Dressed Up Nails

Welllll, let’s see, I’ve had this nail blog since like… January or February of this year I guess? My tumblr theme doesn’t show dates so I don’t really know for sure but my first post says 6 months ago. So I guess it took me 6 months haha. The thing I learned about nail art is that you can get good at it really fast. I’ve been doing it since probably January or February but there were a couple months in there where I didn’t have time for it, and I also don’t even do it every day. You learn pretty quickly what looks good and what doesn’t, and how to move your hands, and how to translate your ideas onto tiny little canvases and make them look cool.

As far as how I keep my nails healthy, THANK YOU for asking that because I’ve been meaning to share with you guys my 2 recent nail-health discoveries! I used to have weak, thin, peely nails that would break every few weeks and make me cut them all down to nubs and try again. BUT NO MORE! My nails are long and super healthy now and I’ve been trying to figure out what changed and there are only 2 things I can think of.

1. I used to run a cotton ball soaked in polish remover or acetone over my nails before I painted them so that my polish would adhere better. NO MORE. Now when I take my polish off, I thoroughly wash my hands to get all the remover off my nails and then I put lotion on, making sure to rub it into my nails and cuticles really well. I use OPI AvoJuice because it’s really moisturizing but absorbs SUPER fast. It’s seriously the best. I wait until the lotion is all absorbed into my hands/nails, and THEN I base coat and paint. I think that keeping my nails moisturized under my polish has made a world of difference in their health, and since I let the lotion fully absorb before I paint them, I haven’t noticed my polish coming off any faster than it used to. I can’t recommend doing this enough!

2. I found my Holy Grail cuticle product: Badger Cuticle Care. My friend Brittony uses it, and when I tried hers I knew I had to get some. It’s made with natural ingredients and is really thick, oily, and hydrating. I still use Burt’s Bees in the daytime because it’s not as greasy, but every night I spend about 5-10 minutes massaging the Badger cuticle cream into my nails and cuticles. Spending the extra time to massage it into all the crevices next to your nails and into your skin is essential, I’ve found this keeps my cuticles way more moisturized than just rubbing a little on around them, and I also kinda think the stimulation has helped my nails grow faster. Also, you gotta do it every night!

Alright, I hope this extremely long-winded answer is helpful to you and anyone else who reads it! I know these 2 things have made a big difference in my nail health so I hope they can make a difference for y’all too. :)

This is the sweeeetest message and seriously put a big smile on my face! I made my friend Erin read it and I was like ERIN LOOK AT HOW NICE THIS COMPLETE STRANGER IS BEING TO ME RIGHT NOW. Thank you! :) I’m so happy my stuff inspires you, nail art is the most fun hobby I’ve found (and I’ve had a lot, I have a very short attention span usually) so I hope you stick with it!

NooOOoOo I am a bad nail blogger with no videos or tutorials of any kind. I really do want to start making video tutorials soon though. Do you have any designs you want specifically?

I think part of the reason I haven’t made any video tutorials is I’m super awkward and I don’t want all of you guys to stop following me when you find out the truth!!! My awkwardness also translates to nerves which means I will probably have to film the same thing eighteen times because I’ll keep messing up MY OWN DESIGNS. Because I will be nervous. Even though I will be alone.

Okay I’ve been thinking about this question and it’s really hard for me to pick a favorite brand because there are things I like about all the brands I use. The top brand I’d recommend that’s good but also cheap is China Glaze - they are relatively inexpensive (online or at Sally, not at Ulta, that shit’s a ripoff) and have a badass color selection and good formulas. My favorite super cheap brand is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. I love the colors, I love the brush and the formulas are great and wear time is usually pretty good.

My perfect brand would have the color selection of China Glaze, brushes of OPI, handles of Orly, wear time of Zoya, and price of Sally Hansen. I love all of them for different reasons and they all have so many different options. You should definitely look into shopping online at eBay, nailsupplies.us, Amazon, etc. because you can usually find more expensive brands at cheaper prices. Also, Zoya is always doing promos and BOGO things on their website which is super cool.

Okay, I’m done now. SO MUCH INFORMATION.

I haven’t done any tutorials yet, every once in a while I’ll post something asking what tutorials people want but then I forget to make them. So what tutorials would you want? (this question goes out to you as well as EVERYONE ELSE READING THIS!!) I’ll make a list and then try to start making some! Either video tutorials or pic tutorials or maybe both? SO MANY OPTIONS.

As far as painting “perfectly” I don’t think I’d go that far but thank you! I just paint my nails pretty slowly and am careful to avoid my cuticles and the “sidewalls” of my nails. I have no trouble keeping polish away from my cuticles anymore but the sides of my nails usually end up with some polish on them, so I do the angled brush and acetone bit and clean up the sides and bottom so that the curve of polish there is nice and clean. Mostly the key for me to doing anything neatly is just to go slowly and be patient. I used to paint my nails really fast but then would end up with polish everywhere and it would take me twice as long to clean up as to paint, so now I paint slower and take much less time cleaning up. Lacquerized also taught me both how to paint my nails and how to clean them up, so I’d recommend checking both of those pages out too!

GURL LEMME C EM WHERE THAT PIC AT!

I went to your tumblr but didn’t see a pic. Why would you tease me this way. Why. Lemme c.

Hi, thanks! I’ll check it out :)

I got Whimsical a while back and posted pix of it here and mattified here. You’re right, I do love it, anything with glitter floating in pastel jelly just shoots straight into my heart! It tickles me that you thought of me when you got it :) thanks for telling me!

Hey! Thank you! :) I painted my nails with the black base color (Orly After Party) and then did the outlines of the lightning bolts in blue or pink, filled them in with the opposite color, and then went over the outlines again to make them sharp and crisp. A little time-consuming but definitely not hard! Tag me if you try them, I’d love to see!

I saw it, they look great! Thanks for messaging me about it, it’s so fun to see how other people recreate my stuff :) I like the colors you chose too!