Nails... Alien Invasion

I haven't posted a nail blog in forever, and this specific appointment was pretty cool. To catch everyone up I recently moved to Toronto. Since I was now living downtown this meant I need to find a new manicurist to do my nails. I had to try a few places before I found a couple spots that would make me happy. About a month ago a decided to book an appointment with someone I had recently seen on instagram. It was definitely a new but fun experience.

I got my nails done in a tattoo shop and was beyond excited to do so. Being involved with the cosmetic industry I am obviously into make-up, nail, and hair social media. I love following local shop and artist because I love to support my city an the talented people who live in it. I was actually following something completely unrelated, an e-juice company called Cheap Thrills, when a girl who worked for them posted her wicked new manicure on Instagram. She credited a nail artist I had never heard of before, so of course I had to check them out. The name of the company is Nail Kandy, and it is run by a lovely girl named Kate.

The first thing I discovered was that Kate works out of a tattoo shop, something I would find instantly appealing. I decided to email Kate right away to see what her pricing and availability was. She got back to me the very next day and was extremely helpful in giving me the pricing I needed as well as the availability she had. I, of course booked my appointment right away. I continued to search though her Instagram account out of interest, and excitement that I had an appointment to get my nails done too.

Over all I was very happy with my nails. I decided to go with a super fun custom teal shade with a chrome finish. A perfect back ground for some alien nails. The little alien and ship was free hand drawn by Kate. I absolutely loved that she included a little tiny alien inside of the ship. 

Nail Kandy is located in Toronto inside of New Tribe Ink (Queen St). If you would like to check out Kate's work you can find her on Instagram at @nail.kandy. All contact information is available in her profile. Remember to follow and show her some love!!

 Peace & Luv

Nails... Mad Love

So first off I must say these are some of the coolest nails I have ever had. I would probably call this set my personal favourite. These nails consisted of everything I love in the way of nail art or how I personally like to rock my nails.

We used all kinds of fun stuff like glitter, mood polish, tribal like designs and lots of gems. This was the first time I had one of those awesome crystal or stud coverd nails. 21 crystals on one finger baby!! >.< To be honest I would have worn any one of these nails as an entire set. I'm already pretty inspired for the next couple sets.

(In the photo above my index fiinger /w 3 gems & middle finger /w 3 gems also changes shade from Black to Grey when warm.)

I got these bad ass nails done at Y2K in Brampton. They were created by a very talented young lady named Lynn. (Seriously, this is my go to girl. If you are in Brampton and like a good freestyle or heavily designed nail, see her.)

I would love to go into more detail with what was used for these nails but we had so much going on with so many different gel polishes and products. As usual my nails are arcylic. I always ask for shellac or gel polishes to be used because I find it lasts a lot longer and seems to make my nails stronger. Even the tribal style designs were done with a gel color. I know a Black to Grey mood polish by Perfect Match was used.

Reccently I have been really into clear nails with a patterned design or just some glitter on it. Probably a hint at nails to come in the future. ;)

As always if you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comment box below.

Peace & Luv

Nails.. Angelic Dreams

As usual I got my monthly acrylic nail “fill”- basically I get where my nails have grown out filled so my nails look fresh and some what real. ;)

I chose to use another “mood changing” polish from the Perfect Match collection. There are so many shades to choose from that I still have new polishes to try.

For those who don’t know what “mood changing” polish is it’s basically a gel nail polish that changes color based on your body heat or the temperature around you. For example your nails will change color when your go outside if it’s cold out or when you wash your hands. It’s pretty fancy stuff.

This time I decided on a shade called Angelic Dreams. Angelic Dreams will change from a light blue (cold) to a creamy solid white (warm).

I am still in absolute love with these polishes. I get comments on my nails all the time because of the changing color. They are super fun!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please leave them in the space below.

