Search Results for: nail art

Poppy Nail Art for Valentine’s Day

February 12, 2013 by Kristen 2 Comments

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a BIG fan of celebrating the holidays. Any excuse to be festive is enough for me! With that, I’m dedicating this nail art tutorial to upcoming Valentine’s Day. : -)

Checkout my video for the tutorial on how to achieve this two-tone, romantic Valentine’s nail art. I love the poppy colors!

Valentine’s Nail Art

Products Used:

Zoya Nail Polish, color Kara
Zoya Nail Polish, color Jewell
White Nail Art Pen
Regular Tape

Like I showed in the video, you could even stop at just the two-tone nail art shading part, which would give you a poppy Spring look instead. But I think adding the white details and little heart help make it more romantic for something specific like Valentine’s.

You can do this type of look with any colors, so get creative! Don’t have the colors you want or nail art pens? Checkout the options at Ulta, and use this Ulta 20% off ANY product coupon. It even works on sale and clearance items, and is good till 2/16/13!

Here’s one last closeup.

If you’re looking for the perfect outfit for Valentine’s Day, checkout this post for inspiration.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Filed Under: Beauty Tagged With: beauty, holiday, holiday looks, nail art, nails, seasonal, valentine's day, zoya

Funky Cheetah Nail Art Tutorial

August 1, 2012 by Kristen 1 Comment

Kinda funny, but I was inspired by my Victoria’s Secret PJs to do this tutorial! You’ll see my inspiration in the “how-to” video. 😉

What I show here is a funky nail art cheetah/leopard design. I’m just going to call it cheetah print for now…does anybody know the difference? If so, please share!

Anyways, while hand-painting is time consuming, I think it gives you more options and you could do this on ALL of your fingers for a bolder design. I sometimes prefer a little variety, so I made it more subtle for an everyday look by painting this funky pattern ONLY on my ring finger. I did a pink tip manicure on my other 4 nails to tie in the cheetah print colors. Pretty cool, huh?

Wanna see how I did it? Checkout my video below!

FUNKY CHEETAH NAIL ART TUTORIAL

Products Used

–Base Color: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Polish, Color “Commander In Chic” On Sale right now for $5.99

–Dark Pink Cheetah Spots: Sinful Nail Polish, Color #871 $1.99 —-> yeah, that’s right $1.99!

–Light Pink Cheetah Spots: Sinful Nail Enamel, Color #920$1.99

–Black Liner: Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen, Color Black $7.99

Here’s a few more “after shots”….

What do you think of this cheetah print design? Tweet me your take on it @mystyletrials!

Filed Under: Beauty Tagged With: animal print, beauty, DIY, french manicure, funky, nail art, nail polish, nails, tutorial, videos

Ombre (Shade Gradient) Nail Art Tutorial

January 25, 2012 by Kristen 2 Comments

So today I tried a type of nail art look called Ombre. This is when you basically pick one color in five shades, ranging from light to dark. Then you paint each nail a color to get a gradient shade progression effect. This one isn’t as “in your face” as other nail art looks with patterns, and you can really determine how dramatic you want to go with it. I personally like it best when the shades are very close and in the same color so that the gradient isn’t as drastic. Otherwise, it could end up looking like you just painted each nail a random color when the effect you are trying to get is actually a shading of light to dark or even one color gradually transitioning to another.

I got my inspiration when I opened my newest Cosmo, and saw this cool pic (as well as some others I may try later on).

: “Purple Haze Ombre” Cosmo Vol. 252, No. 2 pg. 185

Here’s another inspiration pic of Lauren Conrad sporting the Ombre look in blue.

You can go really either way, light on thumb to dark pinky as I did in my nail art gradient ombre tutorial, or reverse it. There’s really no rules, and you can get as creative as you want! It’s actually a lot easier than it looks, and here’s proof in my first ever attempt! I was also being lazy and didn’t use 5 store-bought colors which would have made it a lot easier. Instead, I just grabbed colors I already had (4 colors), and mixed them to get the shading effect.I think it turned out pretty good, and I ended up getting a lot of compliments! How do you think it turned out?

