Lovely Layers

Layered Nails

For today's nail design I wanted to try out a few of my newer polishes and see what they'd look like layered together!

For this design I used:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"China Glaze" nail polish in Dress Me Up
-"China Glaze" nail polish in Foie Gras
-"Finger Paints" nail polish in Paper Mache
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

First I painted my nails with 2 coats of Dress Me Up, once this was dry I used a dotting tool and white polish to do a flower design in the lower corner of my nail. Once this was dry I used my dotting tool and my Foie Gras polish to do the same flower shape over the white polish (just leaving a small bit of it showing. And once that was dry I did another layer with the white polish. Finally once that was dry I used a toothpick to make a few decorative dots and toped it off with a good top coat to seal in my design.

This was really easy to do and has a long wear time. I'll definately be trying out other layered designs with some of my other summery nail colors!

Try this technique on your own nails and don't forget to send me a picture (nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com)

Check out my facebook page and tell me what you think!

Hope you enjoy!

-Valentine

An Apple A Day...

Apple Nails

I was looking for something different to paint on my nails today I realized I've done strawberries, watermellons, and even tutti frutti nails but not Apples!!

So you guessed it, todays nails are apple inspired!

For this design I used the following:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"Finget Paints" nail polish in Curators Crimson & Paper Mache
-"Nicole by OPI" nail polish in Daffy Dill
-"Orly" nail polish in Liquid Vinyl
-"China Glaze" nail polish in Re-Fresh Mint
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

To create your apple design use your polish brush to paint two ovals that meet in the middle. The stem was done with a toothpick and liquid vinyl nail polish. The white center of the apple on my ring finger was made with the back of a make-up brush dipped in white polish. Lastly the tiny leaves were created by bending the tip of the toothpick so that about 3mm could be dipped in the green polish.

Hope you enjoy this fruity nail design! Send me a picture if you try these on your own nails! Keep sending your requests to nailsbyvalentien@gmail.com

-Valentine

Turquoise Tussle

I went polish shopping this week and picked up a few new colors! One of the colors I picked was China Glaze's- For Audrey. It's such a beautiful color. When I arrived home I realized I already had a color almost identical (Orly's- Gumdrop)! Boy did I feel dumb! So you guessed it... Today's blog is all about compairing the two! :)

ROUND 1
Color: As far as the color goes they are almost identical. I thought that China Glaze had a little more blue while the Orly color had more white in the Formula. Color choice ultimately comes down to your own personal preference.

Winner: China Glaze For Audrey

ROUND 2
Formula: China Glaze's formula was a bit thick which made the drying time longer. Orly's formula was awesome, perfect  consistancy and it dried extreamly quickly!

Winner: Orly-Gumdrop

 ROUND 3
Cost: I picked up both of these colors from my local Sally Beauty store. China Glaze was $5.99 for 14ml (42.7 cents/ml), Orly was $6.49 for 18ml (36.1 cents/ml). Not much of a difference but the winner is obvious for this one.

Winner: Orly-Gumdrop

ROUND 4
Overall Wear: I was a little worried that the For Audrey would be the first to chip since it went on a little thicker than Gumdrop but both colors wore really well and actually chipped right around the same time.

Winner: Tie

So I guess it's obvious, Orly was my pick. Even though I liked China Glaze's color better there wasn't enough of a difference to over come the thick consistancy, slow drying time and more expensive price tag.

I hope you find this review helpful. Let me know what your winner is and why!

 Look for more nail design's using these colors, I think they are my new favorites!


-Valentine

Holy Cow!

Cow Nails

Happy MOOnday, er... I mean Happy Monday! Today's manicure monday is cow themed! This was a very easy manicure and all you need is 3 colors and a dotting tool (or something similar in size to use).

For the following design I used:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"Orly" nail polish in Platnum
-"Orly" nail polish in Liquid Vinyl
-"China Glaze" nail polish in Rich & Famous
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

I used 2 coats of Orly Platnum (which dires really quickly!) then used the pink polish to make the cow's nose (use the brush from the nail polish bottle, no special brush required). once dry, use your dotting tool to make the eyes, nostrils, and dots. Finish it off with a top coat and voila, your done!

Hope you enjoy this nail design. If you try it on your own nails please send a picture to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com!

-Valentine

Easy Easter Eggs

Easter Egg

Today's Nails are a quick and easy design that anyone can do with a make-up brush, tooth pick and a few of your favorite colors!

For this design I used:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"China Glaze" nail polish in Secret Peri-Wink-Le
-"Finger Paints" nail polish in Art Nouv-Yellow
-"Sinful Colors" nail polish in Fusion Neon
-"L.A. Colors Art Deco" in white
-"Orly" nail polish in Liquid Vinyl
-"Joe Fresh" nail polish in Crush
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

For this design I just painted 4 of my nails with  my periwinkle polish, then once dry I used the back of a make-up brush to make yellow pok-a-dots, finally with a toothpick I used my hot pink color to make smaller dots inside of the yellow ones.

For the baby chick I painted my nail with a yellow polish (I had a bright yellow but I think this would look even nicer with a pastel yellow). Once the yellow was dried, use your thin art-deco brush in white to paint on the egg shell. Use the back of your make-up brush again to dot the 2 black eyes, then use your white polish and your toothpick to dot the pupals. Use your orange polish to paint on your tiny beak. Finally finish everything off with a top coat and you're done!!

Hope you enjoy this nail art! If you try it on your own nails please send me a picture!

Happy Easter!

-Valentine

New Look!

I was getting a little bored with my pink background and figured it was time for a change! Hope you all like the new orange one, I think it really brightens up the page. Tell me what you think :) nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com

-Valentine

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

Easter Nails

It's been so long since my last post. It's been very difficult trying to post with my tablet. I've been working hard today and have a few posts ready to go this week so stay tuned, there will be at least another 3-4 nail art designs posted this week.

Since it's Easter I figured I'd do some themed nail art!

For this design I used the following:

-"Beauty Secrets" Base Coat
-"OPI" nail polish in Care to Danse (NYC Ballet Collection)
-"Finger Paints" nail polish in Art Neau-Yellow and Paper Mache
-"Orly" nail polish in Liquid Vinyl and Gumdrop
-"China Glaze" nail polish in Spontaneous
-"Joe Fresh" nail polish in Mocha
-"L.A. Color Art Deco" nail art colors in assorted colors
- Acrylic Paints in Ivory, Yellow and Orange
-"Beauty Secrets" Top Coat

I know I used a lot of colors for this design. If you don't have quite as many colors as I do you can always mix and match the colors you have!

For the easter basket I just used the end of a makeup brush to dot small circles to create the basket, it's really easy to do, once the polish dries use your ivory acrylic paint to create small details.

Hope you enjoy this design! If you try it on your own nails send me a picture! Keep sending your requests to nailsbyvalentine@gmail.com. Don't forget to check out my Facebook page!

Happy Easter!

-Valentine