I "Ghost-a" Do It!

It's that time of year again -- People are flocking the stores for bags of candy and children are deciding their costumes for that ONE night of the year: Halloween. Imagine, free candy?! Who wouldn't want to pass up that kind of opportunity? Well... I only have ever trick-or-treated twice and it was all for a cause! I did happen to get a lot of candy, which to my surprise, was delightful! But other than the free candy and fun makeup you get to wear on Halloween, I'm not much for it. So please excuse the lack of Halloween nail art tutorials, I never really put much thought into Halloween. Don't fret though! I'll try to do some awesome falls nails instead. ;) Even though it's about... 30 degrees here and snowing... But that's beside the point. ;) So today I have for you some adorable ghost nails! Take a look below and let's get started! :)

I love mini pumpkins -- Just saying. ;)

I Heart Spots (& peanut butter)

Hey ladies! Wanna know a secret? ("Promise not to tell? We are standing by a wishing well!" Just kidding. I wish we were, but we're not.) I probably do my nails about three times a week but I only post the nail art that has tutorials to accompany them. But today is going to be a special occasion for a post because 1. I'm not getting many Halloween tutorials out (I've only done candy corn.. :/ I did try the spiderweb like 4 times though. Still practicing myself! I have to recommend Amber's blog because she has fabulous Halloween tutorials out right now! In fact, HERE is her spider web to find here spider web tutorial :) It's very easy, I just don't have any stripers or thin brushes at the moment to do it myself.. :p) 2. Ugh, I get off topic a lot. ;) and 3. This nail art is actually based off one my friend's tutorial! Take a look below to see what I did. :)

The spots are really funky.. I know. ;) 

Loose Glitter Nails Tutorial

*Drum roll please* Bzzzz.. Why hello ladies! :D Yes, it is time to learn how to create some beautiful glitter nails using your own loose glitter. Before you even start to try this tutorial, I beg to you read the previous post "Glitter Check" because this will ensure you that you won't end up accidentally using "bad" glitters that will ruin your entire manicure. :( And also reading the "Glue Base Method" to remove glitter nail polish would be VERY helpful. :) Don't worry, I'll make sure that the most important parts of what you need to know will be in this tutorial, but the other 2 posts would be helpful and more in depth. But enough talk, let's create some sparkly nails using your loose glitter just laying around the house! This is really nice because I don't like "wasting" my money on glitter nail polish... Com'mon, $2+ dollars on one bottle? I suppose if you use it a lot, then it's worth the money, but I rarely use glitter myself. :) Besides, in my opinion, using your own glitter is a lot more fun and makes your nails prettier than if you'd just use glitter nail polish. So take a look below and if you're interested in learning how to make these, let's get started!

Glitter Check?

First of all -- I'M BACK!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I am SO SORRY girls for not posting in like... forever. I just got extremely busy and when I want to do an awesome tutorial (can anyone say LOOSE GLITTER NAILS?!), I'm not going to give up! Yes it's going to be like one of those step-by-step nail tutorials like my Newspaper Nails because I can't show you how to do it the "right" way in just a few measly picture steps! So I have literally a 15-picture "show" to present to you TOMORROW! ;) (I really should start making videos, but I just don't have a decent video taping camera at the moment. Perhaps in a few years? ;)) But anyway, I just also wanted to go over an overview of tomorrow's nails and the frequently asked questions and answers, mainly about the glitter. So if you have a question, hopefully I'll be able to answer it here.

Q: Loose glitter nails... what?
A: Yes. You heard me right. We are going to have loose glitter on our nails. What's the point? (Hey, I'm asking myself a question!) Umm, because it's really pretty and you might not have enough glitter nail polish. ;)

Q: Doesn't the glitter get EVERYWHERE?!?!
A: Very important question! If you do it the right way, no. The glitter will stay only on your nails. The process of getting it on there.. that's another story. But hopefully when you do create these beautiful nails, you have newspaper around your area so clean up will be easy! And I'm just going to start predicting your next question on HOW DO YOU GET THE GLITTER TO STAY?!! (That's what you were going to ask next, don't deny it. ;)) Well, with a little bit of white Elmer's glue and a little bit of clear nail polish, it'll stay on perfectly. I'll get into the details tomorrow!

