Tag Archives: How To

Beauty, DIY, Essie, Fashion, Nail Art, Nail Art Tutorial, Nail Polish Swatch, Nails, Nails How To

Essie’s Steel the Way Nail Appliques Review

Essie’s “Steel the Way” sleek stick nail appliques ($10.25) come in a textured chrome honeycomb design meant to mimic a glam nail art look without picking up a brush. While the packaging says the manicure will last up to 10 days, mine came off while I was eating pizza.

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The packet comes with a sheet of 18 stickers (ranging in size), a nail file, a plastic application tool and easy-to-follow instructions.

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No base coat or top coat was recommended, so upon execution simply use your index finger and thumb to apply the suitable fitting nail sticker and even out any bubbles with the application tool.

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Once perfectly placed, fold over the leftover sticker and file it off in a downward motion to get the right fit.

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After completing the manicure I was extremely pleased with the beautiful design. The instructions did not recommend a top coat, so I left it as it.

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About six hours after applying the nail appliques, I found myself grubbing on some pizza and noticed the extra sauce caused the sticker to lift up. By the time I was done eating, I lost a nail. That was no fun. My one recommendation: don’t skip the top coat if you want these beauties to last.

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What do you think of nail stickers? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Beauty, DIY, Nail Art, Nail Art Tutorial, Nails, Nails How To, Uncategorized

NYFW Inspired Manicure Tutorial: Halo Nails

New York Fashion Week was nail art heaven!

From textured nails to sleek designed nail art and the occasional three-dimensional pieces on fingertips, manicures held their own on the runway.

A halo nail design showcased by Ruffian, particularly caught my interest and I recreated it.

Find out how to get the cat walk look.

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The platinum halo stands out behind a matte finish.

What you will need: Base coat, silver polish, top coat, black polish and matte top coat.

1. Prep the nail with a base coat. Apply two coats of silver polish on all the nails. Once dry, apply top coat.

2. Use black polish to paint an upside down U and fill it in to form the platinum halo on the top. Apply a matte coat on the black polish when it is dry.

Check out this six-second tutorial to see how this fabulous manicure went from runway to everyday.

What do you think of the halo manicure? If you try the design, let me know by tagging me on Instagram @nailartbysig! 

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Beauty, DIY, Nail Art, Nail Art Tutorial, Nails, Nails How To, Uncategorized

Nail Art Hack: The Dotting Tool

No dotting tool? No problem!

Turns out you don’t really need a nail art pen to add contrast and designs to your manicure.

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Easily add design to your manicure using items around the house.

Here’s a nail art hack: You can replace a dotting pen with toothpick or a bobby pin.

What you’ll need: Base coat, pink polish, green polish, light green polish, top coat, a piece of foil, a q-tip, a toothpick or bobby pin.

1. Prep the nail with a base coat. Apply two coats of pink polish on the entire nail.

2. Take a light green polish and put a blot of lacquer on a piece of foil. Dab some of the polish on the end of a q-tip and apply dots to the nails.

3. Put another blot of green polish to the foil and use the ball point end of a bobby pin, or a toothpick with the end broken off, to apply dots over the light green polish dots.

4. Let the design completely dry and finish off with a top coat.

Check out this six-second tutorial and find out for yourself how easy this manicure can be executed.

Let me know if you try this design! What colors did you go with?

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Beauty, DIY, Nail Art, Nail Art Tutorial, Nails, Nails How To, Uncategorized, Vine

Nail Art How To: Dripping Paint

While out with a couple of girlfriends at a local wine bar on Thursday night, my inner artist met my inner wino during a Paint Nite event- a beautiful combination of art lessons and alcohol.

A blank canvas, some paint and two glasses of sangria later, I recreated a version of what the art teacher described as, “Colorful Birds on a Wire.”

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The masterpiece I created at a Paint Nite event inspired a manicure.

Naturally, I got inspired to recreate the painting on my nails.

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Recreate this dripping paint manicure in five easy steps.

While at the event, I learned a new technique called dripping paint. I put my new found knowledge to work.

Here’s how to execute a dripping paint manicure.

1. Prep the nails with a base coat. Apply two coats of white polish.

2. When the nails are dry, use a dotting tool to apply blots of blue polish around the nail bed. With a bit of polish on the dotting tool, drag some of the lacquer down to the nail tip for the dripping effect. Repeat this step with a color palette of your choice.

3. When the polishes are dry, use a thin brush to draw a black line across the tip of the nail to draw the wire.

4. To draw an owl, use a dotting tool with a small sphere and black polish to create an oval (the body) and a circle (the head) on top of on the black line. Draw an upside down arch line on the top of the circle to make the owl’s feathers.

5. Let the design completely dry and apply a top coat.

Take a look at this six-second tutorial to see how I layered the different colored polishes and got the dripping paint effect.

What do you think about the dripping paint effect? Let me know if you try this look!

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Beauty, DIY, Nail Art, Nail Art Tutorial, Nails, Nails How To, Nintendo, Nintendo 2Ds, Princess Peach, Super Mario Bros., Uncategorized, Yoshi

Super Mario Bros. Nails Tutorial

On Wednesday, Nintendo announced a new gaming system, the Nintendo 2DS- that’s definitely not a typo.

