Manicures

I've been a little more than obsessive with doing my nails since I first started wearing nail polish in grade 8.  I got an A+ that year in English class during a debate about the pros of painting your nails.  I can't remember what my reasons were at the time but they're probably the same as they are now.  It saves money, it makes me feel fancy, and it keeps me busy while Gossip Girl is on Monday nights (or some equally trashy show where I don't need to pay attention.) I watched part of last Monday's episode and was lost since I'd missed the previous six episodes.  What the heck is going on?  Blair might be ditching the Prince to get back together with Chuck?  So excited!

Hmm, what colour should I paint my nails?

Pinterest has some good nail painting inspiration.  And this website has some great tutorials.  It's also where I read about Seche Vite, a fast drying top coat.  It sets your manicure to a hard finish in ten minutes!  It's about 4$ a bottle and it's available at many online stores including amazon.  I'm curious to try it.

Yesterday evening I painted my nails using tape to section off the tips for a variation on French tips.  It worked out pretty well.  I added some gold glitter bits to make it extra fancy.  Hopefully this manicure will last long enough to see how my wedding ring looks with it (still waiting...).  For the past two months every time I paint my nails I consider how the colour will look with my elusive wedding ring.  Maybe this is the manicure that will do it!

I still need to clean up the edges a little.

Nailpolish roundup

These little stainless steel manicure stamp plates have me very interested.  I have a few in my amazon shopping cart but am still deciding if I'm ready to go for it.

After you paint your nails one colour you put a layer of a different colour onto the round plate, scrape off the extra and roll a stamping tool over the remaining nail polish left in the design on the plate.  You then roll the stamp onto your nail and the nail polish design is deposited on top of your nail.  As a lady who has spent way too much time trying to draw flowers, stripes, and uneven nail tips only to have them look like a glob of nail polish fell on my nail, I really want to try these.

This video tutorial shows how it's done.  If I plan a nail painting party and consider it a party expense then I'll feel less guilty about buying the plates.  Also they're only about 5$ per plate for YEARS OF ENDLESS FUN.  Do you price out your purchases like that too?  Who wants in on the nail polish party?