Q: How in the heck do you take it off?!
A: Check out the easiest way to remove glitter here. This is going to be your very base before you put ANY polish on. Just trust me. Once again, I'll explain the details tomorrow. :)

Q: How long exactly will it stay on?
A: I had mine on for about 4 days but got bored with them so I peeled them off (it's so fun... ;) I love the glue method :)), but I'm sure it'll stay on longer if you really wanted them to.

Q: Where did you buy the glitter?
A: This glitter is the "Recollections" brand which I just bought at Michael's. I think I got 16 bottles (not sure exactly how many ounces, but it's A LOT of glitter) for like $14. I'm sure though most any store will have glitter and you can use virtually anything. Well... we'll get to that. ;) That's actually the MAIN point of this post is to show which glitters work and which ones don't.

So speaking of which glitters work and don't work... Let's get talking about that subject! It's hard to explain in words to find a glitter that doesn't have the dyes "bleed" by checking with clear nail polish. Making sure your glitters won't bleed is crucial for this tutorial because on the nails, you're going to have to put multiple and I mean like 8+ coats of clear nail polish on your nails. And THAT is what keeps the glitters in and makes it really shiny and pretty. So what glitters should I use?

If you already have some glitter in mind that you'd just LOVE to put on your nails, let's make sure first that it's a "good" glitter. First place just a little bit of your glitter onto a scrap piece of paper. (Make sure the paper is kinda thick or fold it in half to make it thick so just in case it's a BAD glitter, the colors won't leak everywhere). And by a good glitter, I mean one that doesn't bleed out the colors and get all messy! This will be the 2nd time I've tried out the loose glitter nails, and the first time I wanted this gorgeous purple. But let's watch at my fail... 

Now with a clear nail polish (I used just a clear by Color Club, but ANY clear polish will work), just place a drop onto your glitter. Watch for it, watch for it! 

And see as I swirl this gorgeous purple around, it bleeds this yucky magenta! Perhaps under other circumstances, I would actually enjoy this color. But remember, when I first did this, this glitter was ON my nails and the clear nail polish brush turned this color too... Yuck. That was a heart breaker. I hope you can see this color is a BAD GLITTER to use for this technique. So let's try some more glitters. And by the way, this is Muse by Recollections, so it's not only the brand, it's the also the color. 

And here I have in the middle is a pretty medium pink called Raspberry and the gorgeous dark blue is Marine, also by Recollections. I don't have glitter from other brands, so if you do try the tutorial I'm going to post tomorrow, so let me know what brand of glitter you used! And if it was chunky or fine! I really want some chunky gold glitter nails, maybe for Christmas! :D Anyway. Here are 2 other glitters we're going to try and see if they're good or bad. 

Drop of clear nail polish 

Swirl around with a pencil (toothpick, cotton swap, or whatever you have) and lookie here! Neither the pink NOR the blue bleed! Yay!! We have some winners!

 

So the whole point of testing the glitters were to make sure when you put them on your nail, it won't get really gross and messy like what the purple did. I wish I did this before when I first tried this out! Be sure to test your glitters!! :D And last question you're going to ask is..... What are we going to learn tomorrow?!?

Does this look appealing enough to you? Yeah, I have better pictures of the end project, but just look at that glitter!! This is PERFECT for one of those dances or parties you'll be chilling out at or just want to play with glitter because... Glitter makes everything better. Everything. Okay. Maybe not everything... Meh. MOSTLY everything. ;) So! Until TOMORROW, Your Polish Pal, Jenna

 

And let me know if you have anymore questions by emailing me at yaypolishparty@gmail.com, KIK @PolishPals, or Instagram @PolishPals. :) I'd be happy to add to this post! So just let me know! <3

Classical Cheetah Nails

Hey everyone! It's been a VERY busy week. Unfortunately, I don't have an original tutorial, but I hope you don't mind because I have recreated a pictutorial of the cheetah print :) I don't have step by step pictures, so  check out my the Cheetah Nail Tutorial for the full tutorial. Here are my classical cheetah nails. :)

I used Jaguar (ironic!!) by Pure Ice for the base, Harvest Moon by China Glaze for the spots, and Black Heart by Sally Hansen for the black lines and dots. The only 'tool' I used was a mechanical pencil.