The new “entry-level handheld” plays 3D games in 2D and will reportedly be available in October.

In honor of the news brought to us by the video games giant, I was inspired to create Super Mario Bros. manicure.

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Nintendo announces a new entry-level handheld and I create a manicure inspired by the news.

If you’ve ever delved into the world of Mario, then you’ve certainly come across many of his friends . . . and enemies.

Let’s go level by level in this Super Mario Bros nails tutorial. Here we go!

What you will need: Light blue polish, red polish, green polish, blue polish, purple polish, light pink polish, black polish, yellow polish, white polish and a thin brush.

1. Prep the nail with a base coat. Apply two coats of light blue polish on the thumb. Apply two coats of red polish on the index finger. Apply two coats of light pink polish on the middle finger. Apply two coats of green polish on the ring finger. Apply two coats of white polish on the pinky.

2. Once dry, use a thin brush and yellow polish to outline and paint the star on the thumb. Outline the star with black polish after the yellow polish completely dries.

3. Using the thin side of the white polish brush, paint half a circle on the tip of the index finger nail to create a mushroom. Paint one medium-sized circle in the center top and two half circles on the each side. Use a thin brush and black polish to draw two lines for eyes on the bottom half-circle. Repeat this step on the ring finger.

4. Paint the bottom half of the middle finger nail with a dark pink polish. Use the thin brush and white polish, paint a french-tip. Use the thin brush and blue paint to draw a blue oval for Princess Peach’s blue gem. Outline the gem with a thin brush and yellow polish once the blue polish is dry.

5. Use the thin side of the purple polish to paint colored spots found on Yoshi eggs.

6. Let the design completely dry and finish off with a top coat.

Press start to play this six-second tutorial and find out how this 2D design came to be.

Let me know if you try this look! 

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Art Deco, Beauty, DIY, Minnie Mouse Nails, Nail Art, Nail Art Tutorial, Nails, Nails How To, Uncategorized

Art Deco Nails Tutorial

Be retro and bold in a manicure filled with geometric shapes and strong colors.

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Be bold in an art deco manicure that’s easy to execute with two techniques.

To execute this art deco manicure, you’ll need to mix two techniques: brushing and dotting. You’ll also need three different colored polishes of your choice.

Let’s get to work.

1. Prep the nails with a base coast. Once dry, apply two coats of a polish of your choice. I chose white polish as the background color in the manicure pictured above.

2. Using a thin brush or the side tip of your polish brush, apply one vertical line on the left side of the nail bed above the vertical half-way mark. You can mix and match the polishes as I did the manicure shown above.

3. Draw on two more vertical stripes one shorter than the previous one so that it looks like your phone’s reception bars.

4. Apply dots of the opposite polish color using a dotting tool.

5. Let the design completely dry and finish off with a top coat.

Check out this six-second tutorial and find out why mixing techniques creates a great manicure.

Let me know if you try out this design. Good luck!

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Baseball, DIY, Dodgers, Nail Art, Nail Art Tutorial, Nails, Nails How To, Sports

Dodgers Nails Tutorial

After six years, I found myself back at the Dodgers Stadium in the heart of Los Angeles. Naturally, I sported my love for the team on my nails.

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Be the die hard fan at the next game with an easy-to-do baseball manicure.

As a native Angelina, my first baseball nail manicure had to show off Los Doyers. Here’s how to be the most loyal fan at the next game.

1. Prep the nail with a base coat. Apply two coats of white polish on the ring finger (the baseball nail). Polish two coats of Dodger blue polish on the rest of the nails.

2. Once dry, use a thin brush to apply two red lines in a C shape on the white nail. Add shorter lines on the C-shaped lines to create the stitching on the baseball.

3. Wash and dry the thin brush. Use white polish to apply “LA” on the middle finger. Try to wait until each line is dry to prevent streaking.

4. Let the design completely dry and finish off with a top coat.

Check out this six-second tutorial and find out how easy it is to flaunt your fandom.

Batter up!

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Though I don’t have proof, I do have witnesses to testify these babies made it to the jumbo tron!

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Disney, Disney Nails, DIY, Mickey Mouse Nails, Minnie Mouse, Minnie Mouse Nails, Nail Art, Nail Art Tutorial, Nails, Nails How To

Minnie Mouse Inspired Nail Art Tutorial

If you’re a Disney fan like me, a Minnie Mouse inspired manicure is a must.

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Three polishes, one dotting tool and a whole lot of fun make up this easy-to-do mani.

Here’s a how to execute a Disney inspired mani in under four steps.

1. Prep the nail with a base coat. Apply two coats of white polish on the ring finger (where Mickey will go). Polish the other nails with two coats of pink polish.

2. When the nails are dry, use a dotting tool to apply the polkadots Minnie loves to wear using a white polish on the pink polished nails. Make sure to space out the dots evenly.

3. Use a dotting tool with the biggest sphere and black polish to apply three dots in the shape of Mickey’s head on the tip of the nail bed.

4. Let the design completely dry and finish off with a top coat.

Check out this six-second tutorial:

Best of luck, be creative and don’t forget to have fun!

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