Nail Stamping Crazy

 Applying half nail fake tips can be useful if your nails have broken or are really short, and you want them all to be longer for a manicure.  Size the nail tabs just like you would fake nails before applying. Make note of which size goes on which finger before you begin to work.  Take scissors and snip off the numbered tab at the end of each nail. Do this one at a time so you don't get them mixed up.  Gently file the end of the tab off the nail tab. You can also file them better after you've applied them. Careful not to breathe in the sanded bits! I find it easier to use hemostats to hold the tabs so that I don't glue it to myself. Take the nail tab and apply some nail glue to the inside track. It will find that it is thinner on the inner track where it touches your natural nail. The thin spot makes it easier to transition and look and feel more natural.  Place the tab on your nail and position it carefully, and quickly. Press it down. You only need to apply the section of

There are lots of options when it comes to adorning your nails. In addition to many styles of painting, then stamping with stamps or applying decals, there is also foil, wraps, powder dip, and.... stickers! Stickers can be used as an adornment to accent the base nail paint. First, paint your nails with your base color(s). Let it dry completely. Use a pair of tweezers to gently place the sticker onto your nail. Use a silicone tool to tamp it down gently into the desired spot, smoothing it out so no air bubbles get trapped underneath. This will help with adhesion.  *If the sticker was large, go from one side to the other, or from one end to the other, in a smooth, rolling motion to help it lay down more evenly. After laying it down, trim off any overhanging excess. Now, apply top coat over it to protect and seal. You're done!

Countdown! 13 days of Halloween.  13 (days before): 12: 11: 10: 9: 8: 7: 6: 5: 4: 3: 2: 1!!!! Happy Halloween!!! :D

If you find yourself with badly broken or split nail, order silk nail wraps or builder gel on Amazon.  Save it. Don't cut it off! Silk Nail Wraps Because I try to avoid suffocating my nail beds for discomfort reasons, I don't plan to use traditional nail dips but the silk wraps use a somewhat similar method. An adhesive is used to hold a small piece of silk fabric onto the nail bed to protect it from further breakage, strengthening what you have left. (With dipped nails, a popular trend, a gel-based glue holds acrylic particles to your nail.) NEVER use super glue. You'll either apply an adhesive to the nail first, or use a peel-and-stick wrap. (Note that fiberglass fabric is different from the silk.) You can get a water-soluble sealant so it's easier to remove later, and safer to your nails. So to reiterate: apply adhesive, then apply wrap. When dry, you can polish a base coat over it for stamping like normal. Or, you could apply just a top coat if you weren't paint

Another way to get awesome designs with multiple layers of color, more easily, onto your nails is to use stamping plates that have layers. LAYERS! :D  Also described as overlapping designs. I'm so excited about this, because it opens up new options with less time, because I don't always have HOURS to spend. Check this out, for an example: from Lantern & Wren Paint your nails as normal. As always if they're too dry, you can apply a layer of the sticky base coat over your base color to hold onto your stamps. Or, you can apply a fresh coat of paint and wait for it to mostly dry. Then, you'd first stamp once with the underlying color from your layered stamping plate...the first stamp layer. (On the plate above, the solid design is the base layer.) Then you'd stamp again with a second layer of color... the plate's next layer of details. (For example, the next part has the face outlines in the above example.) Finally, if it has another layer, the small accent mark

There are some amazingly wild color combinations people use and some of them can't be done without alcohol based dyes, gel paint, etc. However there is still a lot you can do with regular old nail polish! Ombre nails are super interesting. You just need to have a bit of patience and some makeup sponges. (Alternately, you can try the "smoosh" method; will explain, below.) First, paint your nails with a base color. This makes for a lot less work. Second, using a barrier is a big help when doing this style of color. It protects your skin from the polish, and thus, the cleanup afterwards. The less you have to clean up, the less likely you are to wreck your new paint job afterwards! ;) Next, paint a strip of color onto the sponge. Sheer colors don't work too well here. If you're doing a two-color ombre, paint a strip of the second color next to that. Don't overload the sponge with color as it won't go on well. In some cases you're going to be doing several

Thanks once again to the internet, I found another idea. Pick up a set of "press on" fake/artificial nails, and paint them. Put them on when you want a quick change of nails. Then you can take them off whenever you are done.  Here's the first set I got: For more shape options, here are some others I've gotten: -  Stiletto shaped  (clear) - " Long, Pointy " (not clear) -  Almond shaped (clear) - Coffin shaped (clear) I don't usually prefer coffin shaped nails on my fingers, but some nail designs just need a certain shape! So it's fun to try a variety of styles. Also, if you put a black or white base coat on the clear nails, it will paint the next coat of color quite well. Think of it like a primer. Choose a dark or light primer color based on the polish color(s) you intend to go with. I am using breathable nail adhesive tabs, like these: If you want to glue them on, here's a link to the KDS glue that I like using. It lasts several days. You can