Tips and tricks Tuesday-Watch your acetone!

Acetone is a VERY strong chemical

This post is to alert you about the perils of acetone. Yes, of course, we need it for many nail related things, but I want to share something I wish someone had told me earlier in my journey into lacquer.  

*BE REALLY, REALLY CAREFUL WITH ACETONE.* REALLY

Over time,  I learned through the blog world that acetone dissolves plastic. It´s what nail technicians use to remove acrylic nails. It´s really strong stuff that acts more quickly than you´d expect and can end up causing a good amount of damage. Join me after the jump for a few of my sad stories!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday-Holding your striping tape

Welcome to Tips and Tricks Tuesday! If you're not familiar with this feature, join the club. It's something I did early on in my blog and kind of fell off doing. However, I have a few ideas for content to share that qualifies as a tip or trick, so I decided to start doing it on Tuesdays again. :)

Using a scotch tape holder for striping tape

Here's an awesome idea I found out about through the Makeup Alley Nail forum. Somebody posted about this video and I think it's genius. Personally, I only have 3 rolls of striping tape that I got from the Fing'rs display, but the video shows that this works really well for multiple rolls of nail art tape.

It turns out, striping tape is the exact right size to fit onto an empty scotch tape dispenser. I think this is great for a couple of reasons. First, it eliminates the annoyance of finding and pulling the hidden end of the striping tape. Also, it stores the striping tape in a way that's consistent with the way that us nail art people use it. I actually only have 2 rolls of striping tape on my dispenser because I lost my first roll-they're so flat and small that I think they're easy to misplace. Thanks to this storage solution, I won't have to worry about that anymore!

Do you see Magenta Motion or did I drink too much Summer Spritzer?

Sally Hansen Magenta Motion and Julie G Ornamental with Fergie Summer Spritzer on top

I.e, how do I combine these polish names for a post title? ;)

Here are a couple of polishes I picked up recently. I purchased Sally Hansen Magenta Motion during my huge Big Lots haul. It’s a shimmery raspberry pink that is just so pretty to me. Even though I usually don’t gravitate towards pinks, this one called out and demanded to come home with me.The formula was really good for Magenta Motion. Like most of the colors in the Sally Hansen Insta Dri line, it's practically a 1 coater and would probably work well for stamping.

Fergie Summer Spritzer is one of the new polishes released for the summer by the Fergie by Wet n Wild line. These are all seem to be new additions the Wet n Wild family, unlike the original batch of colors that got released. The majority of the polishes in this collection are glitters, so I had a hard time passing them by. I ended up picking up a few when they were on sale a couple of weeks ago, including Summer Spritzer. Summer Spritzer is a cheerful mix of gold, green and magenta hex glitters in a clear base. This polish really makes me think of Mardi Gras because of the color scheme.  

Sally Hansen Magenta Motion with Fergie Summer Spritzer, shade

Why do my hands each sport a different look? Find out and see more pictures, after the jump!

I'm Shocked that I successfully watermarbled

Er…somewhat successfully. It's still is far from perfect, but I was pretty pleased with my results when I tried watermarbling on my accent nails in this manicure. I loved the colors of the matte neon glitters in Salon Perfect Shocked, and so I decided to do a watermarble with the two colors in the glitter. I used Orly Faboulous Flamingo and Sinful Colors Amethyst in the watermarble, since I had used those on my other nails as well. I used Amethyst on my index finger and Fabulous Flamingo on my pinky, then topped both of them with 1 coat of Salon Perfect Shocked.  Find out what changes this mani went through and see more pictures, after the jump.

Pistache lines up with Mrs and Mr Glitter

Sinful Colors Pistache with Essence Mrs and Mr Glitter

Sometimes I get totally inspired by Youtube or Pinterest to try out new nail art. Oftentimes, my efforts aren't all that successful.  I saw this video when I was surfing nail stuff on youtube, and wanted to try it. Unfortunately, I didn't have the dental floss things she uses in the video, so I thought I'd replicate the look with a striping brush. It's not quite the same-my lines are much thicker than those in the video.However, I still like the manicure. I think the colors in this look are really cool.

Find out what polishes I used in this look and see more pictures, after the jump.

NYC Mother of Pearl St.

NYC Mother of Pearl St., sunlight

I just wanted to do a quick post about this polish. I got it at Dollar Tree as part of a 2 pack of polishes. I got the 2 pack for the NYC Turbo Speed topcoat, which I am liking so far. However, I wanted to wear this color and post about it so others will know what this polish looks like. There doesn't seem to be much about it on the blogosphere.

NYC Mother of Pearl St., shade

This is exactly the kind of polish that I would typically avoid.  It reminds me of the frosty colors that were popular in the past, though if you were feeling generous you can say it's similar to OPI Play the Peonies,. It's a streaky, frosty mess, and I did 3 coats! I'm not a fan of this color at all, but what can you expect for 50 cents!?

Mint Manis for Talia Joy featuring glitter tips

Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom with Urban Outfitters Seadust on tips, sunlight

Hi, guys! Here's a quick mani I did for today after hearing the sad news about Talia Joy's death. The beauty blogging community is uniting in commemorating this sweet, special girl by wearing mint colored nail polish in Talia's honor. Talia was a beautiful girl with an even more beautiful spirit, and I'm sure she will be missed by everyone who was lucky enough to have his/her life touched by her.

Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom mani in honor of Talia Joy, shade