Peace & Luv

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Polish

Sally Hansen has come out with a new polish called Miracle Gel. Its claim is that it acts just like a gel polish with out the inconvenience of having to use a UV light. It suppose to be strong and shine like a gel polish, as well as last anywhere between 10-14 days.

 

Before I actually tired this polish I was a little sceptical. I didn’t know how the “gel” was going to work without a UV light. Was it really going to last? I was looking for a tough, long lasting nail polish that I could do anywhere. 

 

Once I tried the polish myself I was able to make a final decision. I was happy to find the gel polish didn’t take as long as I thought it would to dry. If even layers are applied with a few moments to dry in between the polish seems to dry over all pretty quickly. I was quiet pleased with the final product. The polish lasted easily over 10 days without chipping, or loss of shine. 

 

I have now accumulated 3 different shades, as well as a top coat.

 

Top Coat #100 – Clear 

Tidal Wave #360 – A deep true blue (Matte)

Too Haute #520 – Dark magenta (Shimmer)

Crème de la Crème #430 – Pale pink (Satin) 

 

Sally Hansen has offered a wide variety of colors for people to choose from. 

These polishes are sold at Wal-Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart or where other Sally Hansen nail polishes are sold. They usually retail for anywhere between $8-$11 CND.

 

Peace & Luv

Nails… Heavenly Angel

A few weeks ago I went to get my nails filled and polished. While checking out their selection of nail polishes I discovered the salon had polish by Perfect Match called MoodGel, a color changing nail gel polish. I was, of course very excited about this and had to try it.

 

When I checked out the ring of sample nails I was happy to find a decent variety of colors. Don’t get me wrong there weren’t a bunch of shades in every color but there was definitely something for everyone. The real magic happened when I ran the sample nails under hot water and watched all the colors change. (The polish is based on temperature and will change depending on if your fingers (nails) are hot or cold.) 

 

(Above photo is during color change.)

The first time I tried this polish I had my nails painted in a shade called A Bit Chilly. It was a shade of blue that went from a bright blue when warm to a dark blue/black when cold. 

 

This time I tried a shade called Heavenly Angel. It’s this beautiful shade of Magenta pink when cold that turns into a creamy white when warm. I have fallen in love with this dramatic transition. I love the fact that this polish goes from bold to neutral. Another thing I love about these Mood Polishes is that once they do start to cross fade they create a beautiful ombre. 

I have tried to purchase these polishes myself but have had a hard time finding them in stores. I have however found them online at places like EBay or Amazon. I have also found them on specialty nail sites. These polishes go for anywhere between $10-$14 US.

 

Peace & Luv

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Review

Since Sally Hansen first released thier Miracle Gel polish I have wanted to try it. I was pretty excited to see what I thought of the product simply because of all the mixed opinons I have heard already. (With that said, I do not base my reviews on any other opinon except for my own. -Just sayin.)

Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel Polish is suppose to give the wearer the look and feel of a gel polish with the covince of being able to do your nails at home without using an LED or UV light to cure the polish. 

When I first heard of this idea I loved it. Quick and easy, but was it too good to be true?

The bottles themselves are pretty standard size (14.7 ml/ 0.5 fl oz) The packaging is simple and straight forwards. Sally Hansen seems to offer a good variety of colors too. 

I purchased these polishes at Shoppers Drugmart for $11.99 each. Definitely a little pricy for a bottle of nail polish, however it is suppose to act like a gel polish and should last much longer then a regular nail polish. I feel like for these reasons if the product works, its worth it.

Creme De La Creme (430)

Miracle Gel Top Coat Clear (100)

On the label it says to apply 2 coats of your colored Miracle Gel polish. Then apply a coat of your Miracle Gel Topcoat. 

I applied this exactly on one of my test nails and found the color to streaky and transparent. I tried appling more coats of polish and found it took me 4 coats before I achived the opaqueness I was looking for. I found the drying time between layers of polish to be a little trickly. The layers of polish dry quickly to the touch, however will remain soft for a few hours afterwards so you still need to be careful.

