Tag Archives: Nail Art

How To Make Neon Nail Polish Pop

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Happy Mani Monday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I’m so glad I’m finally feeling 100% again and was able to make it out and have some fun on Saturday with CK at the Santa Ana Art Walk. I totally recommend this art walk if you’re in the Orange County area. There are so many cute restaurants and galleries to peruse in Downtown Santa Ana, and the large crowds and pretty lights make for an amazing Saturday evening. It’s held the first Saturday of every month, so make sure you head over next month!

Okay, so now back to the Mani Monday post. So, I love me a good neon polish and I started to notice that some of my polishes didn’t look as bright on my nails as they do in the bottle…major bummer. I took to the internets to figure out why this was and realized what I was missing from my application…two coats of white polish! I couldn’t believe it, I mean how have I not already been applying this simple tip to my polish application. So, I knew that this was a tip I must share with all of you lovelies.

How to Make Your Neon Nail Polish Pop 

Step 1: Apply a basecoat (I use Essie’s Protein Base Coat)
Step 2: Apply two coats of white nail polish
Step 3: Apply two coats of your favorite neon polish (I used Essie’s Pink Parka, but Miami Nice is great as well)
Step 4: Apply a coat of a high gloss top coat, let dry and you’re set! (I use Essie To Dry For)

Hope this helps you all get some even brighter Neon Digits! If you’re looking for some more  digit inspiration, check out my board on Pinterest!

Hey! You Look Kind of Cute in That Rainbow Polka Dot Mani, Guuurl!

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The Rainbow Polka Dot Mani. Let me just tell you, I was plain giddy while I painted these colorful polka dots all over my digits and in my daydreaming mind all I could hear was my mish mashed version of LMFAO’s lyrics, “Hey, You look kind of cute in that rainbow polka dot mani, guuurl!” Like LMFAO bright colors have the magical ability to brighten your spirits and put you in a good mood. I’ve been quite busy at the day job the past few weeks, so relaxing with a bright mani before date night was the perfect way to de-stress. Even the BF was quite impressed with my artwork!

This mani is super easy to do, and what I love about it the most is the endless number of color combinations. You could opt for a neutral black and gray combination, or a neon pink and yellow mani – the number of possibilities is truly infinite.

My Supplies…

Base Color: Sally Hansen – White Out

Essie Polka Dots: Really Red (Red), Mesmerize (Blue), Pretty Edgy (Green), Bright Tights (Orange), Castaway (Pink)

Here’s the run down of what I did…

Step 1 – Base Coat

Step 2 – Once coat of the white polish

Step 3 – Line up your polishes in order of polka dot application. I began dotting with my darkest colors first and ended with my lightest and brightest, the orange. Dollop a few drops of the nail polish on a slick surface (ie – magazine) and dip the bottom (not tip) of a toothpick into the polish puddle. Press the bottom of the tooth pick down on your nail to create a plump round polka dot, hold the tooth pick firmly for a few seconds and then move on to the next spot. One last tip – don’t forget to spread the polka dots out, I dotted each nail 3-4 times per color.

Step 4 – Wait a minute or two after your last set of polka dots and apply a top coat. Waiting a few minutes will ensure the colors do not run together.

InstaWeek

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My mantra for the week

Outfit of The Day Details (Loving the Frametastic App)

Fun Spins on the Classic Stripes and Black on Black

Bright Lights – Denim & Plaid

Glossy March Elle & Marie Claire & Nordstrom’s Catalogue

New H&M and Anthropologie Shoes In The Mix & Floral Print Pants

Pops of Color on a DIY Mani and Mini Champagne Bottle

Motivated and Inspired, these two words pretty much sum up how I have felt the last 7 days. We recently launched our new service to our sales team, and I could not be more pleased with the reception we’ve received thus far. I’ll make sure to share some more details as soon as we are completed with the service’s new website! I have been carrying over some of the same planning and structural methodologies I used to execute the launch of our new website to get this blog where I want it to be. Photo #1 in this round-up will be my ongoing mantra for the rest of 2012!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram @bettinakina and check out everybody’s week in photos on Story of My Life!

DIY Valentine’s Day Nails

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Happy Valentine’s Day Lovelies! This is a super easy DIY Valentine’s day mani I made up over the weekend, that literally takes less than 15 minutes to create. I was so inspired by Glitter and Grace’s Kate Spade polka dot mani, I had to create a polka dot version of my own! Hope you all have a lovely day filled with love, laughter, pink and hearts!

Step 1 – Gather the Goods

Make sure you have everything you need in one place since you’ll be working with more than one open polish bottle. Here is what I used:

Essie Protein Base Coat
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in White On
OPI Nail Lacquer in Bubble Bath
Essie Polish in Pink Parka
Sephora by OPI Topcoat in Gold for Me
Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat
Pointed Q-Tips
Toothpicks

Step 2 – The Art of Application

First, apply your base coat.

Second, apply your polishes. I recommend starting with your left hand and coating each nail with one coat of polish, and then moving on to your right hand. Next, come back and apply a second coat of polish from left to right. Make sure you don’t apply too many coats because you’ve still got your polka dots and glitter to add on.

Step 3 – Polka Dotting & Glitter

Go ahead and apply the coat of glitter to your ring finger. After you’re done, you’ll want to grab a magazine, or any type of disposable surface that is slick and glossy like a magazine cover. Then you’ll need to dollop a few drops of each color being used for polka dots onto the glossy surface. Next, grab your toothpick and dip the tip into the polish pile. Make sure you cover the entire tip of the toothpick to ensure a nice full polka dot. Hold the toothpick over your nail and press down softly and voila, you have your first polka dot.

I went for a variation of polka dots on four of my fingers and I recommend you do the same thing. Go with whatever your heart fancies, it’s Valentine’s Day after all!

Step 4 – The Finale

Make sure you use a good fast drying top coat. You don’t want your topcoat to mix any of the colors, but you don’t want to wait too long to apply it either, as you want to make sure the colors are sealed in well.

This was my first stab at nail art, and I must say I am so excited for this polish to chip, so I can try my next made up design. I’d like to try mastering the art of stripes, hearts and flowers soon! Next time I’ll make sure to take some pictures as I’m painting so you all get a more detailed peek at the entire process.

Happy Valentines Day!

Love, Peace & Style

Bettina