my nail & cuticle care routine

So, I've had a few people Kik me or comment on IG about my cuticles & what I use & do to them...
Apparently, I have nice cuticles?!?! lol.. Who'd have thunk it!! ;)

Anywho..
I decided that since I haven't done ANYTHING to my nails in A WEEK, because I was doing my HK Girl Top Coat review (see previous blog post for more info/all details), that I would follow up with my nail & cuticle care routine, before I start my next mani!!! :)

here goes..........

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

FIRST, MY "GO-TO" SUPPLIES!! :)

1. cuticle pusher (I never cut/clip/nip my cuticles.. with the exception of HANG NAILS & then VERY CAREFULLY!!)

2. cotton ball & some strengthening polish remover.. not acetone (we wanna help heal our nails/cuticles/skin right now, not damage them more) :)

3. my Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter by  Lush (if you don't have any, I highly recommend purchasing some.. you know, it's not too late to add it to your Christmas wishlist) ;)

4. my China Glaze Orange Cuticle Oil (or cuticle oil of your choice)

5. & my China Glaze Strengthener & Growth Formual (or, again, the base coat or nail health formula of your choosing) :)

6. (not pictured) a nail file

Now.. We want to start with polish free nails..

Use acetone or whatever remover you need (or have) to remove all polish from the surface of your nails..

As I said, earlier, I haven't done anything to my nails in a week!!! :/

my babies probably feel so neglected :(

here they are.. free of polish..

dry skin & cuticles from the acetone..

uneven unshaped nails..

LET'S GET THEM BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK!!! <3

FIRST:

SHAPE YOUR NAILS

just take your nail file & file your nails into the shape of your liking.. I prefer square nails :)

NEXT:

CLEAN YOUR NAILS

With your cotton ball & a little of your strengthening polish remover, gently rub your nails & cuticles..

This helps to remove any dust from filing & any polish that you may have missed from before, BUT is gentle on your skin!! :)

THIRD:

ADD  YOUR LEMONY FLUTTER

(or any cuticle butter)

A LITTLE BIT GOES A LONG WAY!!! :)

 this is all you need.. :)

then spread it out (but don't rub it in)

Let the cuticle butter sit on your nails for 10 to 15 minutes..

Then rub it in.. I like to rub it all the way up to my first knuckle on my fingers. (don't need to add any more)

don't forget to rub especially around your cuticles!!

AFTER YOU RUB IN THE BUTTER.. do your initial cuticle push..

gently, slide your cuticle pusher in circular motions around your cuitcle.. round it out as neatly as you can.

NEXT:

CUTICLE OIL

Apply a small amount around your cuticle..

Again, a LITTLE bit goes a long way!!! :)

I like to add a little to my nail beds as well..

Let the oil sit on your nails for about 5 minutes..

during that 5 minutes, though push your cuticles back again..

in small circular motions, making sure you get the oil under & all around the cuticle..

then rub it in, also in a circular motion

after it is all rubbed in, use your cuticle pusher one more time, just to make sure that the cuticle around the base of your nails is as round as possible (I have a bit of OCD lol)

here they are.. oil rubbed in

cuticles rounded

FINALLY

APPLY YOUR BASE

Almost finished..

All we have left to do is paint your base/strengthener/growth formula of your choice onto your nails!! :)

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!!!

All of my secrets revealed!! ;)

Now, I do NOT do this to my nails every day.. I do this whole process maybe once or twice a week (sometimes more, if I'm swatching or painting my nails a lot..)

On a day-to-day basis I DO use cuticle oil after every mani & I sometimes just add a little cuticle oil & let it completely soak  into my skin, meaning I don't rub it in.. I usually will do that at night while sitting on the couch watching TV or something.. a time when I know I won't really have much to do, so that the oil doesn't get rubbed off. Every time I use my oil I use my cuticle pusher while the oil is soaking, to push them back & round them out.

I really hope this helps.. Leave me some feed back if you have any.

Questions/Concerns/Just wanna say hello ;)

Also, if you have any more suggestions for blog posts, feel free to ask!!

