Where do I buy my tools?

Hello everyone!

   In all of my posts I'm always talking about some kind of tools, dotting tools, striping brushes and so on. But, even though I already made a post about these tools (Daily tip - Nail art tools) I never actually told you where I get mine.

   As you know, any beauty supply store can sell any kind of tools you need and it's the same thing here in Portugal. However, they are insanely expensive (at least in my opinion, 'cause I have a low budget). So I needed to look for another option. I searched for other stores, I saw reviews and so on, until I reached this conclusion: the cheapest way to buy tools is to get them from eBay!

   I've already bought tons of stuff on eBay. Not only nail art tools and accessories, but also stuff from another category, such as electronics and pet supply.

   It's not hard to use and I think it's a trustworthy website. All you have to do is to create a new account, search the item you're looking for and chose the best option for you. To pay you can either use your PayPal account or you can pay with your credit or debit card. I don't have a PayPal account, nor a credit card, but here in Portugal my bank gives me the option to create a "temporary credit card" where I can use it to pay my items and no one, except for my bank, has access to my bank details.

   The only thing that ain't that good about eBay, is the time you have to wait until your item arrived it's destination.

   I believe this is some useful information. Some of you must be scared to buy things from the internet but I think that with evolution comes internet safety. You must be careful to not be fooled, but either ways eBay is great!

   Kisses,
   Patrícia

Stud Nails

Hello everyone!

   How are you all today? Hope you're doing fine!

   This week I come with a really simple and pretty nail art. It's the very first time that I use studs on my nails. I bought them from eBay here. I bought a box with 1200 pieces of studs, with 6 different shapes in gold and silver. They are amazing and super cheap. The one thing that I'm actually hating the most about eBay is that my items take forever to arrive... But I think that is due to Portugal's mail posting services, they're not very efficient (no offense!).

   Without further ado I present you my weekly nails: Stud Nails!

   They are super easy to do and they look simply gorgeous!
   To do this nail art you will need:

1. Base/Top coat.
2. Nude and silver nail polish.
3. Blue and white nail polish.
4. A striping brush or a toothpick.
5. Studs.
6. Nail glue (optional).

   All you need to do is:

1. Take care of all of your nails, wash your hands and apply some base coat to protect your natural nail. 
2. Paint your nails two coats of the color you please. I used some nude shade nail polish for all of my nails, except for my ring finger, which I painted with some glittery silver nail polish.
3. After it all dried out, I started to draw on my middle finger. First I draw a triangle on the bottom of my nail with silver nail polish and filled it in. Next, I draw two lines on the top of my nail, to make a V shape, with the same nail polish. I've let it dry for a few minutes.
4. I filled in the V shape with some blue nail polish and made 4 white stripes, 2 on each side of the V shape (like is shown in the picture).
5. For my other nude nails I applied some nail glue near the cuticles and applied one squared silver stud on each nails. I used a toothpick with some top coat to help me pick up the studs and place them. 
6. After you're satisfied with the result, apply some top coat onto all of your nails.

   And that's it! I hope you've enjoyed this week's nail art, 'cause I'm loving it!

   Kisses,

   Patrícia

Square Nails and Manicure

Hello everyone! 

   And welcome November! I hope you all had a great week and you're living a happy life!

   Last week, in my previous post, Red Nails, I told you all that I decided to change the shape of my nails from rounded or oval that I usually wear, to square. As you all know, there are a lot of shapes that you can give to your nail, but I really thing that this is something that only you should judge and only you should choose what you should or shouldn't wear. You have to think about your life style, you have to think if you usually wear short nails or long nails, if you have strong or weak nails, and so on... You can choose between square, squoval, rounded, oval, almond, ballerina or stiletto nails, or even another one that I haven't named.

From Eyeheartpolish

   Regardless of the shape you give to your nail, you must be sure that you give your nails a proper treatment. You must keep them moisturized, clean and filed. You should let your nails breathe for once in a while. I usually stay a couple of days with no polish to let them breathe. 

