I just discovered a new website called Beauty and the Bullshit, a blog written by a former beauty industry insider who is exposing the advertising tactics, claims, and general behind the scenes BS that the beauty industry uses to take advantage of consumers. I find the notion really interesting, and even though she only has a hand full of posts, she seems to have some good information, so best believe I’ll be keeping an eye on her website. You should check it out, too!

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I always used to wonder how girls got their manicures to look so professionally done–you know the look, a thin clean line around the nail bed and no stray polish blobs on the skin around the finger. I knew I certainly didn’t have a hand so steady that it could apply polish perfectly, so I was relieved when I found out the secret! And even though there are several other tutorials online, here’s my method:

Step 1

Start with your painted nail over a bed of paper towels. I do my clean-up immediately after painting my nails.. I don’t wait for it to dry completely or anything. As I’m painting I focus on making the polish smooth and even. I try not to flood my nail bed with polish. The more it pools in the nail bed, the harder it is to get a nice line around the polish without staining or a noticeable hump. I’m not purposefully sloppy with painting, but if I get polish on the skin around my nails I don’t fret.

Step 2

Pour the cap to a bottle of pure acetone about half-way full. I use this bottle for my clean-up, along with a $6 Revlon eyeliner brush I got at Wal*Mart. You can use whatever sort of brush you want–rectangular like mine, angled, or a fine pointed tip–but the 100% acetone is necessary for a fine clean-up. I’ve tried this with regular nail polish remover, and it just doesn’t work. This huge bottle cost me $0.97 at Wal*Mart. Ninety-seven cents. And, it works a lot quicker with a lot less work since it’s pure acetone. (It should be noted that you should always handle pure acetone around loads of paper towels, or on surfaces you don’t mind being destroyed, because it will eat through everything.)

Step 3

Dip your brush into the acetone. You will figure out how much acetone you need on the brush with practice. I try to dip just the side of the brush in so the acetone reaches all the bristles but isn’t oversaturated.

Step 4

Next, I wipe excess acetone off the brush and back into the cap. This is where I find my method differs from others. Some suggest you tap the brush onto your paper towels, but I find that doing this makes the brush become more dry than I prefer. I like to wipe off excess so the acetone doesn’t flood the nail bed but still has enough to do its job.

Step 5

I begin by rubbing the brush over the blobs of polish on my skin. When the brush begins to feel dry or is stained with polish, I wipe it off on the paper towel.

Step 6

Repeat these two steps as many times as is necessary.

Step 7

Almost there! Just cleaning up the polish on the skin improves it tenfold, huh?

Step 8

The last step is to carefully navigate the brush around the nail bed to finish the clean up. If at first you don’t see much difference between this step and the last step, try looking and comparing the two again. It really is noticeable!

That’s it! Not bad, huh? :)

Tags: FAQ, nails

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I am so excited to bring you swatches of 3 new colors from China Glaze’s Fall 2010 collection, Vintage Vixens. This looks to be an amazing collection with beautiful warm, Fall colors like you’d expect as well as more trendy colors like Classic Camel, Swing Baby, and Ingrid. I love the mix of the familiar with the different, and it seems like each of the polishes are pretty unique. My love affair with China Glaze continues…

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

multicolor microglitter in direct sunlight

Bogie is a deep plum with multicolored microglitter. Of the three I swatched, this is the least sheer in one coat. I used two and it was perfectly opaque. Formula was perfect. This polish definitely is the biggest hit in the sunlight. The silver sparkles are unreal.

