Over the course of Manicure Monday history (click above to see the blog post) you've seen me wear a ton of glitter polishes, right? And that means hours of annoying time sucked away dedicated to ripping and scrubbing glitter particles off your fingers, getting it everywhere including on Husband whom we all know secretly appreciates looking like a pixie-dust fairy whenever he leaves the house.

Pixify your husband no more with the ever-so-dependable foil-wrapping method! ;)

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Today I wanted to share a very special Manicure Monday because it's actually a fun and easy-to-follow nail art. It's been a really long time since I've done character nail art but every once in a while I think it's a creative way to express yourself and give a little happy boost whenever you glance down at your fingers. I've gotten loads of compliments on this look so I wanted to share it with you as well! :)

Check out the step-by-step tutorial below!

As I mentioned in my May Favorites video, a fun polish I've been playing around with is the current nail trend: crackle polish! It seems like each new year there is a new gimmicky nail polish trend that can mayhaps be amazing and mayhaps be a little meh.

Honestly I was very hesitant about crackle polishes at first because they just didn't seem very pretty. It wasn't until I saw dear Yasumi of Worship at the House of Blues have her post on her China Glaze Crackle Glaze in White on White here that I decided YES! I want to try it out too!

Products mentioned:
Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle polish in Loyal Lavender (from CVS)
China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Lightning Bolt (from Pretty & Cute)
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (from Sally Beauty)

There were sooo many people who had asked me to do a tutorial for the purple gradient nails from my BoA Game Inspired makeup tutorial so I wanted to show you guys how I did it here, as a follow-up to my Basic Nail Polish Application Tutorial post.


Products mentioned:

OPI - Who Needs A Prince?
The Face Shop - random purple glitter polish
Zoya - Roxy
Covergirl Boundless Color - Disco Dazzle
Seche Vite top coat

It looks a bit goopy in this close-up pic but it definitely looked smoother in person. My coworker said they looked like vampire nails so I suppose it's only appropriate with October almost being here. ;)

I like how my right hand turned out better than my left. Gloopy left is the photo above, but the much smoother right hand is below. Pretty bizarre considering I'm right-handed but I can be fairly ambidextrous when it comes to nail art! It must be all the practice. ^_~ The real key is making the first layer really translucent because it's easier to blend the dark parts than to blend in the light color.

Disclaimer: All items mentioned in this post were purchased by me. Some affiliate links are included in this post.

Ahhh, it's such a beautiful Saturday! Sometimes I wish the weather would always stay this for the Fall: 74 with a high of 80, sunshine, blue skies, and mild enough for lightweight cardigans and flip flops. It really seems like it went from BLAZING HOT summer to Fall in a matter of one week where I live! But hey, that's midwest weather for you. ;)

I'm not complaining, but I do want to soak it up while it lasts. As soon as October hits, I'll be grasping my legwarmers and wool jackets for dear life! I much prefer the heat to the cold because I'm a weenster like that.

So getting back on topic, I've had an interesting time with my nails lately. This last 2 months I've gone polish-less (GASP!) for more than I have in the last whole year. Really bizarre, but I just haven't always found the time on my weekends to reapply something fun. Hopefully that will change as the weather cools since I'll want to be inside and warm up all day. ^.^

For those of you who are used to having naked nails and wanted a tutorial for a good polish application technique -- base, polish, and topcoat included -- here is how I apply nail polish.


Products mentioned in this video:

* Seche Natural - this is a nail treatment but it works well as a basecoat. I also have and love Seche Clear. (similar here and here)
* OPI Who Needs A Prince? - sheer-ish cute, red-flash pearly pale pink. needs 3 or 4 coats to be opaque, but is SO PRETTY when opaque. (other pale pinks I love here and here)
* Seche Vite - my HG top coat. Basically, this is the magic product that keeps polish on way longer, dries faster, and makes it super shiny. LOVE!

Here is a pic of the final look I did right after the basic polish application. The tutorial for this purple gradient nail art will be coming up very shortly.


Hope you are all having a wonderful, relaxing weekend in these short weeks before the weather changes once again (unless you live in Cali or FL, or a mild-weather country in which case, I shake my fist at you!)

Don't forget to join the giveaway for a free TLBC bra & panty set and I'll talk to you guys soon. ^_^

Disclaimer: All items mention in this video were purchased by me and were not sponsored in any way. Some affiliate links are included in this post.

