweezers to make sure the edges lined up while waiting for the glue to dry, or just hold it in place yourself. 

2.  Take your teabag and empty it out.  Cut section of teabag to fit size of nail.  it doesn't have to be exact, just close. Do not cut it too large. If the teabag patch hangs over the nail or touches the skin, it will lift off your nail. 

3.  Apply small amount of glue to nail and use tweezers to press teabag patch onto nail. Make sure that it completely covers the crack in your nail.  Do not allow any air bubbles underneath the patch, as these will make it lift off, and also make you more prone to getting a fungal infection under there.  Also, do not hold it on too long or your will glue your fingers and/or tweezers to your nail as well.  

This is my nail after the patch is applied. It turns clear when the nail glue comes into contact with it, but the surface is a little rough still.

4.  Apply a small amount of nail glue over patch again.

5. File lightly with nail file to even out surface. The smaller the grit of the file, the smoother the nail will be. I used my trusty crystal file.  

6.  Paint your nails with some pretty polish!  It should look nice and smooth, just like your natural nail but a little sturdier.  This should last about 2 weeks, but can last even longer if you apply it correctly. The key to making it last it to be gentile and apply it correctly.  This will allow your new nail to grow out until the crack is ready to be cut off. 

Do you have any other tricks for fixing cracked nails? What are they? 

Update:  This is my nail 2 weeks later. The nail has grown enough to cut off the broken part, and my nail fix has fallen off while taking off my regular polish with some remover.

Safter nail polishes

Now that you have all this information about potential toxins in polishes, what nail polishes are safe for you to use?  Well, here is a list of some common brands that area all 3-free, 4-free, 5-free and even water based. Although the new polishes being sold by these brands are free of toxic chemicals, older formulas may still contain toluene, DBP or formaldehyde.  You should check the ingredients on your bottles before use. Click on the links to be taken to the site for each brand. 

3-free (No toluene, dibutyl phthlate, or formaldehyde)

American Apparel 

A-England

Butter London

China Glaze
Essie

E.L.F. 

Finger Paints

Hard Candy 

L.A. Girls 
Maybelline Express finish
Maybelline Salon Expert
Nicole by OPI

OPI

Sally Hansen Salon

4-Free (Free of formaldehyde resin)
MAC
Milani
N.Y.C 

Orly 

Rescue Beauty Lounge

Spa Ritual
Wet n' Wild

5-Free (Free of formaldehyde resin and camphor)

Chanel

Dashing Diva
Dior
Estee Lauder
Lancome

Deborah Lippmann
L'oreal

Nubar
NYC in a Minute
Revlon
Rimel London
Sinful Colors

Zoya

Water based polishes (5-free and free of ethyl acetate)

Acquarella 
Honeybee Gardens
Sula    Sula polishes also peal off like rubber, just like those polishes you had when you were little!
Suncoat

Is your nail polish toxic?

Today, I am writing about toxins in nail polish, an issue I care about deeply.  Many of you may not be aware that when polishing your nails, you may be exposing yourself to chemicals that have the potential to cause cancer and birth defects.  Specifically, a chemical combination called the "Toxic Trio": Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Formaldehyde.  Below, I will be talking about why each chemical is unhealthy.

Toluene

Toluene is most commonly found in petroleum crude oil. It is also found in some aerosol sprays, antifreeze, adhesives, printer ink, and cosmetics.  Toluene exposure occurs when it is inhaled or absorbed through skin.  It could also be ingested through contaminated food or water.

Effects on your body:
Most information we have about toluene exposure is from studies about inhalant abusers, or "huffers". Inhalants contain many other chemicals, and therefore the information is not specific to toluene.  Inhalants can cause problems with the central nervous system.  This may result in symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, and confusion. Over long periods of time, exposure to high levels of the chemicals found in inhalants can cause permanent brain damage, kidney failure,  liver failure, and even death.  Toluene by itself can be a skin irritant causing redness and itching.  No studies have shown that exposure to toluene causes cancer.

Exposure during pregnancy:
There is no data available about only exposure to toluene during pregnancy.  Much of the data about possible effects of toluene exposure during pregnancy is from studies about people who abused inhalants, or "huffers".  Therefore, this data is not just about toluene, since aerosolized sprays obviously contain other chemicals.  Those studies have shown that exposure to aerosolized chemicals may cause birth defects such as mental retardation, decreased birth weight, delayed growth, behavioral delays and hearing loss.  Animal studies on the effects of toluene have shown decreased birth weight, delayed growth and hearing loss.

Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)


Dibutyl Phthalate is used to make plastics soft and flexable. It is found in many plastics such as shower curtains, food wraps, bowls, and of course nail polishes and cosmetics.  It has no scent.  Exposure can occur through inhalation or oral exposure.

Effects on your body:
The effects of DBP on humans are relatively unknown because there have been no studies on the direct effects of inhaled or oral DBP in humans.  Some studies on animals have shown liver problems, reduced weight, and anemia.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers DBP unclassifiable as to carcinogenic effects.  This means that because there are no studies on this chemical, they cannot say whether or not it is proven to cause cancer.

Exposure during pregnancy:
Again, no studies have been conducted on humans, therefore data available about possible effects is limited to data observed in animal studies. Animal studies have shown decreased birth weight, decreased numbers of viable births (meaning the animal died in the womb secondary), neural tube defects, decreased size of testicles, and decreased production of sperm.

Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is a strong scented clear gas which can be mixed with alcohol to create a liquid.  It is frequently used as a preservative, and I am sure many of you can remember the scent from anatomy classes.  Formaldehyde is contained in many common building materials such as particle board and insulation.  It is also found in some cosmetics, paper products, plastics, dyes, and cigarettes.

Effects on your body:
Formaldehyde inhalation can cause difficulty breathing, watery eyes, and irritation of the nose and throat.  Ingesting formaldehyde can cause vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Skin contact can cause irritation and rashes.  Formaldehyde exposure has been proven to cause nasal cancers in animal studies, and therefore is considered "probably carcinogenic" to humans. There have been no human studies on whether or not formaldehyde will cause cancer in humans because they are too dangerous to conduct knowing that it is known to cause cancer in animals.

Effects during pregnancy: 
There is no evidence that Formaldehyde causes birth defects.  There is some debate as to whether exposure during pregnancy causes increased risk of spontaneous abortion and reduced fertility. There is also debate as to whether exposure causes decreased sperm concentrations.

Now, before you freak out and decide you are never going to polish your nails again, there is good news! Many nail polish and cosmetic companies are aware of the unhealthy chemicals used in cosmetics, and are now manufacturing their products without toluene, DBP and formaldehyde.  If polishes do not include these products, they are known as "3-free".  There are also products which do not include formaldehyde resin, known as "4-free", and products that do not contain formaldehyde resin or camphor, known as "5-free" Also, there is a small group of companies that manufacture water based nail lacquer.  I am working on a list of nail polishes that are in each of these categories. Check my next post for a list of safe polishes.

Are you scared to polish your nails now? Would you still polish your nails while pregnant after reading this? Do you think the government should make it illegal have these products in polishes and other cosmetics? Let me know in the comments!

Sources:

Environmental Protection Agency 
Environmental Protection Agency, DBP
Environmental Protection Agency, Formaldehyde
Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety 
Illinois Dept. of Public Health