When I applied the topcoat I found 1 coat didnt really give me the amount of shine I wanted. I was disappointed to see the Miracle Gel topcoat wasnt as glossy as I had expected it to be. You may want to apply a second coat. When appling to my own nails I waited a while (45-60 mins) before appling the second clear coat. Again you may have to wait a while for this polish to completely dry.

I also wanted to try and compare a couple things with this polish. At one point I did put one of my test nails under an LED lamp to see if it would dry or cure any faster or stronger. It definitely helped the polish dry faster snd seemed to make it stronger. I also tried comparing the Miracle Gel topcoat to my regular nail polish topcoat. I found that my regular topcoat was just as if not more shiney and glossy then my Miracle Gel topcoat. 

I applied this polish to my toe nails about 5 days ago and they are still polished and looking nice. A couple days into thier wear I did apply an additional top coat to help keep them looking fresh and shiney.

Hope you found this blog helpful. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments below.

Peace & Luv

Sparkling Green Holiday Nails

Today's manicure was very stright up & basic. I got my usual acrylic fill, with a sparkling green gel polish to keep im theme with the holiday season. 

To create this glittering look we started with a shimmering teal gel polish as a base coat. Once that was set by UV light we began to apply the sparkling green gel polish. I used one coat for the base coat & 3 coats of sparkles to really make sure the entire nail is opaque.

This is a very "basic" look but really quite effective. I have been getting many compliments on my sparkling christmas nails. They arent too over the top but enough to notice.

You can alway add extra Christmas decore to your nails by painting on a snowman or maybe a Santa hat. Get creative with yout nails & let your imagination run free.

Merry Christmas everyone!! Have a safe & happy holiday!!! 

Peace & Luv

Nails... Gel Polish Manicure- The Pro's & Con's

About a week and a half ago I went to get my acrylic nails filled. While getting them done I decided to try a gel nail polish instead of my regualar polish & top coat.

The only reason I decided to switch was because it was my birthday the following week & thought I would treat myself to something new. I had gotten nails painted with gel once before but my experience with them was a bit of a toss up. I always enjoyed the look of shiney gel nails, however I was never super excited about the price. (Almost an extra $15 in my case.) I also found that the gel polish would fade and slowly rub off when I would use rubbing alcohol while doing make up. Luckily this time around I havent had the same problem. 

This time Im actually really enoying the look and duriblity of my nails. They seem to be a bit stronger & dont seem to be chipping or fading. (1.5 weeks) They are still beautiful & shiney- just a little grown out.

Earlier today I was reading an article about the pros & cons of wearing gel nails or polish. It seemed to me that the biggest concerns are the damaged caused to your nail beds, the frequent soaking of nails/hands in acetone to remove gel polish or gel nails and hands being left directly under UV light to dry. 

Yes, after a prolonged period of time you could begin to see damage to your nails, but that is with anytime of false nail. It helps to ensure you are getting them done somewhere where they know how to do gel nails properly. 

The acetone was a concer because of how much it dries out the nails and skin. I believe it is even absorbed into the blood stream through frequent skin contact. May salons have begun to use acetone soak pads on each nail instead of having the client completely submerge thier whole hand into the acetone.

The UV light helps to cure & dry the nails, layer by layer- which basically means yout hands sit under a UV lamp for half the time you get your nails done. The UV rays, of course are the best thing to be having our hands sit under. As much as there isnt too much of a solution right now, some brands have begun to use LED light which is much better for our skin.

When wearing false nails for an extended period of time you also need to make sure that there are no cracks or spaces for water to leak in. Not only does this allow yout nails to come off faster but it can cause even more damage to the nails, including fungal infections... Yuck. Only get your nails "filled" once or twice, not as long as they will last.

I will admit when I get them filled I will probably stick with the gel polish. If you have any questions or concerns about a new product or trying a new product always make sure to research & ask the questions you want answered. 

Peace & Luv