Here is just Jaguar. This is a really pretty pale, metallic gold. It does have some small white glitter pieces, but you really can't tell that much. I bought this at Walmart for $2.  

Another shot with the bottle. :)

Okay, here the new updated cheetah nail tutorial. :) This is only a pictutorial, so if you want to know how to do this exactly, check out my Cheetah Nail Tutorial post.

And a close up of how my nails looked this week. Quite classical and sexy nail art. ;)

Sorry for the photo bomb! I just really, really liked these!

Have you ever had a webkinz? Yes, this did really inspire me. ;) I believe this is a Jaguar though... Her name is Jasmine haha! I just liked the colors. ;)

And they match!

 

Okay, I'm done photo bombing you! I hope that I'll have time to create a few Halloween tutorials soon! If you have any suggestions, let me know! :) Until next time, Your Polish Pal, Jenna :) <3

Dry Watermarble Tutorial

Yes. You read that right. DRY "watermarble" tutorial. What?! Dry? Where's the water? Exactly. Today we are going to learn how to create the marbling effect with out the hassle of water! I'm sure a lot of you have seen gorgeous watermarbles and have always wanted to create them, but they're honestly just a LOT of work and mess and you waste a lot of nail polish trying. At least that's the way when I do it. So let's try a new technique called dry marbling! As always, look below. :) Warning right now -- This is going to be more of a "learning" tutorial more than "Hey look at my pretty nails" because this was the first time I tried this technique out, and the tutorial is the important part haha. For way better photos and the gal I learned this from, check out MakeupMyLack Marble Without Water Tutorial HERE. :)

I am so sorry about my pointer finger nail... It took a hard hit a few days ago. :( Dang it. But hopefully you can tell that the linear marble effect is pretty cool. ;) 

Let's get started! So for marbling without water tutorial, you will need a plastic baggy (I used a sandwich bag, but I think you can use Saran Wrap or any other similar surface as well), a toothpick (I used a mechanical pencil since I was out), 2 nail polishes at least (I used Smoke and Ashes by China Glaze and Silvivor by Wet n Wild), and some scissors or cuticle clippers (which I forgot to picture). MakeupMyLack did use the cuticle clippers but I don't have any. So I used some super tiny emobroidery scissors. You can also use some "child" or any other small sciccors, but it'll be just a bit harder to use, but it works! I tried it out on a couple nails. ;) 

There are just too many pictures that it'd be silly to post them all so I made a collage. :) Basically, once you have gathered your materials, I'd suggest ripping your plastic baggy into halves so you use both sides if you need more space to start with. ;) Now get your polishes ready to paint! As you can see, I just used 2 colors. You can use as many as you'd like, but I prefer just 2. ;) So let's start! Make a THICK line onto your plastic baggy. How long? Just as wide as your nail is. And by THICK line, I mean glob a lot of nail polish on it. When it dries, the polish will thin out. You want it to be thick when you start with so that it doesn't break when it dries or is too see-through. That's why I suggest using thick nail polishes, not watery ones. Next you'll just continue adding lines in the same fashion. Paint them thick! Just continue until your number of lines is as long as your nails. I made 4 lines. :) Now, we are to step 5. Using your pencil (toothpick), gently drag it through the top to the bottom. And go ALL the way through -- Do you see how I stopped? Yeah, that's not good. You want to go all go from tippy top to the very bottom. And you'll notice your first color makes a line. Repeat this process but this next time go from bottom to top and then repeat step 5 again. I did this 4 times to make 4 lines. Step 9 is just saying to let dry. I think the safest thing is to let them dry overnight, but you could check after 3 hours. Now repeat this process to make enough for all your nails plus a few more if you make a mistake. ;)

Here are how mine for my left hand turned out. Yes, even I had to practice a few times. ;) Another good reason why to make extras are to use as "checkers" to see if the other ones are done drying.

