The Mani Routine

A few weeks ago, it was my birthday. I turned 26! We were hosting a little gathering that night (we played Card Against Humanity and it was awesome) and I wanted to give myself a good manicure. It was the perfect excuse for picking out a new nail polish and because metallics are kind of a thing right now, I thought I could rock a copper color for my special night. But not just a copper polish, copper polish with a copper glitter accent nail. I was going all out. I ended up choosing Essie's Penny Talk and Sally Hansen's Salon Manicure in Copper Penny.

When I rounded up all my usual mani essentials, it dawned on me I should take a couple pictures and post this on my blog. I don't think I have ever explained my manicure routine before!

Here are the polishes, in all their glory.

And my supplies!

The pile includes:
- My Chosen Ones (the polishes)
- A Sally's (the store, not the nail polish brand) nail file
- CND Base Coat
- Nubar's Diamond Topcoat
- Nail Q-Tips. I think I found these at Wal-Mart in the nail polish section. They are incredibly useful for when you paint over your cuticles.
- Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover
- The Body Shop Almond Hand Cream
- Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil

I usually start every mani by using my Sally Hansen Cuticle Remover. It's a necessity for me to obtain a smooth finish on my nails. I push back my cuticles after the product has worked its magic, then I wash my hands.

Then, it's time to shape my nails. I usually go for a square-ish shape.

I follow up by applying hand cream generously and then wiping off any oil off my nails with nail polish remover and a cotton bud. That way, I know my nails have no excess oils and are ready for my favorite basecoat of all time, the CND Base Coat.

After the base coat is dry, which only takes a few minutes, I apply my polish.

I then clean up any mistakes with a cotton bud. For some reason, my application was pretty difficult with this polish!

It was really runny, and because it was a metallic formula, I had a hard time not making it look streaky.

I added my accent nail on my thumb and ring finger and after a coat of Nubar's Diamond Topcoat, voila!

Birthday mani!

As much as I love the look of a metallic polish, it isn't the easiest to work with! I actually chipped my mani pretty badly after this picture was taken.

Do you have any staples in your manicure routine? Any favorite topcoats and basecoats? As much as I love mine, I'm not opposed to trying something new.

Have a great weekend!

Polkadot Mess of a Mani with Nubar's Black Polka Dot

I intended this manicure to look like cute polka dots nails and I think they just look like a cookies & cream chocolate bar... which, in itself, is damn delicious, but on my nail... I'm not so sure. I did get a few compliments on this manicure though! A girl who works at my favorite bakery (the coffee is the bessssst!) didn't understand how the polka dots worked - I tried to explain that it was a topcoat but she didn't get it - I wish I could have shown her the bottle. Perhaps I shouldn't have chosen a Sally Hansen Salon Manicure polish in Lavender Cloud, which basically looks white, even though it is a bit lavender in the bottle. Cookies and cream is just... not nail appropriate! Cookies and cream is to be eaten!

Either way, the point was to test out the new Nubar's Black Polka Dot topcoat. I actually quite like it if I forget the fact that it looks funny on a white-ish nail polish. If you're not too picky about the placement of your black dots, you won't have a problem with this polish. I suggest to pick up a lot of polish on your brush and try to spread the "black dots" on your nail. They kind of "stick" and you can sort of pick up the excess nail polish off with the brush. It's hard to explain but it works quite well! If you're going in with very thin coats, I'd say you'll get 3 dots. But if you try a ticker coat, then you'll get about 5 to 7. Mine many was done with one coat of Nubar's Black Polka Dot, but I did dot a couple more polka dots on after.

 My gold and black bracelet is from an Etsy seller named helloberry. I love it so much!

Perhaps next time I'll try it with a light pink? What do you think would look cute with black polka dots? I suggest adding a thick topcoat over Nubar's Black Polka Dot because the glitter dries to a bit of a rough finish. Seche Vite just made everything smooth for me :)

I'm still dealing with dry cuticles but have been trying really hard to not pick at them. It's an ongoing battle really. My apologies for dryness!

I'm heading to bed early tonight! I haven't slept much in the past few days and this has been topped with afternoon migraines. Annick needs sleep! So see ya later peeps and have a great night!

Sun sun and more sun!

We've been having just great weather lately. Perfect for me - not too warm, not too cold. Too warm and I get crummy. Too cold and, well... it feel like Canada so nothing new there.

I felt like a bright polish yesterday and decided to put Sally Hansen's Sunflowers on. Unfortunately, the color isn't too flattering on my skintone. I'll have to try it when I've got a bit more tan on.

This was two coats, and it shows doesn't it? I'm not loving the visible nail line either. But the color is nice by itself. It's bright and cheerful. I highly suggest it on someone with a more olive skintone!

Also, I'm testing Sally Hansen's Mega Shine Topcoat. So far, it definitely wears better than my Seche Vite! I will update with more info once I've thoroughly tested it out.

Billie felt defeated today because I gave her a bath.