BEAUTYS BEST : NAIL YOUR NAILS

Erin McFall: A nail fanatic unloading all my rants and bottled up advice about nails and nail art.

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Common Nail Problems Solved!

This is a list of nail issues that almost everyone has had or will have and what you should do to fix them. (The list is too long to post all at once so check back next week for more!)

1. Fungus

Fungus is one of the most common nail problems. It can come in several forms such as discoloration of the nail, deformed nails, brittle or “crubly” nails, scaliness, or growths under the nail. It can be very painful and there is often inflammation or swelling of the skin around the nail. Nail fungus can also cause skin around the nail to get rashes or become itchy. Sometimes, the nail itself will pull away from the nail bed. Nail fungus usually appears in toenails because they are usually in shoes which are dark and moist- a good habitat for fungus. People can also acquire toenail fungus from walking barefoot or spending lots of time at places such as the pool- which is just swarming with germs and bacteria. 

Cures for fungus really depend on how bad it is. There are several creams and liquid treatments available at drugstores for nail fungus. Most work pretty well and clear the fungus. If your fungus is more severe, these drugstore treatments will just keep the fungus from getting worse. If your fungus is too severe, no topical treatment will fix it and you will have to have your doctor prescribe you an oral treatment. 

2. White Spots

Many people think that white spots on your nails mean that you have a vitamin deficiency. While this could be true, it is usually not the case. White spots are caused by trauma to the nail such as slamming your finger in a car door. Now you may be thinking, “That doesn’t happen very often to me so why do I still have these white spots?!”. The base of your nail, where new nail is growing in, is very sensitive. Now this doesn’t mean that if you poke the bottom of your nail it will cause you immense pain. It means that part of your nail under and right above your cuticle is not as strong as the rest of your nail. Trauma to this part of your nail could mean something as small as hitting your nail on the side of a table as you walk by. You might not even know you hit your nail. After you damage your nail, the damaged part grows back white.

There isn’t much you can do for this besides letting the nail grow back or painting over it. 

That’s the end of this section of the list. Check back next week for more!

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Ridges

What are ridges?

Ridges are weird rows of vertical or horizontal bumps on your nails. Ridges make your nails uneven and when you paint over them they make your nails look messy and don't let your nails have a smooth polished look.

What causes ridges?

All sorts of things can cause ridges. Aging, slamming your finger in a car door, hitting it on something, or malnutrition. Malnutrition is when someone does not eat a healthy diet. As with many other hair, skin and nail problems, eating a balanced diet will help get rid of ridges. You could also take vitamin supplements such as a daily vitamin or hair, skin and nails pills which you can pick up at a local drug store for about $7-12. 

Types of Ridges

Most people get vertical ridges. This is normal. They aren't really bad, they don't hurt you at all they just don't do too well with nail polish. If you have horizontal ridges, however, this could mean you have a vitamin deficiency or a lacking diet. The best remedy for this is just to eat healthier and get a good balance of fruits and vegetables or taking daily vitamins. 

How to get rid of them

moisturizing- with hand lotion, olive oil, nail oil or vitamin E

taking daily multivitamins or hair, skin, and nails pills

buffing your nails

eating a more balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables

using a ridge filler nail polish to fill in the ridges before you do your nails

More about vitamins: vitamins

More about Healthy eating: health tips

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My Nail Polish collection!

So this is my nail polish collection...I keep all my nail polish in a green box my sister gave me. I'm not really sure where she got it... I think it's from some boutique or something like that. 

I have 53 bottles!! It's actually less than I had last summer. I had 76 I think...But I got rid of a lot of them because I thought 76 was a bit excessive. However, I have like 5 different shades of orange and a ton of blues so it doesn't really seem like that much when I'm trying to choose different colors. I pretty much just have maybe 10 polishes that I like the most and I use those a lot more than the rest. 

The rest of my "nail kit":

1. Makeup sponges

I use these for ombre designs...yeah that's pretty much all they're good for concerning nail art.

