french manicure using nail guide stickers

You can easily do a french manicure at home using inexpensive nail guide stickers! I purchased a pack on ebay for $2.99.  You basically apply the guide sticker to the end of your bare nail … and then paint the tip whatever color you choose.  When you remove the disposable sticker you are left with a painted tip with a nice clean line.  I did get get a little impatient when I was applying them (my OCD came out when I was trying to position the stickers just right!)… but overall, they were pretty easy to use.

Since I like to jazz things up…and the traditional french manicure is a lil boring for me…I tested out my new stickers using bright colors and sparkle topcoats!!  For my blue mani I used the traditional curve-shaped stickers with ‘Revlon– Blue Slate’.  For my my purple mani I used the chevron-shaped stickers with ‘Sephora by OPI– Eve-y on the Eyes’.  I must say, I’m LOVING the chevron-shaped stickers!  The angles in the design made my nails look long and strong!

BTW, french manicure guide stickers are great for ladies with short nails because you can purposely position the sticker further back on your nail bed to create the appearance of a longer tip 🙂

French manicure using Revlon Blue Slate for tips and NYC Starry Silver Glitter as topcoat

Chevron-shaped French manicure using Sephora by OPI Eve-y on the Eyes for tips and Cover Girl Crystal Mist as topcoat

Hunger Games Halloween Dots

China Glaze Smoke and Ashes from the Hunger Games collection…. with halloween themed dots!

Use contrasting shades so the dots stand out, even in the shade.

For this simple Halloween mani I painted my nails with China Glaze- Smoke and Ashes from the Hunger Games collection.   Unfortunately, I don’t like the formula of this polish … it is super-thick and goopy.  It didn’t apply well from the get-go…so a couple months ago I added some Seche polish thinner/restorer.  The consistency is much better now!  I applied two coats of Smoke and Ashes and then added a bunch of alternating colored dots!  For orange and white dots I used China Glaze Sun Worshiper and Sally Hansen French White Tip.  For green and purple dots I used Sally Hansen Lickety-Split Lime and Revlon Charming.

My recommendation for dotting success- use opaque polishes so you only need to apply each dot once. By the way, dotting tools are pretty cheap. I just got a set on amazon for $3.99 🙂

nail dotting using bobby pins!

I have seen some great nail designs that were created using dotting tools…. but waaah I don’t own dotting tools.  (If you scroll down on this website you’ll find an awesome gallery of dotted designs: Chalkboard Nail Contest) I was inspired to try out some designs on my own…but had to figure out what items I had around the house that would make perfect little dots.  It turns out that BOBBY PINS do the trick!

To create my design I started with a few basecoats of OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! Which is a dark olive gray color from the new opi germany fall collection 2012.  I had this color on for almost a week when I decided to spice it up with some dots.  To create the design I unbent some bobby pins so they were straight.  I placed a few dots of nail polish on a piece of cardstock… and then dipped the very end of the bobby pin into the color.  Then you simply dot the polish onto your nail. I used a few different green shades, so I used a different bobby pin for each color.  I like the final result!  Don’t forget a topcoat to smooth it all out…