   Here are my natural nails after a manicure:

   To do a proper manicure you should follow a few steps:

1. Remove your old nail polish, if you had one.
2. Cut your nails with nail clippers (if you want to, you can skip this step - I never cut my nails) and file them the shape you wish them to have. Make sure you don't cut your nails way too short, leaving at least a small tip of white nail. Do not file your nail too harshly. Gently pull your nail file across the nail.
3. Buff your nails. Buff the surface of your nails a little bit, to smooth it and make it even. Remember to not buff your nail too much, or you will weaken them.
4. Wash your hands to remove any dirt, dead skin or dust that would be on your nails.
5. Push your cuticles. Apply a cuticle cream/oil or a cuticle dissolver and gently push them with a cuticle pusher. Do not remove your cuticles!
6. Moisturize your skin, nails and cuticles. Apply some lotion around that area and gently massage it. Use hand cream to keep your skin beautiful.
7. After this step you can re-paint your nails or you can let them breathe. 

   My nails aren't perfectly squared yet because I had oval nails, but I'll keep getting them filed so they get the perfect shape. 

   

   Hope you've enjoyed this post.

   Kisses,

   Patrícia

Red Nails

Hello everyone!

   So, as you can see in my previous posts I usually wear round or oval nails... But, I don't know what went through my mind, I wanted to change! So I filled my nails until they were fair and square. Ahah. Although I already broke one of my nails before I painted them, so far so good.

   For my color, this week I chose something really simple. I chose fire, I chose love and passion, I chose red. So here are my nails of the week: 

    With a simple white nail with a red heart on my ring finger and a red nail with a white heart on my thumb. I'm enjoying this simple nail art so much! 

   Even thought they are extremely easy to do, here's the tutorial.

   You'll need:

1. Base and Top Coat
2. Red Nail Polish
3. White Nail Polish
4. A dotting tool or a toothpick.

   And it's as simple as:

1. Take a good care of your nails and apply a base coat.
2. Apply two coats of red polish on all of your nails except for your ring finger, paint it white.
3. With a toothpick or a dotting tool make a tiny heart at the center of your nails, red on your ring finger and white on your thumb.
4. After it all dried perfectly, apply top coat to seal in your design.

   

   Couldn't be easier!

   Hope you've enjoyed this post.

  

   Kisses,

   Patrícia

Daily Tip - Keep Your Nails Pretty!

Hello everyone!

   Our nails need some extra care so they don't break nor lose their shine. So here's some tips and tricks that you can use to make your nail polish last longer and keep your nails pretty:

1. Always wear gloves when dealing with chemical products. Some products can make your nails lose their natural shine or even weaken them.
2. Never use your nail as a tool. Try not to open cans or rip off something with your nails.
3. Be extra careful when you're opening doors or drawers. 
4. Keep your hands and cuticles moisturized. Moisturize is so important to your nails as it is to the rest of your body.
5. Do not bite, chew off or hardly remove your nail polish without the proper treatment. You should always wear nail polish remover and a nail file to do it right.

   I hope you've found these tips useful.

   Thanks!

   Patrícia

Pink Scroll Nails

Hello everyone!

   Here I am, after a whole year without posting anything! Haha, I'm so sorry. I haven't painted my nails in weeks or even months, and I wasn't inspired at all.
   BUT!...

   Today I bring you my nails of the week... Pink scroll nails!

   They're some beautiful pink and white nails, with some scroll pattern on it (or at least I tried ahah).

   They are really easy to do, and I, as an amateur, took no more than an hour to do both hands. Waiting for them to dry, layer after layer really is the boring part. But it's necessary.

   To do this gorgeous nails you will need:

1. A nail striper brush;
2. A toothpick;
3. A dotting tool (or you can use another toothpick);
4. Some base/top coat nail polish;
5. White nail polish;
6. Pink nail polish.

   And here's all you need to do:

1. Take a good care of your nails before applying any nail polish.
2. Apply some base coat and let it dry for a few minutes.
3. Paint all of nails two coats of any colored nail polish, but remember to wait between each layer.
4. To make your scroll pattern:
1. Make some diagonal lines with your striping brush, making diamond shapes. 
2. With your toothpick, make four tiny spirals around the middle diamonds (like in the picture).
3. Make tiny little lines in the remaining diamons.
5. Make some big dots on the other two nails.
6. After it all dried apply a shiny top coat to seal in your design and make it prettier and shining.

   And that's it! It's really simple to do and it looks amazing.

   Kisses

   Patrícia