Flower garden design- featuring born pretty store acrylic paints

My second entry for Born Pretty Store happy summer contest.

I just received the paints from them and I absolutely love them. The brushes in the pack were excellent as well, way better than the stable hair brushes that I own. So I decided to use them for my second entry.

Halloween eye balls design

Here's my latest design. I find it cute and a litte creepy in the same time. it's super easy to make and can be made with a dotting tool if you don't have detail brushes.

Materials used:

Wet n Wild megalast : On the 101
Wet n Wild megalast: Under your spell
Top coat
nail art brush 00
black and white acrylic paint
wiggle eyes
nail glue

I got the wiggle eyes from the dollar store in the crafts section for $1

Contest entry- Born pretty store "Happy Summer"

My first entry is an older design, but I thought it suits the theme. Roses, sparkles, a lot of green. Everything is made with acrylic powder.


I got first!! Never expected this to happen because there were designs so much better, especially nr 13 who was my favorite out of all. So happy she got second. Thank you everyone for the support!!! Please check the list of voters who won the bracelet watch here. Congratulations to all of you!

http://bornprettystore.blogspot.com/2013/09/winners-for-happy-summer-nail-art.html

Weekly nail care routine for guys

I'm not saying this is the professional way of doing it, but this is how my husband gets it done, without any trouble. He knows how to do it himself and I do it for him often also.

Having good looking hands is a must have in men or women. You don't need to go to a salon to have your hands taken care of. You can do it at home, on a budget. There are just few simple steps that you can follow to have good looking hands.

Here's a list with basic tools that you need. You can get them at a drugstore or if you prefer buying your stuff online like me I'll post links for everything where you can find them. I get most of my nail supplies from bornprettystore.com.

• nail clipper get it here

• nail file  get it here

• cutticle knife or you can use an orange stick instead. my cuticle knife is multi purpose  get it here

• cuticle fork get it here

• buffer block get it here

• shinning file get it here

• cuticle oil get it here

Everything will be easier if the manicure is done after bath, shower, or after the hands are held in warm water for about 10 minutes.

The overall process takes about 15-20 minutes and it can get faster once you're getting used to it.

Start off by clipping your nails, making sure you don't clip too far to avoid damaging of the nail bed or cutting. Simple nail clippers work fine, but i prefer using small blunt nail scissors for precision.

To shorten it more, file the nail, making sure you achieve the shape you want in the same time. Most guys I know like their nails rounded some.

Use a cuticle knife or an orange stick to push back the cuticles. If the cutticle is too thick and doesn't look right, cut it off with a cuticle fork. Be extra careful because small cuts get infected easy. Don't cut too deep, but if you get a small cut in the cuticle that gets red or bleeds, applying an antibiotic cream 2-3 times will avoid even the smallest infection. Neosporin usually does the trick.

Use a buffer to remove the excess dead cells on the surface of the nail and even it out. Buffer blocks that are too hard might damage the natural nails. Those are indended for acrylics and gel nails. Use a block with medium or soft grit. The block can also be used to even out any rough spots on the edge of the nail if the file didn't do it right.

Optional, you can give them some natural looking shine using a file intended for that.  Usually the shine that the file gives lasts for over a week, even when you work with your hands a lot.

Appling the cuticle oil might be the most important part, other than trimming the nails. It moisturizes the skin, nourishes the nail and instantly fixes the dry, split cuticles. It's a wonderful thing to have. I have an article on it in my nail care section here on the blog. Most people prefer the expensive cuticle oil, but i find the cheap oil pens to work wonders. They have natural ingridients and a soft scent. They also come in a variety of scents you can chose from. If you don't want cuticle oil, you can always use olive oil. It gets absorbed by the skin way harder, but it works about the same.

You can apply cuticle oil or hand cream every 3 days to keep your hands in perfect condition. Most guys won't like the oil first few times of using it, but they get used to it after a while. Is absorbed by the skin fast and it leaves it soft and great to touch.