I'll see what I can do!! :)

Glisten and Glow "HK Girl Top Coat" Review

I recently purchased my very first bottle of Glisten & Glow "HK Girl Top Coat"!!
I have heard so many great things about it, so I knew I just HAD to get some on my nails (I mean, my hands on some :))

Anyways, the shipping was pretty fast & I just couldn't wait to try it..
So, in the middle of 2 Christmas Challenges, I decided to go ahead & paint my nails & start my review!!! ;)

Day One:
Friday, December 6, 2013

I painted my nails with "Baby It's Cold Outside" by KicKass Beauty (one layer over "White on White" by China Glaze)
Then, if you haven't already figured it out, topped it with my HK Girl!!! :)

Day 4:

December, 9, 2013

I had already planned on taking photos of my nails today, to show the "half-way" mark, but then Eric said we were changing the brakes on the car.. I knew for sure my nails would chip.....

here they are.. all covered in grease.. after the brake job..

after I washed my hands

I had a corner chip on my index (big surprise there.. right when I think

it's gonna be long & beautiful again, corner chip!!!)

Well, as you can see.. EVEN after changing the brakes on my car, there were STILL NO chips or dulled shine.. still looked perfectly fine!!! Even where I chipped my nail hadn't chipped away the paint or anything!!!

Day 7:

Thursday, December 12,2013

Today is the day that I decided to end my testing, take my final picture, & finally remove the polish.

There you have it.. After ONE WEEK of the same polish & with the HK Girl Top Coat..

Barely any tip wear, one tiny chip on the corner of my nail..

All in all.. this top coat is FABULOUS!!!!!!

I LOVE IT!!

I would MOST DEFINITELY buy more bottles of it!

AND I HIGHLY recommend that if you ever get the chance, you buy some for yourself as well!!!

Great product, at first I thought the price was a little high, but after using it, I feel that the price is well worth the quality & life you get out of the bottle!!! :)

JUST so you know.. I did NOT take it easy on my nails this week!!

I wanted to deliver my true feelings & thoughts on this top coat & I carried on my days as usual..

bathing Ty, showering, dishes, laundry, I even painted my other hand & removed polish from & repainted my toes while wearing this polish!!! NOT TO MENTION did a brake job!!! ;)

KicKass Beauty "Beach Boys" collection!

first up is

"Surfin' USA"

next swatch is of

"Kokomo" (tropical sands)

next up, is

"Fun Fun Fun"

then, we have

"California Girls"

finally, we have

"Good Vibrations"

(it glows in the dark!!) ;)

if you have any questions about prices of these polishes, want to see other polishes she has made/will make, or any other products she has to offer..

head on over to her Etsy shop:

KicKass Beauty

Nail Polish-aholics Anonymous Anyone?

if there's NOT a place like that.. there sure needs to be!!!
haha!

I have just spent $200 today!!! :/

now, granted, some of it was for my Instagram contest/giveaway that I've got going on..
& some of it was for an AWESOME nail mail that I'm about to send out!! ;)

but still.. just on nail polish, for myself, I spent.. $92.20!!!!
& they were ALL indies (except for 2.. a refill of my favorite polish China Glaze "Atlantis" & a bottle of OPI's "The Living Daylights")

eeeeeeep!!!

oh well, what can I say?
I haven't been able to buy ANYTHING in like 14 or 15 WEEKS!!!
this is making up for it ;)

who else has this problem??? lol

31 Day Challenge: COLORS (created by: Chalkboard Nails)

I am going to "ATTEMPT" to do this..

wish me luck!!! ;)

I'm thinking that I'm gonna do each "section" in a different post

that way this one won't be so busy!!

