Rubber Band Manicure DIY

I got this idea from a Buzzfeed article about beauty hacks.  (I also learned how to do winged eyeliner from the same article!)  I received this nail polish free for review in a VoxBox from Influenster.  I usually buy this kind of nail polish anyway (because it's inexpensive but good) and I had seen he article and wanted to try it out, so I did.  Thankfully I tried it with a purple that was just a couple of shades darker so you couldn't tell how bad I messed it up unless you looked really closely, haha.

So the article says to use a rubber band to touch up a French manicure, but I've never had a French manicure so I used it to make one.  It probably works way better to touch one up but also I have a very low Nail Polish skill level and very little Patience.

Like I said, it doesn't look so bad from a distance.

So I just painted my nails purple and then used the lighter purple for the tips.  You're supposed to stretch the rubber band so it's tight against your nail and then paint above it.  It's pretty awkward to do (especially on your pinky nails!) and I would not attempt it again.  However the Sinful Colors nail polish is great.  It goes on smooth and dries pretty quick.  They have a ton of colors to choose from and I think it costs about $2 a bottle so you can go crazy and buy a bunch of colors without spending too much money.  I can't say anything about how durable it is because any nail polish I put on my fingernails chips once I make some jewelry.  But I would definitely recommend Sinful Colors nail polish.  I know they sell it at Walgreen's for sure because that's where I buy it.

Have you ever tried a rubber band manicure?  Did it work better than mine?  I would love to see pictures if you try it.

Occupational Hazards: Why I don't Paint my Nails Anymore

As a jewelry maker, I work with lots of wire and chain and jump rings, and all of these things are like the evil villains that hate nail polish.  When I first started working there in September, I still painted my nails sometimes.  And you guys, I can chip my nail polish ridiculously easily anyway.  If I click my mouse wrong, my nail polish will chip.  It's pretty crazy.  Jewelry making is not the friend of pretty colored nails.  My nail polish would chip the instant I started to make a necklace and only get worse and worse throughout the day.  And I like having pretty nails, but I hate painting them, because drying times force me to just sit and watch a movie or something, and as you may recall, I'm a multitasker.  I was organizing my room yesterday and came across my nail polish.  I have a lot of it, not as much as some people, but for never painting my nails, it's a lot.

But nail polish actually works as a way to personalize jewelry stuff and make it even cuter.  I got a whole bag of broken/mismatched jewelry the other day and I intend to use all sorts of nail polish on it (in a way that looks good, obviously).  And remember that cute jewelry box I thrifted that looks like it's missing something on the door?  Well I think I can do something cool with white nail polish.  So today I'm feeling pretty crafty.  I might even do battle with my sewing machine!  We'll see.

What creative uses do you have for nail polish?

Product Review: Julep Nail Polish

I am a very lazy person when it comes to doing my nails.  I usually have lots of important stuff to do like looking for a job and making jewelry, so I don't do my nails that often.  I finally took the time to paint my nails the other day after not having them painted for about a month.  I got a really great deal on Julep nail polish quite a few months ago.  Julep nail polish is a brand where you take a quiz and then they tell you which polish box goes best with your results.  The thing is that it's usually really expensive, like more than I like to pay for shoes (keep in mind that I buy my shoes from thrift stores), but one of the bloggers I follow shared a code to get it for super cheap.  I don't remember how cheap because I got it four or more months ago and foolishly didn't write it down.  The polish arrived and there were three shades plus a milk chocolate bar.  It came in really pretty packaging, which of course I didn't photograph.  The chocolate was really tasty.  I didn't use any of the polish until this week.  I received Rachel, Meryl, and a gold glitter shade that I sold at my yard sale.  I used the Meryl shade on my fingernails and Rachel on my toes.  Meryl is a gray shade, a darker gray with a shiny finish.  I really like the color.  It's an interesting change from the usual bright colors I use.  The gray makes me feel more like a rock star, which may sound silly, but I don't care.  The Rachel looks sort of red in the bottle, but when it dries it's sort of a chocolate brown shade with a copper-ish shimmer.  I like it a lot too.  The polish is super fast drying.  My left hand was literally dry by the time I got done painting my right hand.  I usually don't paint my nails because it takes so long to dry and then I mess up my nails by trying to do stuff like type or text too soon.  I can't really comment on how long it lasts without chipping, because I was too lazy to do a top coat to protect it.  It did last for a whole day before chipping, which is better than my normal cheap drug store nail polish.  Here is a photo of Meryl.  I didn't take a photo of Rachel, because there are people with foot fetishes on the internet and I don't want to give them a better reason to be on my blog.

Yeah I know I didn't do a good job but I don't care.

Overall I give Julep polish 4 stars out of 5.  For the price, you expect a really great polish and that's what you get.  However I would not personally pay for it at full price, not even for the awesome chocolate.

Product Review: Sally Hansen Manicure Cleanup Pen

Remember how I have problems when I use dark colored nail polish?  How I tend to get it on my fingers as much as on my actual nails?  Well I discovered this product that seemed like it would be a "miracle solution" to my problem.  It's called the Sally Hansen Manicure Cleanup Pen and to my surprise, it works just like it claims to!  And the best part is that you can pick one up at Rite Aid (probably other places too) for less than $5.  And it comes with two replacement tips as well, which makes it a really amazing value.  Look, here are my results.  You can't tell that I cleaned it up with the Sally Hansen Cleanup Pen, but you'll just have to trust me that I did.

the product

the mess

the results

I cleaned up my entire manicure and pedicure in about two minutes with the Cleanup Pen, and I didn't even mess up the part on my nails at all.  I tried it with the polish still wet and with it dry, and it works great both ways.  If I were you, I would pick one up right now.  I give this product 5 stars out of 5, and I will definitely be buying it again whenever it gets used up, which will probably not be for a while.

Manicure: Failure Edition

I decided to try a Scotch tape manicure, because it looked pretty cool and also pretty easy.  I did not account for the fact that I hardly even have enough patience to wait for a single-color manicure to dry.  I didn't wait until the nail polish dried all the way before peeling off the Scotch tape, so it didn't turn out very well, and after the left hand turned out so badly, I didn't do the Scotch tape bit on the right hand.

So the verdict is that while the Scotch tape manicure works great for some people, it is not for me.

You say you want to see pictures of the failure?  Your wish is my command.

Just one picture; you can't really see the failure but it's definitely there, trust me