2. Bobby pins and pins

Ok so some people spend anywhere from $10-20 on nail art dotters (the thingies that make dots). I just don't get that- USE BOBBY PINS!!! The round ball on the tip is the perfect size for most dots. Or, if you want a smaller dot, you could use sewing pins. And everyone has bobby pins and they're about $1-3 for like 50-100.

3.  Paint brush

My mom is an artist so she bought me a skinny paintbrush for about $4 at an art store near us. Normal paintbrushes are SO much cheaper than nail art brushes. Just go with the paintbrush. 

4. Buffer

I got this one from Rite Aid for about $2. I use it to smooth out any bumps or ridges in my nails before I paint them. 

How to use a nail buffer

Sephora Nail Buffers 

5. Nail File

I don't really use this. Ever. I think it rips up my nails and makes the tips frayed....if that makes sense. I mean, it makes the ends kinda split and strips of nail sometimes peel off. I usually only use it to smooth out tiny imperfections like really sharp corners after I clip my nails. Other than that I just don't really like them.

6. Nail clippers!

These are a must have. Enough said. 

7. Paintbrush

As mentioned earlier, I just buy mine from my local art store for much cheaper than "real" nail art brushes. 

That's it! 

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Tutorial: French Manicure with hole reinforcers

So, lately I've been seeing a lot of nail tutorials and pictures for doing French Manicures using those little round stickers that you put on the holes of loose leaf paper so that it doesn't rip. The idea is that you put these little stickers on the top of your nail leaving a little space at the top and then you paint over the tip and it gives you a perfect curve for your French Manicure. I thought it looked pretty cool and easier than doing it freehand so below are pictures and steps on what I did, some tips, and my opinions on how it worked out. 

Step 1: Paint on a base coat (clear or of a nude color). When I did my "Under the Sea" nail design last week I used a medium-dark blue base color and I didn't use a base coat under it. Bad idea. When I took the polish off, my nails were an unhealthy, gross bluish tint. So, I decided that to do this tutorial I had to use a nude base color. Since the nude is so light I didn't put a base coat under it. Anyway, this is the color I chose by Sally Hansen from the Complete Manicure collection (I will do a review on these later). I used two thin coats and then let it dry. 

Now, this is where I got into trouble. I either did not let it dry enough, or made the mistake of using a base color at all. After I had finished painting the white part and I tried to take the sticker off, the sticker had stuck so well to my nail that it peeled off little pieces of the base color and made my nails a sticky mess (You'll be able to see it in the last picture). I tried to paint over it, not getting the nude polish on the white tip, but that just made it worse and really thick. So I would recommend not using a base color at all and just doing the white part and then a top coat. Or, maybe you could let the base color dry longer and figure out how to make the sticker not mess up the polish (if you do, INBOX ME PLEASE).

Step 2: Put on the stickers

So this is what they look like...they're just little round stickers. To use them, you just put the top of the round part where you would want the bottom of your white line to be on the tip of your nail. Like this:

Make sure you smooth it out so it's really stuck on to your nail!! If you don't, the polish will seep under the sticker and get all over your nail.

Step 3: Paint the white part

Just paint the tip of your nail, making sure you don't paint below the circle sticker. The sticker just allows you to make it a little messy so that when you peel it off you will get a perfect line. 

Step 4: Let the white dry a LITTLE and then GENTLY peel the sticker off. 

This is what it looks like afterwards (I know you can't see it too well in the picture, but like I said in the first step, my nails were really sticky and messy). The point is, the sticker let me do a really nice, perfect like for my white tips!! 

That's it!!

Sally Hansen

Manicure with Reinforcement Labels

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Under the Sea Nails!

So I've been seeing alot of this type of thing on Instagram and I decided to do my own design. There are so many variations for under the sea nails so I will probably be posting more nail designs with similar designs. 

For the base color I used Sally Hansen's Xtreme wear nail polish in 'Blue Me Away!'. For the pink fish I used a coral pink Milani polish and for the orange fish I used an orange polish by Chameleon. 

Ok, so for this design I decided to do a written tutorial. 