Happy happy Easter everybody! I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter this year. I know I don't talk about religion much on here but I just want to say that I love that Easter is the one holiday that is unabashedly about Jesus. It's definitely a day where we are reminded not to take our lives, spirituality, or others for granted. <3

 Even just the thought of what went down so many years ago really humbles me. I'm so thankful for Jesus doing the dang thang since he is the whole reason why I do what I do and am who I am. I plan on spending the day with family, talking with God, and eating LOTS OF GREAT FOOD! :D

I also love the cuteness that comes along with Easter. When I was around 7 a picture was taken for the newspaper of me holding a little white bunny at the Easter petting zoo. I felt like such a rock star in my ruffled lavender dress! The pastel colors and themes of sweet childhood bring me nostalgia and good memories: Easter eggs, baby chicks, and bunny rabbits.

In lieu of that, I decided to make a video tutorial for Easter nails. Honestly I didn't have a plan for what I would do exactly until I sat down, but these brains of mine are particularly handy at coming up with such things on the fly. ;)





Products used:

Seche Natural (base coat)
Seche Vite Top Coat

China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint
Essie St. Barths Blue
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
China Glaze Something Sweet
China Glaze Light As Air

Heaven polish in White
Migi Nail Art Pens (black, natural, red)
pink dotting tool set (from www.naildelights.com)

I was super happy with how it turned out! I know all the lines aren't perfect but hey, this is Easter not the Sistine Chapel. This is the first time I really used the Migi Nail Art pens and they were pretty easy to use although they did need to be squeezed and shaken before use otherwise they come out watery. I recommend testing it on a piece of plastic before going straight to the nail.

The dotting tools are my new best friends though. I'd been just using toothpicks up until now. So ghetto. Did anyone notice I used the back of a Black Pearl My Beauty Diary Mask for my blotting plastic? Doubly ghetto.

Anyway, hope you all have a fantastic Easter wherever you are, however you celebrate it! Did you do anything special with your makeup, nails, fashion, or hair for Easter? Share with me in the comments!

Note: Migi Nail Art pens were provided by the company, China Glaze Light As Air and Happy Go Lucky were provided by the company, and dotting tools were provided by www.naildelights.com. All other polishes were bought by me. :)

Hey guys! As you may already know, I recently took a few youtube videos down from my channel youtube.com/frmheadtotoe to rework them. Just wanted to share the few that I have up again. Since all of my views and comments were lost, I would appreciate any comments and ratings you'd be willing to give. 


Click to visit my youtube channel. :]


Drumroll, please!

Hi everyone! I was going to post my Christmas nail art but then I looked at my log of pics and I guess I have lots of nails to post. >.< Oops. I guess that happens when you change your nail polish every week and don't post it for a while so I'm just going to post a whole lot of nail stuff.

I'll start out with the nails I wore for Christmas week. I was inspired by pretty wrapping paper. I love the fancy kind with metallic printed on solid colors so I wanted to emulate that on my nails.

Here is the final product:


And here's the process:

Base color is China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise. Apply top coat to protect the base from Konad flubs.


Next, I used plate m65 to stamp China Glaze Passion onto each nail except the ring finger.


Then I stamped a present box and lollipop on each ring finger from plate m14, and a bow on each thumb from m71 (unpictured) using Sally Hansen Chrome polish in Pink Pearl.


Next I used a red Migi Nail Art pen to color the bows. (The red is too translucent to show on its own over the turquoise polish but it pops when layered.) I also added nail art crystals to the bows using Seche Vite, and a coat over each nail to seal the design.


After the final top coat has dried, go back with a q-tip soaked in polish remover to clean up the excess polish that stamped onto the skin. It's best to wait until you are completely finished so that you don't mess up the design by accident. And you are done! ^^

Just because I'm already posting nail stuff, here are a few more swatches of polishes I've worn lately.

Zoya Trixie
Didn't think this would look stellar on my skin but I ended up looooooooooving it! It reminds me of foil. Very reflective silver. I can't wait to try Konading with this.


Zoya Anaka
Really pretty glowy magenta. Fairly typical but pretty nonetheless. Sorry about the tip wear, this was after a couple days of wearing.


Zoya Savita
I was going to redo this and swatch it when it was fresh, but I was so disappointed that I had to show you the chipping. This was only after one day of wear. ONE DAY. It starts to peel off in chunks almost immediately. This was totally different than my Zoya Posh experience which lasted 3-4 days fine! Pretty color, but really disappointing wear.


Rimmel 615 Night Before
Oh man, this one is gorgeous. It's a deep purple base with pink pearlescence. Here is both without flash and with, to show you the range of colors this polish gets. Really pretty in any light.