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

copper sparkles in direct sunlight

Foxy is surprisingly red–in the bottle it looks much more coppery brown, but on the nail it is definitely a burgundy red base with copper microglitter. The copper sparkles are no where near as intense in Foxy as they are in Bogie or Midnight Mission.. definitely more of a traditional frost. Formula is pretty good–I found mine a bit thin, but not impossible to work with. One coat was patchy and sheer, but two coats turned out to be smooth and totally opaque. I was expecting this to look more brown on the nail, but it’s definitely not a true red, so this is definitely unique to my collection!

direct sunlight

flash indoors

no flash indoors

silver microglitter indoors with no flash

Midnight Mission is a gorgeous navy with silver glitter that really shines through the dark base. This has been on my wishlist since, oh, the moment I saw a swatch of it. The navy base was surprisingly sheer, so two coats was a must. Again, this color really is amazing in the sunlight, but even in low light settings it’s a gorgeous night-sky blue. I love love love this color.

This a huge collection with 13 different colors. Here are ones that I haven’t yet been able to see and swatch:

Riveter Rouge – Deep red shimmer
Goin’ My Way – Deep copper shimmer
Classic Camel – Khaki creme with gold micro glitter
Swing Baby – Taupe with silver micro glitter
Ingrid – “Greige” creme with copper micro glitter
Hey Doll – Deep rose shimmer
First Class Ticket – Deep purple shimmer
Emerald Fitzgerald – Turquoise shimmer
Jitterbug – Grey chrome with silver micro glitter

I also think I must have Classic Camel, Ingrid, and Emerald Fitzgerald… and maybe Jitterbug too. Darn it.

Per FTC regulations I must disclose that product(s) in this post were sent to me by a brand or PR firm for consideration for review on my website. I guarantee honesty above all. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Tags: blue, brown, china glaze nail polish, nails, polish finish: foil, polish finish: frost, polish finish: glitter, purple, red, silver

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If you’re in the continental United States, Nubar is having a 20% off promotion online beginning tomorrow, August 6th through Saturday August 7 on retail orders of $30 or more. Use the code AUG2030 at check out, and don’t forget that any order over $75 (after discounts applied) will ship free in the 48 states!

What’s in your cart!? Here’s mine…

(all links are to Scrangie’s swatches)
Nubar 2010 (index & ring)
Nubar Sensual Red
Nubar Gem
Nubar Violet Sparkle

Tags: nails, nubar, promotion

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Totally. obsessed.

I follow WAH Nails of London on Tumblr (and Twitter), and I absolutely love getting inspiration from the pictures they post. Even though I am decent with freehand design, I usually feel that their designs are too advanced for me, or I don’t have the right colors or tools to complete similar looks (ie, Minx, gel nails, etc.). But I realized today that I had collected 3 snapshots of aztec manicures for inspiration, and knew I could do my own.

First, the inspiration pictures:

Now, the tools I used:

Revlon eyeliner brush (used with acetone for clean-up)
Thin paintbrush from craft store (used to paint designs)
White Nail Art Striper
Black Nail Art Striper
CoverGirl Boundless Color Fuchsia Girl 525 (I’m not sure if this bottle is really old or if the formula was bad, but I don’t recommend this polish.)
OPI Paint My Moji-Toes Red
China Glaze Lemon Fizz
MAC Peppermint Patti
Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Top & Base Coat

I started off with this base:

(L->R: OPI Paint My Moji-Toes Red, CG Fuchsia Girl, China Glaze Lemon Fizz)

And then added designs freehand!

I am so, so, so happy with the design, but I have one small dilemma.. my right hand has ZERO polish on it right now. I’m not sure if my hand is steady enough to attempt ambidexterity. I’ll figure that out tomorrow.. :P Hope you enjoyed!

Tags: black, black nail art striper, china glaze lemon fizz, china glaze nail polish, covergirl boundless color nail polish, covergirl fuchsia girl, green, mac nail lacquer, mac peppermint patti, nail art, nails, opi nail polish, opi paint my moji-toes red, pink, polish finish: cream, red, white, white nail art striper, yellow

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Roadie is one of my beagles. We rescued him a few years ago. Last night as he cuddled in my bed, I gave him an awesome pedicure to match mine with Orly Solid Gold.

Tags: gold, nails, orly nail polish, orly solid gold, polish finish: frost, polish finish: matte

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