Tag Archives: nail art

by

DIY: Nail Art–Half Moon Mani and a GIVEAWAY!!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
94

**This Giveaway Is Closed!! Still feel free to comments :D!!**

 

Hey ya’lls!

I have another nail art tutorial for you!

This one is a Half Moon mani, also known as the Reverse French (I first saw it here).

I have to tell you, people will be impressed with this mani. They will be surprised that you did it yourself. They might even remark that you are a trend setter.

That’s what the lady at the gym told me.

Yeah, I was at the gym.

I don’t really want to talk about it.

I want to talk about these nails and this dang GIVEAWAY!

Oh, yes, I said GIVEAWAY…that will be at the end of the post…

for now, it’s mani time!

To make this easy, as I don’t have the steadiest of hands when it comes to intricate painting, I used those “hole reinforcement” stickers you buy at the office supply. They work like magic and make the perfect half moon shape. I like guides and easiness…especially when the results look like this:

Pretty, right? The colors I used were: Essie-Van D’Go (base), Sonia Kashuk-Smoke&Mirrors (ring-finger bling), and Essie-Chinchilly. Below is how to do it!

Some helpful hints:

After you apply the base coat, be sure to let it dry, dry, dry. It needs to be DRY…or those little stickers will just jack everything up and make your polish peel and you will be sad. Trust me, I know.

I only used the Smoke&Mirrors color on my ring finger. It’s a thing, it’s not just me. I like it, it’s makes this already fun mani EVEN MORE FUN. Wow! if you can imagine that. Another thing you could do is the text-thumb thing, you paint your thumbs the fun metallic or glitter so that when you are texting like a maniac, your thumbs will be flashy and fancy. This too, is a thing…again, not just me.

Some tutorials tell you to wait for coat 2 (numero dos!) to dry all the way before peeling off those stickers. I didn’t do that because I thought the sticker would peel the 2nd coat off with it. This worked out for me and I was pleased.

Use a clear, quick-dry topcoat to finish it off and fill in that tiny ridge between the two colors. Smooth and shiny!

For more tips see my previous post.

Soooo pretty, so fun!

Now, that giveaway I mentioned.

I’m doing this because Joy the Baker and Tracy from Shutterbean mentioned my new found nail prowess on their podcast!

Whaaaa? Yeah, pretty much made my day.

I wanted to share the love.

Also, because I love nail goodies…

…and, most of all…because I love ya’lls, dear readers.

I really, really do.

So here’s what I gots to give:

We have 1 minty-cream green, 1 tropical turquiose, 1 glitter mini (I couldn’t find an adequate gold glitter I liked in full size…dang, dang, double dang!), and 1 salmon-y pink. I hope you like these colors as much as I do AND I hope you enter to win these sweet little laquers!

To enter ONCE, just leave me a comment telling me what your summer obsession is. It can be beauty, food, activity, fashion…whatever you are loving this summer!

To enter TWICE, you can just tweet about this post with a link back to it! Be sure to mention me in it @cindyishungry…so I know ya did it and I can count you twice!

To enter yet another, and possibly THIRD time, ”LIKE” Hungry Girl Por Vida on Facebook. If you already “like” me, then just post about this giveaway on your wall :D And come back here to let me know you did…I want to make sure to count you!

This giveaway will close Wednesday, August 3rd at MIDNIGHT. I will not count you if you enter after that, so get on it!

Also, if you enter as ANONYMOUS, I won’t know who you are or how to contact you…so make sure you fill in the comment form with your email :D

Yay! I hope you all like this mani AND giveaway!

For all my baking obsessed pals…I gathering stuff for another giveaway for ya’lls…soon!

***Just a little disclaimer…Essie, Sonia Kashuk, Orly, and SinfulColors don’t know me. All opinions are mine and all purchases were made by me w/ my own dolla bills ya’ll. 

by

DIY Nail Art: Sponged Glitter Tips

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
20

This is another DIY nail art post. Ignore it if you hate it, read on if you don’t :) I will be back with a delightful brownie recipe tomorrow!

ESSIE Lapis of Luxury + OPI Dazzled by Gold

I think it is fair to say that I’m obsessed with nail polish this summer.