Now you want to GENTLY peel these little... dried up nail polish designs off.

I peeled this little guy off and now will use it. :)

Okay, you're going to want to paint your nail a base color to make it nice and sticky so that the design will stick. Yay, I have I need a Re-Freshmint by Wet n Wild on already. I was too lazy to take it off and for my color combo, the black and silver was going to color it so I didn't really care haha. So I am applying just a clear base coat on top.

Stick your nail design on top of your wet nail. (Yeah, do these one at a time ;))

This is the trickiest part and the most work. But if you do it right, it's worth it. So you want to trim the excess design off with your tiny scissors. Don't worry about the bottom (around your cuticle) because I just cleaned up using the q-tip method. :) Didn't feel like dangering my skin by cutting around it!

After clean up, you'll want to apply another clear top coat on top to your beautiful marbled design!

Hehe.. "One of these is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the same." ;) Part of the song from Sesame Street! Anyway! Look how cool that one finger is. ;)

And here is another picture of the final result!

 

I am SOOOOO trying this technique out again! I apologize for the wonkyness of this one, but like I said earlier, this should be more focused on the process. My nails just aren't very long for this design at the moment *cough cough* POINTER FINGER. ;) So I hope this really helped you and you can actually do anything with this "dry" technique. Say you want some pretty flowers but still aren't comfortable with painting them on your nails? (Especially your dominant hand) Well, just paint the design, MAKE SURE IT'S THICKLY APPLIED, let dry, peel and "glue" on with clear nail polish! This "dry" technique can be used for many things. ;) Oh and since this is dry watermarbling with a plastic bag, you can make ANY type of marble. I just liked the linear type, but you can sure throw in some swirls or just random patterns! Let me know if this worked for you, and until next time, Your Polish Pal, Jenna :)

Valentine's Day Nails & Heart Tutorial

I know, I know... What the heck? Valentine's day in September? Well... You all know I just recently bought white polish (FINALLY, honestly! White, black, and the basic ROYGBIV rainbow colors are essential to nail art!), so I decided to get a little cutesy. :) I don't have a full tutorial on all my nails, but they're pretty basic and I'll try to explain them once you see some adorable pictures! Look below!

Here I have a tic-tac-toe with hearts (my favorite nails), "I <3 U", many hearts and some polka dots, "LOVE" (I originally had a heart as the "O" but then switched later... What ever you prefer though works!) and a large pink heart that I outlined in black! So for the base color, I used Hard to Get by Sally Hansen and then the black, red, and light pink are just acrylic paints. I'm still playing around with them, but they are a lot easier to work with and create some neat designs!  

Here is the easiest way though to create a heart on your nails! VERY, VERY easy and cute nail art for anyone! All you need is a pencil and some paint. (You heard me, I just used a pencil to make these. No special tools).

1. Start with a dot. If you want a big heart, make a big dot, and if you want a small heart, make a small dot.

2. Add the same size dot right next to the original.

3. Now with your pencil (dotting tool, acrylic brush, etc.), draw a downwards line. (Look at box 3, see how I did that?) It doesn't matter which dot you draw the line from because you'll repeat the same process.

4. Woah! Repeat step 3 but in the opposite direction.

Creating perfect and beautiful hearts are just THAT easy. ;) This was my middle finger (hehe...) and I added several more hearts and then polka dots! I'm really sorry about the unseasonal nails, but I just thought these were just too cute and I had to share them! 

Just another look! 

And a close up on my thumb. And Mr. Green Bunny's ear. ;) I felt like it added some character to this photo so I didn't want to use another one. xD

I hope that you've enjoyed today's super simple and short tutorial and I hope I helped with some possible Valentine's Day nails. ;) So until next time, Your Polish Pal, Jenna :)