Day 11 - Polka Dots

Hello everyone! 

  As I promised, here I am a week later to upload my Day 11 - Polka Dots nails! It's a really fun design. And this is one in a million, 'cause when we talk about polka dots, we can talk about a million of different designs! And all of them beautiful! This is out my nails turned out to be: 

  Swirls! Why not mixing up polka dots with swirls? It's such a great idea, and I love it!.

To make this design you will need:

a) Base/Top coat nail polish;

b) Light purple nail polish;

c) White acrylic paint/nail polish;

d) Dark purple acrylic paint/nail polish;

e) Dotting tool. 

  And all you need to do is:

1) First of all, take a good care of your nails and apply a base coat. After that, paint all your nails with a light purple nail polish.

2) After it dryed, use a dotting tool to make a swirl made of white dots, just like the one I show you in the picture above. Be sure that fits another dot between your waves.

3) Now, with a dark purple, make another swirl in the opposite direction.

4) Let it all dry out and apply a top coat.

  And that's it! Super easy to do and really funny looking. Hope you've enjoyed this.

  Kisses, 

  Patrícia :)

Daily tip - A Few Recommendations

Hello everyone! 

  How are you all today? I hope you have a great week, starting today! Well, I've made a mistake recently, with my "31-Day Nail Challenge", I've missed a day and I didn't even noticed. I jumped from Day 10 - Gradient Nails straight to Day 12 - Striped Nails! It was a huge mistake, so my bad. I've already made my "Day 11 - Polka Dots", but I will only upload them next week. I hope you like them! 

  I came here with the purpose to give you some recommendations. As you know, I'm not even close of being an professional nail artist, all I do is for fun, and for your joy. Sometimes to make my nails I inspire myself in other nail artists, and as I don't want to take any credit for them, here's a small list of websites I follow and inspire myself: 

1 - Robin Moses Blog - she's an amazing nail artist and she was the one that got me into this nail thing.

2 - Miss Ladyfinger Website - she constantly uploads nail art related to the latest fashion trends, and it's really cool.

3 - Cult Cosmetics - well, this ain't a website with tutorials, it's more like a nail art/tools market. But I like to check them out once in a while to see what other artists are making.

4 - The Nailasaurus Website - this is a website I found on Facebook, and I believe the author makes some beautifull nails, so I enjoy checking it out.

5 - Nail Art Design Website - I've also found this on Facebook, and it's probably the website I follow the least. But it's also pretty good.

  So, I hope you like these nail artists as much as I do! I also follow some of them on the other social networks, but I have no need to share them here 'cause if you visit their websites you'll be able to find them right away. 

  Kisses,

  Patrícia :) 

Suit And Tie Nails

Hello everyone!

  First of all I wish you a great 2014, or just like we say in portuguese: "Bom Ano!". 

  So, these are my very first nails I've made this year, and they look beautiful. they're not the prettiest I've made so far, but they're okay. I've inspired myself in Justin Timberlake's music - Suit and Tie (you can hear it here), 'cause he's coming to Portugal in a few months, and I felt excited with it. Here's how they turned out to be: 

  My nails are super small, as you can see in the picture above. I'm not the kind of person that wears fake nails, so even though my nails are short I keep painting them, it's harder but I still love it. 

  To make these nails you will need:

a) Base coat nail polish;

b) Black nail polish;

c) White nail polish;

d) Grey nail polish;

e) Striping brush;

f) Matte top coat nail polish.

  I've painted all my nails black, except for my middle finger. For this particular nail you will need to:

1) Take a good care of your nail and apply a base coat. Paint it white.

2) With a striping brush (or a toothpick) and black nail polish (or acrylic paint) make a shirt collar and a little tie.

3) After that, make a small suit jacket using the same materials.

4) To add more details, use grey nail polish and a striping brush to make the jacket flaps. After it dryed, apply a matte top coat to all of your nails.

  And that's it. Super easy to do and good looking aswell. I hope you've enjoyed.

  Kisses,

  Patrícia * 

2013 Year Review!

Hello everyone! 

  First of all, I want to wish you a great new year's eve and I wish you have an even better year than this last one. Happy 2014. 

  Now, as the year is ending, I felt like doing a 2013 review of this blog. 

  April:
1 - Leopard and Zebra Pattern;
2 - Black Nails With Fancy Roses;
3 - Green Nail with White Daisies;
4 - Psychedelic Neon Nails;
5 - Polka Dots And Glittery Nails.

    

  May:

6 - Gradient Nails;

7 - Chocolate And Vanilla Nails;

8 - Rainbow Nails. 

  

  July:

9 - Vintage Nails;

10 - Rainbow Marble Effect With No Water Needed;

11 - Party Nails. 