CLICK HERE to see how I did this nail art Ombre look

I would LOVE to see your creative take on the Ombre nail art trend. Leave me a comment linking to your pic or simply let me know what colors you’d use for this look.

Filed Under: Beauty, Kristen's Favs Tagged With: beauty, cosmo, nail art, nails, style statement, videos

Patriotic Nailart

July 2, 2013 by Kristen 4 Comments

With the 4th of July coming up, I wanted to show you a fun, patriotic nail art tutorial! Showoff your American pride this year and try this. 🙂

Patriotic Nail Art Tutorial

Apply a base coat, then paint your nails a solid red (this color is more red than it appears in these pictures).

Use a sparkly silver to lightly paint over each ring finger (the red should still show through).

With the sparkly blue color, lightly start at the base of the nail and paint halfway up into the silver.

Remove excess polish from silver brush, so it’s pretty dry. From the top of the nail, use this brush to blend the silver back down into the blue, blurring the line for an ombre effect.

Use a white nail art pen to draw two white lines that follow the shape of your nail.

I applied the first at the very top (like a french manicure), left a space of red in-between the top and bottom stripe.

Use the white nail art pen to create a big circle in the center of your thumb….

…then pull from the center of the dot out to create a star. Mine’s a little sloppy because I was rushing, but from a distance you can’t even tell! So it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Last step! Use a q-tip soaked in nail polish remover to clean up your edges, then apply a shiny top coat.

You’re all done! Now enjoy your beautiful nails, and have a great holiday! 🙂

Also, if you’re looking for outfit inspiration for the 4th, make sure to checkout this vintage American look I put together last year. I recommend picking one patriotic thing, and working neutrals around that so as not to go overboard. 🙂

Filed Under: Beauty Tagged With: 4thofjuly, american, beauty, holiday, holiday looks, how to, MAC, nail art, nail polish, nails, seasonal, style, style statement, summer looks, tutorial, what to wear

How to Organize Nail Polish

August 13, 2014 by Kristen 12 Comments

I missed the Spring Cleaning train, but recently had an itch to organize everything. This was especially true for my under-the-sink cabinet, which was being consumed by millions of nail polishes. I had them in a box which looked like this below….not pretty. If you’re like me and have way too many colors, it can be tricky to figure out how to organize nail polish, maximize space, and clearly see all of the colors you own.

I’ve heard of a ton of different ways to organize nail polish, but I found that a lot of those solutions wouldn’t work for me. First off, let’s just state the obvious. I own waaaay too many colors and tend to hoard them. Not to mention the nail art tools and accessories that wouldn’t fit in those solutions. Second, I also wanted them tucked away someplace where they couldn’t be seen but could easily be transported if needed. So a wall shelf or anything like that would not work for me.

The Container Store opened near me recently, so I figured if I was going to find a solution then it would be there. However, I found that the traditional acrylic beauty bins they had were made to hold individual nail polishes, meaning you could only fit a handful of polishes and they had to be a specific size. They also didn’t stack on top of themselves and were pricey. I asked the salesclerk if they had another recommendation, and they offered small acrylic boxes which were just too small and I didn’t think was easy enough to get to. I browsed for about an hour (you’re welcome 🙂 ) and realized exactly what I needed. Something I could use in an unconventional way which just happened to be exactly the right height, stackable, portable, clear, and easy to access a ton of different polishes…….clear shoe drawers! They were only $8.99 a drawer and I bought two, although I may go back and get another!

Each clear shoe drawer from The Container Store holds about 45-55 nail polishes, depending on the sizes of the bottles. I also love that they are drawers and not just boxes, so I can easily get to everything. My under-the-counter sink went from this to this, and I have so much more room!

I really think this is a great way to organize nail polish, especially if you have a checklist like me.

Is it kind of weird that I get a kick out of cleaning and organizing since becoming a homeowner? Haha, my Hubby thinks so but also loves it at the same time!