Steps;

1. Paint one thin coat of Sally Hansen's Xtreme polish. Wait until dry then paint on a second thin coat. This polish doesn't stain your nails too bad so you don't necessarily need a base coat.

2. Take a bobby pin and dip the round thing at the end into the pink color by Milani. Make a dot on your nail. This is the body of your fish.

3. Take a thin paintbrush and dip it in the pink color by Milani. Paint the outline of a small triangle on one side of the dot (doesn't matter which side). Fill it in. 

NOTE: make sure that none of your detail designs (dots, lines, etc.) are very thick because they will take forever to dry. You can always go over them later with another thin coat.

4. On the other side of your fish (the opposite side of the tail) dip your paintbrush in a white polish and make tiny little dots going up the nail away from your fish. 

5. Make a tiny white dot with your paintbrush on the fish's body. This is the eye. Once dry, make a smaller black dot on top of it. 

That's it!!

www.drugstore.com

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My mom just bought me nail polish!!!

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Right after my I do my nails my mom asks me to wash the dishes. 

http://giphy.com/gifs/WTf2DlQJDfmIE

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Non-Acetone nail polish remover= NOT WORTH IT

For those of you who do not know what non-acetone nail polish remover is or what the difference is between it and acetone remover, let me explain.Acetone is a clear, strong-smelling solvent that has the strength to dissolve many surfaces and finishes. This is why you are not supposed to use nail polish remover around nice furniture, hardwood floors or ceramic- it will destroy their finishes. Acetone remover should also be kept away from fake nails or nail extensions- it will destroy the glue on them and remove them off your nails. It might also make the fake nail disintegrate.

In non-acetone polishes, the active ingredient is ethyl acetate. This is gentler on nails and good for fake nails. It also isn't supposed to smell as bad.

My experience with the non-acetone removers has been horrible THEY DON’T WORK (the picture above is the non-acetone remover I own- I’ve tried other brands including generic drugstore brands and the results have been the same). When I use it, which happens rarely, it takes me about 2 minutes per nail just to get normal polish off. Glitter polish, however, WILL NOT EVEN COME OFF with the non-acetone remover. I don’t know about you, but I honestly do not want to spend 20 minutes taking my nail polish off.

Everyone says that non-acetone is better because it’s gentler on you nails and doesn't smell as bad. In my experience, I have never had any problems with acetone remover being too harsh and the non-acetone remover still stinks. If you do have a problem with the harshness of acetone, I've heard that putting lotion on your nails regularly helps. Honestly, I would just go with the acetone remover because the non-acetone remover just takes way too long. It’s a waste of money and time and it’s really not worth it. 

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Welcome to my blog!!

I’m so excited to start blogging! I’ve never blogged before so bear with me as I learn how. On this blog I’ll be posting nail art pictures (of my nails and other’s- I’ll give credit when I use someone else’s picture), tutorials for nail art, nail polish reviews- colors, brands, etc., nail polish remover reviews, where to get supplies, and a ton of other stuff about nail care and nails in general. So let's get started!

For my first post, these are my Valentine’s Day hugs and kisses nails! For the pale pink color on my ring finger, middle finger and thumb I used Wet n’ Wild’s color ‘Tickled Pink’ or #402. For the white base color on my pinky and pointer finger and the xoxo design on the middle and ring fingers I used Wet n’ Wild’s ‘French White Creme’ or #449C. For the glitter xoxo design  I used a color by Nicole by OPI mini with no name. On my thumb I used a transparent polish with glitter called ‘Last Friday Night’ by OPI. For the details I used a small paintbrush I bought from my local art store for about $4. The Wet n’ Wild polishes can be bought at Rite Aid or CVS or Walgreen’s for $1-$2. Nicole by OPI can also be bought at any drugstore. The mini I got from a big kit with about 15 little polishes that cost about $10. The ‘Last Friday Night’ by OPI I bought off of Amazon on sale for $3.

http://wnwbeauty.com/

http://www.amazon.com/

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This world is but a canvas to our imagination

Henry David Thoreau