Nudes

Whoever uses my laptop and saw the folder labeled "nudes" must have gotten very disappointed to see my nails instead. But just like everyone else, I am obsessed over nude nails. Nude nails are so easy, pretty, and just my default nail color to use when I get bored of all my colors. Good for work but still very stylish. So in today's post, I highlight 5 of the nudes in my collection.

from left to right for both pictures

Sephora for OPI: Leotard Optional
Essie: Mamba
Essie: Sand Topaz
Essie: Ladylike
Deborah Lippman: Modern Love

Current Favorites

Since beauty is one of my many favorite topics, I wanted to share some of my current favorite items with you all! I love seeing "favorites" from other bloggers and seeing what they personally love from month to month so I thought it would be fun to share my own.

I limited it to five items so I could keep it short and sweet. And these are current favorites only, I'll have a future post going into more detail about my Holy Grail products. But for now, these are items that I'm just incredibly obsessed over these past few weeks.

(Source)

1. NYX Butter Lip Gloss in Peach Cobbler
I know. It's 2013. Who still wears lip gloss nowadays? This girl. Like many others, I can't stand sticky lip glosses, or especially shiny ones. But there are those rare few out there that don't cause either, and this is one of them. It also smells divine. Remember fellow contributor Michelle's post about Rimmel 109, and the amazing fruity scent it held? The same goes for this gloss; and they're all very aptly named after desserts. Staying power leaves a little room to be desired, but let us remember it is a gloss, and I actually am okay with it fading faster than expected because it tends to leave a light color stain after it fades. Their description says "melts on your lips" and that is most definitely true-- after a few seconds, it becomes less like a gloss, and more like a shiny balm. At $4.99 USD each at Ulta stores, with 12 shades, it is definitely worth it. I'm wearing Peach Cobbler in the picture below, which is a little more red than peach, but I am 100% happy.

(Reverse) Glitter Gradient Nails Tutorial

There are a lot of (reverse) gradient tutorials out there, and I'm sure a lot of you have gotten it down to an artform. But not all, and so I thought that WC should have its own tutorial as well!

This was also something I used to do a lot, but then I got really tired of that extra hassle of removing the glitter, even if it's quicker with the foil method, which I'll explain after. Regardless, it's a forever favorite and it's extremely fast and easy (literally, I did this one in about 5 minutes), and fool proof because if you happen to mess up, you can just cover your entire nail with glitter and no one would ever know your original intent.

Holy giant fingers, batman.

This Charming Nail

I wanted to wait for the weekend to post about Hex, but when the Bolt bus showed up an hour late with no wifi or outlets I had little choice. 

I hope I can get a short interview with the owners of Hex Nail Jewelry (www.hexnailjewelry.com) soon. These two sisters out of LA seem really cool and are very talented.  Also, they are women of color!  What more can I ask for?

Here are a couple samples of their work from their website: 

 Oh Shit No 2

 Cut Out Heart

Took a lot of will power not to buy 10 of the Cadillac charms. Maybe on my next purchase.

Easy Peasy Flower Nail Art Tutorial

I normally tend to gravitate towards muted colors and Maximillian Strasse-her from the 2013 Essie Spring Collection was no exception. I have a few other similar colors (Mermaid Tears & Thanks A Windmillion by OPI), but this one has greyish undertones that sets it apart. I'm not the biggest Essie fan (fiercely loyal to OPI), but this is quickly becoming a spring favorite. In honor of Spring/Summer (Sacramento is 90 DEGREES tomorrow), I wanted to share a little tutorial for simple flowers that are easily customizable. And although dated and often tacky, I'm still a sucker for cutsey accent nails for those days where I just need a little something more and can't be bothered with glitter.

No Brand White Nail Polish // Essie Maximillian Strasse-her // OPI - Glitzerland // 

Nail Tek Intensive Therapy Top & Base Coat // No Brand Nail Dot Pen 

You can find the nail dotting tool shown above in most beauty supply stores, but this deal on Amazon is hard to beat at 95 cents (a set of 5 & double ended). It takes a bit of time getting used to, but I find them super helpful because they create much more precise and uniform patterns. Once you get some practice in, you'll be able to do flowers, polka dots, etc in no time at all.  Of course, you can always cleanly cut the top of a toothpick and that will work just fine as well. Oh and bobbypins, can't forget how useful bobbypins are when it comes to nail art. 

1. Start with base coat and 2 coats of nail polish in your choice of color. 

2. Dab the nail art tool (small end of the two sides) in preferred flower nail color to coat the entirety of the ball point of the tool. I usually dab the tool on the brush of the polish. I seem to get more even results/reduce waste this way. 

3. Start creating uniform flowers clockwise (5 dots!) at the center of the nail (or whichever point you'd like).

4. Repeat Step 3 as many times as needed, depending on how many flowers you'd like.

5. After wiping down the tool to prevent clumping, dab the tool in preferred color that will be the eye of the flower and dot each center accordingly. Finish off with base coat after a few minutes of drying time. 

I hope this tutorial serves as an easy approach to simple nail art! I wanted to make it as quick and painless as possible while allowing options for customization through size and colors of the flowers. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to explain further and if you've attempted this, we'd love to see your results!