How do you organize nail polish? I’m sure you have a ton of other great ideas, so please share them in a comment!

Filed Under: Beauty Tagged With: beauty, home, how to, nail art, nail polish, nails, organization, organize, shoe drawers, solutions, style, the container store

3 Free Bottles of Zoya Nail Polish! [Today Only]

January 12, 2014 by Kristen 1 Comment

One of my favorite deals is back! Get 3 FREE bottles of Zoya Natural Nail Polish, valued at $9 each! You just have to pay the $12 shipping, but these high quality nail polishes are totally worth that and they have a ton of colors.

If you saw my post on how to create poppy nail art (a fun nail idea for upcoming Valentine’s Day), you’ll see I featured some of my free nail polishes from this same deal last year.

Simply click here for the deal, pick your 3 colors (some exclusions may apply), and enter promo code: COLOR2014. Hurry, the offer ends at midnight on Monday 1/13!

Filed Under: Beauty, Cool Deals Tagged With: beauty, cool deals, free, nail polish, nautral, zoya

Fall Favorites: Emi-Jay Hair Ties and Butter LONDON Nails

October 18, 2013 by Kristen 1 Comment

It’s October, and these are a few of my new Fall favorites. Emi-Jay Hair Ties and butter LONDON nail polish! Never heard of them? Here’s the deets…

Emi-Jay was founded by two teenage girls, Emily and Julianne, who also give back 20% of their profits to charities. Love that. You’ve probably seen these cool hair products everywhere by now (celebrities also LOVE them), but maybe didn’t quite catch what they were. These girls came up with new, fun hair ties and headbands that don’t pull hair and won’t crease it either. Why didn’t I think of that?!? GENIUS! They come in a variety of colors/prints, and can even be worn as bracelets! Each band is hand-dyed and unique, and you can even get accessories such as crystal beads or bows to add to your bands. Checkout a few examples:

Celebs such as Reese Witherspoon, Kourtney Kardashian, Jennifer Anistan, and Sarah Jessica Parker love their Emi-Jays!
Photo Credit: stephanie-nguyen.blogspot.com

I like the Emi Jay holiday ornament gift sets which would be a great gift for someone, or maybe Santa could add it to your stocking. 🙂 That would be a great starter for basic solids, and you get 8 for $19.99.

I especially think the layered look is really cool, especially if you have one that’s printed and a coordinating solid or glitter tie to go along.

Emi-Jay® Solid Color Hair Ties Online Store | Emi-Jay.com® layering emi jay hair ties

Example of Emi Jay layered hair ties. Emi-Jay.com

My next favorite find is butter LONDON nail polish. I found this in a boutique store in Florida on Anna Maria Island, but they also sell it at places like Sephora. It’s a heavily pigmented, high-fashion nail lacquer that was created backstage at fashion week for top designers. It’s also formulated without Parabens, Sulfates, Synthetic Fragrances, Petrochemicals, Phthalates, GMOs, Triclosans, and is a “three-free” company. Meaning their products are free of formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP – basically not as bad for your nails as others. 🙂

I was really needing a good base coat, and although this one was pricey ($18), it seems to work well. It prevents my nails from yellowing, smooths and makes for a good nail polish base that last long. It also dries quickly, and the nude color is pretty that it could even be worn alone for really natural looking nails.

I was also on the prowl for a Fall color that could transition into Winter. Checkout all the nail lacquer colors…so many to choose from! Bronze nails are definitely in right now, so I landed on the Scuppered Nail Lacquer ($15).

I liked the pretty glitter that was more of a shimmery glitter (not chunky), and that it’s an opaque color. I hate when I buy glittery nail polish and it’s so transparent that I have to put on 5 coats to get an actual color! That was not the case with this, which took a normal 2 coats. I also like how it has faint pink and gold flecks, so it kind of changes color in different light angles. It’s great for holiday as well, and I’ve been wearing it straight for 3 weeks and still not sick of it.

Here’s a collaboration of my October Fall favorites.