:)

Day 1: RED

colors used (from dark to light):

Orly "Torrid"

China Glaze "Red Satin"

Insta-Dri "Racey Rouge"

Lily of France "Sexiest"

Day 2: ORANGE

China Glaze "Riveting"

Day 3:YELLOW

colors used:

Kiss Nail Art "Beach Yellow"

Pixi "Evening Emerald"

Kiss Nail Art "Purple Glitter"

Day 4: GREEN

colors used:

Pure Ice "Wild Thing"

China Glaze "Starboard"

Pure Ice "I'll Behave"

Day 5: BLUE

colors used:

Color Club "Blue-Ming"

China Glaze "Liquid Leather"

& featuring Essie "Matte About You" (used on the right photo)

Day 6: VIOLET

this polish Is just an unnamed Sally Girl mini polish :)

Day 7:BLACK & WHITE

colors used:

Wet N' Wild "Blank Canvas"

China Glaze "Bling It On"

Day 8: METALLIC

KicKass Beauty "California Girls"

p.s. you can find out more about this polish (& the other 4 in the collection,in my other blog post)

Day 9: RAINBOW

KicKass Beauty "Fun Fun Fun"

(info also in other blog post)

Day 10: GRADIENT

colors used:

Wet N' Wild "Who Is Ultra Violet"

WNW "The Clock Strikes Orange"

WNW "Stand The Test Of Lime"

KicKass Beauty "Good Vibrations" (also in the other blog post)

my baby boy is FOUR!!!

so, today is, my son, Ty's FOURTH birthday!!!!

it took me a while to decide what I wanted to paint for it..
not to mention that Ty gave me guidelines.. he said I had to use brown, black, green & white, & that I had to paint "him blowing out his candles"!! haha

after contemplating for a while, I finally narrowed it down to 2 design ideas:
**a few of his favorite TV characters on each nail
or
**the word "FOUR" written all cool (one letter on each nail)

but I was still struggling to choose one, because
on one hand, the characters are cool, & he would love them, but would it say "birthday"? would people have to ask why or would they just be able to look at it & know?

then, on the other hand.. the colorful & funky "FOUR" design, with ballons & confetti would be pretty self explainitory & would scream "birthday".. BUT it just seems generic & unpersonal!!

but then.. I got the GREATEST idea!!!
to COMBINE BOTH designs!!! :)

I am very happy with the way these nails turned out..
& Ty loves them! so that's all that matters!! ;)

without further adieu..

& just incase you may not know who one (or any) of these characters are:

index: Poppy Cat

middle: Caillou

ring: Blue (from Blue's Clues)

pinky: Super Why

& of course my thumb is Ty, blowing out his candles ;)

when I showed them to him, he said:

"that's not me!"

me: "yes it is.."

Ty: "well, it's not perfect! it looks kinda weird"

haha I love him! ;)

but I did end up realizing that I didn't paint a nose on him lol

oh well.. it's still cute!!! ♥♥

Bestie Quadruplet Nails

so a few ladies from instagram & myself all did matching nails!!

we all got to choose a design, & then we chose 2 colors each..

here are the results!! ;)

all together & then a solo shot of mine..

to see more of their awesome nail art, head on over to their instagrams!!

Amanda : @HighOnPolishes
Amber: @NailsLikeLace
Dezzy: @Captain8Bit

enjoy!! xD

Playing Catch Up.. ;)

so, it seems that I haven't posted any nails since my Realtree Camo..
hmmm.. well, this post will fix that!! :)

I've only done 6 manis since those..

first, was my very first "Bestie Twin Nails" with Kassandra aka @beauty_by_kass

next up was my mani for my cousin-Iin-law's baby shower! ♥♥

then it was my "First Day of School" nails for my baby boy's first day of Pre-K </3

also, I did some household chores nails..

of course, I had to do some Gator nails.. first game Iin ONE WEEK!!! xD

finally, my most recent (& current) mani..

my Jaguars!! they have a pre-season game tonight agai st the Eagles!! :)

& here is my very first tutorial

for my Jaguar head :)

Realtree Camo Nails

tomorrow is Eric's (my boyfriend) birthday..

so obviously I had to make a mani that was inspired by him ♥♥

we are pretty obssessed with Duck Dynasty & he loves hunting & fishing.. so it seemed inly fitting to do some realtree camo (just like our shower curtain haha)

I've actually been planning on doing theses nails for a few months, now..
but everytime I got around to it, I would syke myself out, thinking it would be too hard & it would end up a big, blobby mess!!

well, enough jibber jabber..

here they are!!! ♥ xD ♥