Nail Care and Winners

Pin It Hello wonderful readers! I am sorry that I have been missing for such a long time. To say that I have been busy would be an understatement.  But throughout it all, I have tried to keep my nails looking pretty . . . however looking at them at this very moment, they need some tender loving care.

Earlier this week, a reader sent me an email asking about my nail care tips. I figured that it might be nice to share those tips with everyone as well as a few more. The inquirer was most interested in prevention of dry nails and discoloration. Here is my advice:

1 Don't use remover too often, once or twice a week at most and make sure to use a moisturizing remover. I know that this makes many of you gasp in horror, but it is one of the top things that I do to keep my nails happy and healthy.
2 Use lotion and cuticle cream all the time. My favorite cuticle cream is made by Badger Cuticle Care and my favorite lotion is JASON Natural EFA Hand and Body Lotion.
3 Use a good basecoat to avoid staining. I use Orly Rubberized basecoat over a strengthening basecoat, Nail Life Nail Revitalizer. I love using a peel-off basecoat of thinned Elmer's glue, but I can tell you that my nails stain terribly when I use it.
Those are the biggest things I do to keep my nails healthy and happy.

A couple of things that I didn't mention in the email:
 4 I only use cotton balls or cotton facial swabs to remove polish; they are very gentle on the nails. I try to only rub up while removing the polish, not from side to side. I noticed a lot less peeling of my nails when I started removing polish this way. 
5 I like to add a sheer iridescent polish like Julep Melissa or holographic polish like Glitter Daze Dusky in Dallas over a manicure after a few days to stave off boredom and to make my nails look better longer. This has the added bonus of preventing me from using nail polish remover too regularly. 
6 Finally, I like to only wear glitter polish over a peel-off basecoat. I find that I get too frustrated with removal otherwise and tend to be very rough while taking off the polish otherwise.

I hope that these tips are new to some of you and help you to maintain healthier, more beautiful nails!

Now, onto my Blogiversary Giveaway. There was such an amazing response to this contest. Thank you to everyone that entered, both old and new readers. To all the new readers, welcome! I really hope that you have enjoyed my blog since joining.

I asked you to let me know what polishes you would like to see featured on the blog and have had fun wearing those polishes over the past few weeks. I featured Orly Gilded Coral, Pahlish Chemical Swirl, an indie polish from Glitter Daze called Birthday Cupcake, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, and Zoya Gilty. I have posts in editing to show you Models Own Indian Ocean, Cult Nails Fetish, FNUG Psychedelic. The biggest request, however, was for a polish I mixed that I call Cookie Monster Goes Glam. In the rush of green for St. Patrick's Day, I haven't worn it yet, but it is not forgotten, so keep your eyes open for a post of Cookie Monster Goes Glam in the near future!

Thank you again and now, let me congratulate the winners of Mangling my Manicure's Blogiversary Giveaway, Solarride R. who won Prize B and Chasadie L. who won prize A. Lacey of  Lace and Lacquers directed the most people to my blog, so she won a $15 Llarowe gift card.


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Have a spectacular weekend everyone!
~Alexis

Spring Nail Art Contest Entry

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I just learned about Enamel Girl's nail art contest and figured, eh, I'll give it a try. I haven't been stamping for very long, less than a year. Normally, spring is pretty dreary and damp around here until the season has nearly ended, so I wanted to show the progression of spring over my nails. My index finger is full of clouds and has a couple of budding flowers. The flowers bloom and multiply over each nail and the clouds disappear. I love peonies. They remind me of my grandmother, but the flowers are so fleeting, here for a month and no more, so I wanted to showcase them on my index and middle fingers.

What I did:

Base: Two coats Sinful Colors Cinderella, mixed Sinful Colors Unicorn and Sinful Colors Easy Going and sponged them onto the base of the nail, Sally Hansen Emerald City sponged onto the nail tips.

Stamping: Using BornPrettyStore plates m79, M66, m66 (yes, they are two different plates; confusing huh?), and m77, I stamped clouds using Orly Softest White, grasses, and blossoms were stamped in Sally Hansen Emerald City, Nina Ultra Pro Hawaiian Flower, and Revlon Lilac.

Accents: Mixing Sinful Colors Easy Going and Ruby Ruby, I painted the peonies with a thin nail art brush. I dotted the daisies with Sinful Colors Midnight Blue and I accented the grass and leaves with a blend of Sally Hansen Emerald City and Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl.

I hope you like it and I hope that you'll forgive me for not wearing my St. Patrick's Day nails for a whole week. By Sunday, I felt horribly out of style still wearing green polish. Later this week, I will post a couple more pictures of that green mani and discuss its limited wear. Take care.

~Alexis