It’s also fair to say that I am also obsessed with glitter…all the time. Ask Sean, he’ll tell you all about it.

So it’s no surprise that my current favorite mani is this one, a sponged on glittered-tip application.

AMERICAN APPAREL Summer Peach + OPI Dazzled by Gold

I LOVE it, love it. Just can’t get enough…for real. I’ve rocked this look on my nails for the last couple of weeks and I don’t see it going anywhere soon.

Here is how to do it:

*Paint on 2 coats of your color of choice on CLEAN and DRY nails. Allow base color to dry completely.

*Dot a small amount of glitter polish onto a scrap of paper (I used a Post-It). Use a small amount so it doesn’t dry out, thus wasting precious glitter polish.

*Using a small piece of make-up sponge, dab glitter polish onto tip of nail. Continue to dab onto tips–heavier at the very tip of the nail to create a gradient look–until the very tip is completely covered in glitter.  This layer will dry fairly quickly.

*Finish with a coat of quick-dry top-coat of your choice. This will allow your freshly polished nails to last longer. Clean-up skin around your nail with a remover-soaked q-tip.

AMERICAN APPAREL L’esprit + OPI Sparkle-icious

To ensure that my polish is smooth and sticks to my nails for days, here are some tips I’ve learned:

Roll your polish between two palms instead of shaking. Shaking your polish bottles causes air bubbles to form on your nail surface–thus ruining the smooth effect that I so covet when painting my nails.

Remove all previous polish from nails before beginning. Filing and buffing is a good idea too, but usually I just can’t be bothered. Also, push back those cuticles!

Use a special base coat formula if so inclined, but more importantly start with CLEAN and DRY nails. Oily or greasy nails will just make the inevitable chipping (and even the dreaded peeling) happen more quickly.

Layer 2 coats of polish to get a saturated look. Keep in mind, some polishes are more opaque than others. A sheer formula will still be sheer after two coats. I also think thinner coats are better than thicker–in my experience thicker coats mean more chipping.

When using a Q-tip for clean up, I soak it in remover and then roll the q-tip between my fingers to make sure there isn’t any stray cotton that will drag and possibly ruin my fresh mani.

Be patient! Don’t start a multi-step mani if you have to be doing something with your hands in 10 minutes. I like to give myself at least 30 minutes, if not an hour. I usually do my nails right before I go to bed, when I have something awesome saved on my DVR. If I do this, I forgo the q-tip clean-up and just clean it off in the shower–the scrubbing action of washing my hair usually gets it all off effectively!

**I am not a professional manicurist or beauty expert! I’m just a girl with an obsession with all things pretty and I like DIY. The original technique for sponging was seen on YouTube here (she also has lots of marble nail tutorials. FUN!). 

***I am not a paid sponsor of OPI, Out the Door, Essie, or American Apparel. All of the polishes and products I use are purchased by me. All opinions are my own. 

 

 

by

DIY Nail Art

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
12


Hey y’alls. This post is a lot different than most, as it doesn’t contain something edible. It’s just a little DIY nail art technique I saw on Pinterest (are you addicted, like me?).

Yeah, I said “y’alls” and “nail art”. In my head both sound like “ya’llz, nailz artz!”

Anyway, how I did it. I used:

Essie basecoat (not pictured)

2 coats of Essie Blanc

A straigntened out bobby pin (if you’re fancy you can use a dotting tool)

OPI Black Onyx

Essie Mint Candy Apple

E.L.F Mango Madness

INM Out-the-Door top coat (my very fave top-coat EVAR…that’s why I have the big girl bottle)

For the dots I dropped little bits of nail color onto a post it and dipped the end of the bobby pin in the color, then dotted my nail in a random pattern. I did one hand at a time and one color at a time, before moving on to the next. I wiped the end of the pin off between colors with a little bit of remover soaked cotton. I let the dots dry a bit before applying the top coat. That was it, not rocket science…or baking science for that matter.

Other than my messy cuticles (it will most definitely come off the skin surrounding the nail after I do some dishes or wash my hair…this has been my experience!), I’m pretty pleased with the results! I have been obsessed with all of the creamy colors that are out this season…so, you may see more of this nail goodness.

I hope y’allz don’t mind.