Solid Monday

It's solid Monday ladies! I have chosen a great color to feature today. It is by Klean Color, which I highly recommend to anyone. When I paint my nails with Klean Color my nails don't start to chip for a little over a week. Seeing as how I repaint my nails almost daily, I guess my nails will never chip. 

The color I chose to feature today Klean Color's Beach Blue #25. Last night while I was trying to think of a color to feature, I was freezing cold. It dropped to almost 40 degrees here last night. Whenever I am cold I think of the color blue or purple. I didn't want to show you a dark blue because we will save those for winter time! This blue is a perfect combination of summer/cold summer nights. You can always add an accent nail with a different blue, metallic silver, or silver glitter. 

So ladies, what's your solid Monday color?

KleanColor #25 Beach Blue
(Only $0.90 on Amazon!)

Nail Care

It's nail care day! Today for nail care I'm going to talk about the negatives of working with acrylic nails. I love the idea of acrylic nails but overall I'm not a huge fan. I have gotten acrylics three times in my life. They are really pretty but when you want to take them off, good luck. From my personal experience, they make your nails hurt because of all the cleaning and filing they do. They also make your nails very thin when you go to get them taken off. I also don't like that every time I need them refilled I have to pay to go to a nail salon. I like being able to take care of my nails myself. Here is one of the downfalls of having acrylic nails all the time.

 A gap will sometimes develop between the acrylic nail and the natural nail. This gap provides a warm, moist environment where a nail infection can grow. If the acrylic nail is bumped, it could potentially separate from the natural nail. 

When can a nail infection develop...

A nail infection can develop if the acrylic nails are too long or too rigid. It can also happen if the acrylic nails were applied with unsanitary tools. If you develop a nail infection, your natural nail might become thick or ragged and appear discolored.

If you must..

If you do choose to have acrylic nails applied in a salon, here are a few steps to take to minimize the risks:

1. Stick to salons that display current state license, and work only with licensed technicians
2. Be aware of fumes. A strong odor could be a sign that the salon is poorly ventilated
3. Make sure your nail technician properly sterilizes all tools used and washed his/her hands between every customer
4. Soak your nails in a fresh bowl of soapy water before the treatment begins
5. Don't allow your cuticles to be pushed back or trimmed. This can result in a nail infection
6. Don't allow the surface of your natural nails to be filed before acrylic nails are applied. This will weaken your natural nails
7. Request that the nail technician uses a brand new nail file-or bring your own because nail files cannot be sterilized

If you decide to apply your acrylic nails at home, follow all safety precautions printed on packaging. Be careful to protect the skin around your nails from the chemicals used to apply the acrylics.

Seasons

It's that time of year ladies! Fall nail polish colors! Time to bust out those browns, reds, oranges, yellows, and golds! For my very first Fall nail design of 2013, I chose to do a Fall/Halloween design. The fade from red to orange to yellow adds a sunset to the background. Then I added spooky black trees missing all of their leaves. For the accent nail of this design I decided to do sparkly French tips Fall style. 

This design is very simple. A tutorial for this template will be posted very soon for all of you DIYers out there! 

To Get the Look:

1. Clean nail of any prior nail polish using nail strengthening nail polish remover. (Try not to use acetone unless you are taking glitter off)
2. Apply a thin base coat of either Sally Hansen clear, or Sinful Colors Base Coat.
3. Start at the cuticle of the nail and dab a little #81 Red Alert to the base. Only apply 1/3 of the way up the nail.
4. Next, while the red is still wet, apply #19 Neon Orange. Push a little down into the still wet red and then pull up 1/3 of the way.
5. Next, while the orange is still wet, apply #18 Neon Yellow. Push a little down into the still wet orange and then pull up across the entire tip of the nail.
6. Wait for that to dry.
7. Use a small detail brush for the spooky trees. 
8. Apply thin black lines in the shape of a tree from the base of the nail to the tip.
9. Once dry, apply Sally Hansen clear coat, or Sinful Colors top coat for the finished shiny look

The nail polish I used for this design can be found under these links:

Klean Color Nail Polish

48 Pieces for under $40
I used: #81 Red Alert, #19 Neon Orange, #18 Neon Yellow

The glitter on the accent nail is called Pumpkin Spice by Sinful Colors

Themed Tuesday

This design honors the season finale of one of the greatest television shows ever created. Bryan Cranston should have definitely won the Emmy award for his star performance. Breaking Bad! Unfortunately the story has to come to an end and the ending is this Sunday 9/29 @8pm central time on amc! THE LAST EPISODE OF BREAKING BAD EVER! So, for this design I thought I would honor Heisenberg and everything about this show. 

I had to include the periodic symbols from the title of the show. Br, if you know your chemistry is Bromium and Ba is Barium. The ring finger is usually always the accent nail. So, for my accent nail I had to "all hail the king". For my thumb and pinky I included hazard and waste symbols to represent the waste of bodies Walter White piled up and the hazards of cooking meth. 

Goodbye Breaking Bad I will miss you! Be sure to follow this week's episode and the final moments of the show on Twitter. #BreakingBad 

The link below is a kit I used that contains the colors of this design. The only color that wasn't in this set that I used was just a standard white by Sinful Colors.

About Me

Hello everyone! My name is Allison, Allie for short. I have been creating nail designs ever since my junior year of high school. It is one of my greatest hobbies. I like to change up my nails almost every day because I get bored with the design. I figured that if I changed them everyday I might as well share them with the world. It's the changing of the Fall season which means a new set of colors and designs to work with!

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am 20 years old and currently attend Northern Illinois University and majoring in Accounting. I have two amazing sisters. Megan, is the oldest at 24 years old. Rebecca, is the middle child at 22 years old. Rebecca runs a blog for die hard book readers called the Library Canary. If you're a book reader, check out her amazing blog.

http://thelibrarycanary.blogspot.com/