And I did some nail art with it. Konaded a hearts tip pattern in China Glaze Passion and used gold glitter at the tips with Cover Girl Pink Twinkle as a top coat to add some sparkle.


Speaking of sparkle, I also wanted to mention that Hautelook has Kevin Aucoin Beauty on sale now at 60% off. >.< I've been looking for a really nice golden illuminator and I had been eying the Too Faced Absolutely Invisible Candlelight Powder but I've heard mixed reviews. When I saw the Kevyn Aucoin Celestial Powder Candlelight on sale for only $16.80 (orig $42) I looked up makeup alley reviews and WOW people are just raving about this stuff!


Ok, Hannah just got into town so I'm off to be productive. Haha!

I've got to say, today has been just a lovely day. It's been pouring cats and dogs! Usually I'm strongly affected by the weather and rainy days get me down, but this morning was spent kicking back with my husband while watching UP on blu-ray including all of the extra features. We cuddled in our PJ's under some blankets, and it really felt like having a slumber party from junior high except everyday and with my best (hubby) friend. :D



It was sooo well made! Beautiful visually and all the background documentaries are very interesting so I recommend watching it if you get the chance.

On another random note, you may have noticed that I added a video feature on my side bar. I wanted to share my love of music with you all but don't like music that automatically starts when you load a blog since it always scares me when I don't expect it. Instead, I've made it an option that you can click to play to hear what I've been listening to lately. ;)

Ok, just thought I would fill you in on my day since it was really nice. ^^ Now onto business. Today I have a video review for you on the Kiss Acrylic Glitter Kit. This is an item that was sent to me from Kiss (including lots of other goodies I'll show you soon) and I believe it is a brand new product. I've had lots and lots of questions asking about my nails from my recent videos and this is what I used to achieve this look.



Here is the packaging. On the cover you can see two exemplified nail looks that are possible with this kit (this one is different than in the video).


I prepped my nails before the application. Trim your nails (I recommend trimming shorter than this!) and use the included emery board to rough up the nails so the acrylic has something to grip on to. You may want to also wash your hands so the powder from buffing your nails is removed. Oh, and make sure you are in a well-ventilated area as the chemical smell is enough to knock someone out.


Then, find the acrylic tips that best match your nails, numbered by size. I know, freakin' sexy right? You can file the sides of the tips to fit your nail perfectly. Then, use the included glue to glue on the tips starting from the tip of your nail and pressing down to the middle. Do not let ANY bubbles in, as this can trap water and bacteria.


Next, clip each nail tip and file to the desired shape. I like mine pretty short. Also file down the glued edge of the tips so it lays smoother with your natural nail.


This is the tricky part. I made two wells of acrylic powder: 1 plain and 1 mixed with pink glitter. Apply the plain acrylic powder using the included brush with the acrylic liquid to the base of the nail, then do the same to the tips with the glitter mix. Drag the glitter downward to create a gradient.


The surface should seem matte and semi-smooth, but you want it glassy so you need to buff for your life. I find those 4-sided buffer blocks to be very useful, and also a husband who is willing to help buff your dominant hand. ;)


Now, for the final super-gloss, add a clear topcoat. I used Seche Vite, my HG top coat.


I know you can't really tell in my photos, but the pink glitter in my set was also holographic, meaning it reflects in rainbow colors. o_0 Sooo mesmerizing! I wore these for over 4 weeks and did not get sick of them. I was honestly impressed. Not to mention it looks like expensive nails, right? ;)



I don't know if it's just me but I get so bored of everyone's plain white acrylic tips. This is a much more unique option that I got a lot of compliments on it not just because it's glittery but because it's so pretty without screaming in your face. The pink is demure enough to not look trashy (in my opinion) and the natural nail color still shows through which I think looks classy. Since I easily get bored of nail colors, I'm not even an artificial nail kind of gal but I would totally try this again.

Final look in perspective. :)


Oh, by the way, just wanted to also make abundantly clear that Kiss didn't pay me any cash monies for this review and didn't make a good review mandatory. Also, I have absolutely no nail tech training so I apologize if I did this wrong and I just tried my best. :)

Hope this helped anyone considering a DIY acrylic nail kit! Kind of a pain in the butt to apply and remove, but it can have nice results for a long time compared to polish.

I think that about wraps up this review but I just wanted to throw in a little reminder to please vote in The Body Shop's vlogger holiday look competition which features my Snowy Ice Princess tutorial. You can vote for whomever you want, but of course I always appreciate any votes! ^.^

Hope you guys had a great weekend and have a nice start of the upcoming week!