  

  August:

12 - Greenish Yellow Nautical Nails;

13 - Day 1 - Red Nails;

14 - Day 2 - Orange Nails;

15 - Day 3 - Yellow Nails;

16 - Day 4 - Green Nails;

17 - Day 5 - Blue Nails.

     

  September: 

18 - Day 6 - Violet Nails;

19 - Day 7 - Black and White Nails;

20 - Day 8 - Metallic Nails;

21 - Day 9 - Rainbow Nails;

22 - Day 10 - Gradient Nails. 

    

  November: 

23 - Winter Plaid Nails.

  December:

24 - Day 12 - Stripes;

25 - Snowflakes Nails.

 

  I hope you have enjoyed this year's nail art! 

  Kisses to everyone and I'll see you next year! 

  Patrícia * 

Snowflakes Nails

Hello everyone!

  This week I've decided to make a design inspired by this beautiful winter, this cold weather etc. Winter is a season that I love, but unfortunately, it never snows in here. And that makes me really sad, 'cause I've never seen snow.

  But well, if I can't have snow outside my door, why not having some snowflakes on my nails? :) This is the how they look like:

  So, to make these nails you will need:

a) Base/Top coat;

b) White nail polish;

c) Blue nail polish;

d) Silver nail polish and silver glitter;

e) Striping brush;

f) Toothpick. 

  My blue nails are very simple to do: 

1) Take a good care of your nail and apply a base coat. Paint your nail a few coats of blue nail polish.

2) With silver glitter and a toothpick, apply glitter to your nail, make it tighter in the base of your nail and spread it out. Apply a top coat to make it all even.

  To my white nails: 

1) Take a good care of all of your nails and apply a base coat. Paint your nail white.

2) Make an half-circle with a silver nail polish, and with a toothpick, apply a few silver glitters on top of it.

3) With a striping brush, circle the silver half-circle and make 5 stripes in opposite directions. After that make 3 diagonal little stripes in each side of the main stripes. Apply a top coat to protect your design. 

  And that's it. Super easy to do and perfect for winter. 

  Kisses, 

  Patrícia! *

Day 12 - Stripes

Hello everyone! 

  So, after a long break with tons of work I finally found some time to make a few nail designs and to post them in here. In this particular case I've made no tutorial, 'cause the design is extremly easy to do.

  This is my 31 Days Nails Challenge - 12th day - Stripes! And it's inspired by the beautiful colors of winter, actually my favorite color, purple! 

  They are super easy to do. There's a few things that you must have to do this design:

a) Base/Top nail polish;

b) Purple nail polish;

c) White nail polish;

d) Striping tape.

  All you need to do is:

1) Take a good care of your nail and apply a base coat. Paint all of your nails purple, except for your ring finger, paint it white.

2) With a striping tape, apply a tiny piece diagonally, a little bit above the mid of your nail. Then, apply a few striping tapes vertically, with similar spaces between them.

3) After that, paint the bottom half of your nail with white, and purple in your ring finger. Make them one by one, and after paiting it, remove immediately all the striping tape, this way you won't make any mistake. 

4) Last but not least, apply a fast drying top coat to seal your design.

  And that's it. Hope you enjoyed this nail art that I've made. 

  Kisses, 

  Patrícia! :* 

Winter Plaid Nails

Hello everyone! 

  I'm very sorry I haven't been updating anything lately, but I've been in my University and I've had a lot of work to do, so I ran out of time to come here. Well, with my work on college I've had to cut my nails extremely short, and I wasn't able of doing any art on them, so I kept them plain. As so, I felt that I had no need to upload what color I was wearing, 'cause that's not interesting at all. 

  BUT, thumbs up, I'm BACK again (kind of - 'cause my school hasn't been over, and I still have a lot of work to do). Well, not really into my nail challenge, I'm going to take some time off from that.

  So, here it is, after a long time of waiting, my next nail art - Winter Plaid Nails!

  They're super easy to do, all tou need is:
a) Base and Top coat;
b) Mustard nail polish;
c) Black nail polish;
d) White nail polish;
e) Striping brush.

  Actually, all you need to do is some stripes on your nails, but here's how I've made them:

1) Take a good care of your nail and apply a base coat. Paint your nail with a mustard nail polish. I've chose this color 'cause it's one of winter's fashion colors that's commonly worn these days.
2) With a striping brush, make a little square with your black nail polish. Make as many stripes as you wish, to make it look like a plaid pattern.
3) Again, with a striping brush, make some white stripes to fill empty spaces. Apply a top coat to seal your design.

  That's it! I hope you've enjoyed my return.

