Essential Tools for At-Home Manicures

Hey everyone! I thought I would bring it back to beauty for today's post and address why I don't get manicures. It's not that I don't like getting them, it's just that I do a pretty good job on my own! Also, I have way too many nail polishes in my collection to justify spending money on nails haha. Here are my must-have items for at-home manicures for those who feel a little guilty getting their nails done all the time.

1) A good base coat depending on your needs. For base coats, I need something with an adhesive property to it so that the nail polish will stick & last longer. Others might need strengthening base coats or ridge fillers. My base coat of choice is Orly Bonder - it has a rubberized finish that really fuses your nail color to the nail. On days where my nails are feeling a little brittle, I'll put on OPI Nail Envy before the Orly base coat. Nail Envy is a hardener that I've found works really well. I've been using it for years.

2) A good top coat. A lot of people have touted Seche Vite as the be-all end-all top coat, but I have my issues with it. For one, I feel like it gets gloopy about half-way through the bottle, and then you need to purchase their polish thinner in order to get the consistency back to normal! I think that's ridiculous. I think the Essie Fast Drying top coat works just as well, and it really is "fast-drying". It doesn't get gloopy quite as quickly as Seche Vite.

3) Color! The draw in doing your nails at home is to have a good array of different shades and colors to choose from, like you would at the salon. It makes changing your manicure every couple days fun & something to look forward to. I'm not saying you need to have a fully stocked rack like mine.... But it helps ;)

4) A straight-edge nail clipper. Having a straight-edge nail clipper changed my life. You know how most clippers come with a curved blade? Well, they sell ones with a straight blade. Of course it depends on how you like to shape your nails (if you prefer a round shape then this is no use to you). If you like straight nails then this is amazing to have. If you're new to at-home manicures I would suggest starting with a square nail because it's the easiest to maintain and (in my opinion) the cleanest shape.

5) A cuticle pusher or clipper. I think a cuticle pusher and/or clipper is essential. Not everyone likes removing their cuticles with a clipper, but at least invest in a pusher. I don't even take care of my cuticles every time I do my nails, but every once in a while it's important to push them down. It makes for a much cleaner manicure.

6) A multi-sided nail file. This multi-sided nail file is great. It serves so many different purposes. I use the extra-coarse side to file down my nails after cutting them, and the file nail edge to dull down the sharp finish of a freshly cut nail. If you have nail ridges there's a handy "smooth ridges" side to help you out.

7) Hand cream/cuticle balm. It's important to keep your cuticles healthy by using a hand cream or cuticle balm on them every so often, especially if you tend to pick your cuticles (bad habit!) or if you have dry hands in general. It'll make your manicure look so much better.

As a final point, it's important to practice! As with anything in life, doing your nails well requires repetition. If you do them often enough, you'll become good at painting nails even with your non-dominant hand.

I Love Pinterest

I didn't always "get" Pinterest. I thought the whole concept was kinda lame, but to be honest I never truly gave it a chance. Recently, however, I discovered the amazingness that is this website. Here is a collection of my favorite pins. You can follow my boards if you want.

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NOTD: L'Oreal "Now You See Me"

Hey everyone! Thought I would post this NOTD today to get myself psyched for the imminent L'Oreal sale that goes on in Montreal (which I'm crossing my fingers I get tickets to!). The reason I say this is because I picked this up at the last L'Oreal sale but never actually used it until recently. I guess I was waiting for the fall weather to kick in a little ;)

"Now You See Me" is this really beautiful wine red color that I think is great for fall. For reference, it's not quite as plum-brown as Essie's "Bahama Mama" (which I can't wait to put on, by the way). I used three coats in the above picture just to get it all smoothed out, but the consistency is good to work with, as are most L'Oreal nail polishes. Overall I'm really pleased I picked this up when I did because I foresee myself wearing it a couple more times throughout the season!

NOTD: Essie "Sand Tropez" + Bonus Easter Mani

Hey everyone! Welcome to April :) I probably won't be doing a March favorites post seeing as not much has changed from last month, however this little manicure has definitely been a favorite. I think it's so cute and perfect for spring! First I'll show you the base color I used, which is Essie Sand Tropez.

Though some may find it a little bland, I've been looking for a nude-taupe nail colour for a while. I think this will quickly become a favorite! The application is really lovely and smooth (as is with many Essie nail polishes).

PS. my nail beds have been awful lately! Do any of you have this problem?

This was the manicure I wore on Easter! Cute, isn't it? And it reminds me of Mini Eggs haha.

It's really simple to do as well. First, you paint your nail the color of the half moon (in my case, either blue, pink, purple, or yellow), wait for it to dry completely (I used a quick bit of Seche Vite topcoat because I'm super impatient lol), apply a page hole reinforcer to the bottom half - those little circular stickers, and then paint the top part of the nail with your color of choice. In case you're curious, the colors I used are Zoya "Jacqueline", American Apparel "L'Esprit", Essie "Fiji", Zoya "Blu" and of course, Essie "Sand Tropez".

Let me know what you think in the comments! Hope you're having a great spring so far!

NOTD: Kiko Pale Gray & Essie Shine of the Times

Hey guys! Long time no talk! This has been an incredibly hectic week. I've been staying at my dad's because the floors in my mom's house were being redone, so I've kinda been going back and forth. I haven't had a decent sleep in days, let alone a chance to blog. I haven't even shipped out my L'Oreal giveaway prize which I feel terrible about. Ugh, I hope things get back to normal soon!

Anyway, I got a quick moment to photograph my 'nails of the day' a little while back, so I thought I'd show them to you.

I think this is a really pretty combination for the holidays! I love the frosty effect of Shine of the Times (right photo), especially since it reminds me of the snow :) The pale gray by itself is really beautiful too, and Kiko polishes are inexpensive but the quality is so nice. Overall I'm a huge fan of both of these polishes!

Let me know what you guys think!