  Kiss,
  Patrícia *

Day 10 - Gradient Nails

Hello everyone! :)

  I'm finally back from my challenge time out, actually a bit earlier from what I've expected. As I have no need to wear my University suit again, I can paint my nails as I want now! Ain't that great? And we are back to the challenge! Well, my last post about this challenge was Day 9 - Rainbow Nails, and today's post is all about gradient, my DAY 10 - GRADIENT NAILS! I could've made some simple gradient nails, but you already know me, I like to complicate things. So these gradient nails are inspired by the end of the summer, and a beautiful sunset. They're like a "GOODBYE SUMMER" nails, unfortunately. 

  I've already explained how to make gradient nails on previous post: Gradient Nails. So in this tutorial I won't be explaining how I've made the gradient.

  To make this design you will need:

a) Base coat;

b) Yellow nail polish;

c) Orange Nail polish;

d) Dark pink/Red nail polish;

e) Blue nail polish;

f) Black nail polish;

g) Makeup sponge;

h) Striping brush/Tiny brush for details.

  All you must do is: 

1) Take a good care of your nails and cuticles and apply a base coat. Paint your nails one coat of white nail polish, to make your base color for your gradient.

2) Cover your skin and cuticles with scotch tape so it'll be easier to clean your skin after you've made the gradient.

3) Make a cute gradient using yellow, orange, red and blue nail polish, using the colors on this order (Again, here's the Gradient Nails tutorial).

4) After removing the scotch tape, clean out your skin and cuticles. Now, with a striping brush or a tiny brush for details, draw a banana shape on your nail.

5) To make the dolphin you just need to add some details like a nose, a flipper, a dorsal fin and the flukes. After it all dried, apply a top coat to protect your design. On my thumb nail, I've made a little island with a palm tree, but as they're even easier to make than the dolphin, I decided that there was no need to make a tutorial.

  Super easy, and super cute. Thanks for watching!

  Kisses, 

  Patrícia :)

Daily tip - Why do my nails turn YELLOW?

Hello everyone! :)

  I just can't avoid it, it's a must for me to upload some stuff to my blog, and I bet you appreciate it as well. Well, even though I can't paint my nails, I've decided to update you with some information that I consider to be useful for those who keep coloring nails. On my previous post (Challenge Updates), I've told you that I wasn't liking the looks of my nails, and that they need a time to breathe and get healthier. Well, that has an explanation that most of people doesn't know. And I'll explain it to you right now. So:

Why do my nails turn YELLOW?

  First of all, you must know what are your nails made of... Your nails are planes of hard, tightly packed epidermis cells, the same cells that make up your skin. That's right, these particular cells of your nails are considered dead, and they're filled with a protein called keratin. Only three-fourths of your nail bed (the part where your skin is still attached) is actually exposed above your skin. And it takes about six months for a nail to grow completely, and men's nails grow faster than women's nails.

  All right, so, like skin, nails need exposure to oxygen to stay healthy. The keratin in nails also allows the water to pass through your nails. And when your nails present irregular ridges, peeling, breaking and discoloration, for no reason, it could be a sign of possible health issues. But, in many cases, yellow nails are just a result of staining due to contact with certain chemicals, such as acetone, nail polish and nail polish remover, or even due to smoking. 

  That's why it's necessary to give your nails a polish-free week, every once in a while, and it's extremely important to use a protective base coat. 

  But then you ask yourselves: 

I already have my nails yellow, what can I do? 

  Most of dermatologists say that to eliminate yellow stains, you must lightly buff your natural nails and soak them in lemon juice for about five to ten minutes. Soaking must be done every single day, when you're having your polish-free week. But... Why lemon juice? Lemons have some oxidative properties that are able to remove deeply ingrained impurities and discoloration from nails. It will also strengthen your nails. It is also important to keep your nails and cuticles hydrated.

  And this is what I do every day.

  I hope this was helpful to you. Thanks.

  Kisses,

  Patrícia :)

Challenge Updates

Hello everyone! :)

  I'm here to talk with you about my challenge situation. I'm not happy to announce that until the end of the month I won't be able to come here and post my nails, nor even paint my nails. And it's all due to a reason: I'm starting my University times again and until the end of the month I'll have to use my University suit. I don't know if where you are from have this custom, but here in Portugal we do it a lot! Well, having to use my University suit forbids me of walking around with my nails colored, it's against the rules. So... We all have to wait until the end of the month to begin again my challenge.

  I'm sad to give you these news, but I really can't avoid it, and believe me I would if I could. I will also use this break time from my challenge to "clean" my nails and to let them breathe, 'cause I think it's not healthy to my nails having them in contact with acetone, or nail polish remover, every single day. 

  P.S.: If you have no idea what a portuguese University suit looks like, take a look! 

  

  I have to wear something looked like the left one, and boys wear one like the right one. It's a really amazing thing, 'cause when we dress our university suits we all look the same, there's no racism, no discrimination, anything. It's an incredible feeling. 

  

  Once again, I'm extremely sorry about this issue. Thanks everyone, I love you.

  Kisses, 

  Patrícia. :)