Girls Gone Curly

It seems that everyone is going curly now that the weather is changing. I wore my hair curly for two weeks straight (although I have since straightened it), and I must say that it was refreshing to switch up my look. This hair style reminded me of my college days when I first went natural. Back then my hair was super short and curly! Sometimes its just easier to allow your hair to be in its natural state, right?!

When I switch to curly, I use the As I Am shampoo and leave-in conditioner (available at Sally’s Beauty Supply), which instantly makes my hair feel more curly than usual…Amazing!!! I also hear that Jane Carter’s Curl Defining Cream and Moroccan Oil’s Curl Defining Cream are nice for curly chicks too. Have any of you used those products? If you are natural, what kinds of products do you traditionally use?

Once I wash my hair and massage my leave-in conditioner into it, I take small sections and put them in two strand twists. Most of my hair is super curly, but the front of my hair is wavy so I usually have to twist the front and then roll the ends up with perm rods to mimic the rest of my curls. Does anyone else have this problem? Anywho, if I am pressed for time, I will sit under the dryer to speed up the drying process. Otherwise, I will leave it to dry overnight and untwist it in the morning. While untwisting my hair, I always use some type of grease or oil to make sure that my hair looks moisturized. Then the magic happens! Lol…At night, I twist my hair back up, and I’ve found that my curls look more loose and natural as the days go on.

I see that Hollywood is also going curly for the summer as well. I love these looks:

I think I am going to switch back and forth between straight and curly depending on what I am doing…How will you be wearing your tresses this summer?? XX

Image Credits: www.Essence.com

Quick Post: Tribal Nails Anyone?

I was playing around with my Sally Hansen’s nail art pen in black (which I have never used BTW) and I decided to try my hand at creating a tribal print on my nails. It came out okay for a first try (I think) but I ran into a serious problem when I tried to do my right hand. My right hand was an epic FAIL! I have gotten really good at painting my right hand, which took a lot of practice, but now I see that nail art is a whole other animal! Lol…

But tell me what you think about my left hand:

In case you are wondering, I used Essie’s Lights as the base color. Then I put one coat of the Out the Door base coat (gotta love that shine!)…

Hope you enjoyed this quick post! Talk to you all soon! xxx

NOTD: Across the Universe

I recently picked up Deborah Lippmann’s Across the Universe (ATU) nail polish and I am loving it! I imagine that it would look gorgeous layered over a number of colors, but in this post I paired it with China Glaze’s Frostbite, which (as you all know) is my favorite nail color of all time.

Normally, I would be on to a totally different nail polish by now, but Frostbite is such a gorgeous color I can’t take it off just yet. I have been wearing it since Sunday and I added Across the Universe to my index and ring fingers just to add a little pizazz.

You could totally wear ATU on every nail, but I am just being lazy because I dont want to deal with scrubbing all that glitter off my nails when it’s time to redo my mani. Lol…Speaking of the glitter, ATU has both blue and green hexagonal glitter and tiny blue specks of glitter in it as well as a dark but sheer background color (perhaps a sheer dark blue). It could be worn alone or over any blue or black nail polish. In the pictures below, I put one coat of Frostbite on my ring finger and two coats of ATU on top of it. The rest of my nails have just two coats of Frostbite on them. Gorge!

Now I can’t end this post without saying that I have seen a similar glitter to ATU. Milani’s FX nail polish in Teal looks pretty similar to this one. However, Milani’s Teal includes silver hexagonal glitter in addition to the blue and green ones. Also, it doesn’t have the dark background color either. Surprisingly, these differences actually could make the Milani nail polish stand out a little bit more depending on what nail color its paired with. Further, you could easily add a dark nail polish underneath Teal and get a look that is practically identical to ATU. $5 versus $18…And yet, I like the Deborah Lippmann one better…mainly because it is a little more muted and subtle as opposed to the Milani one. The dark background color tones the glitter down a bit. But that’s just my opinion!

Have you tried any of the polishes from Milani’s FX Glitter line? Or any of Deborah Lippmann’s collection? What are your favorites?

Hope you enjoyed this post! XX

Mini Moments

One thing that I have learned from Instagram is to capture mini moments throughout the day…From nail products to traffic jams, I post all sorts of photos on my Instagram account. Here are some moments I captured this week, just in case you missed them…

Rediscovered these Carrera sunnies!!

I searched high and low for Essie’s Bikini So Teeny nail polish and I found the last one hidden on a high shelf in Target (I think someone was hiding it and had planned on coming back for it)…Love this color!

A peacock journal I purchased recently from Barnes and Noble. My current journal is so raggedy (and is falling apart!)…I am trying to use up the last couple of pages so that I can start writing in this one…

I’ve been eyeing these Rebecca Minkoff crossbody bags for quite some time now. Finally scored this one on sale!! Thought I would step outside my box and purchase a color I wouldn’t normally wear…Magenta Shimmer with gold hardware.

Started reading this book the other night in Barnes and Noble…In the process of repositioning myself for great things to come…

Until the next post…XX

Mani Essentials: Nails 101

Nothing compliments a great outfit better than an amazing manicure. Ladies, we have to make sure that we take care of our nails! I am often asked what I use to care for my nails, so I thought I would give you all some tips and tricks that have been useful to me.

Here are what I deem to be Mani Essentials:

Mani Essentials…

10 Step at Home Manicure:

1. Soak your hands in soapy water for five minutes or apply a cuticle remover to soften your cuticles. I would suggest Sally Hansen’s Instant Cuticle Remover Gel because it is quick, and easy to use. I use it about once a week.
2. Push your cuticles back. I normally use a metal tool to do this, but you can use your fingernails instead if you don’t have one.
3. Exfoliate your hands with a scrub. I would recommend the One Minute Manicure in Classic Mint or any other exfoliant that is specifically for the hands and feet. Massage the exfoliant into your hands, and be sure to include your cuticles. You want to remove as much dead skin as possible. I do not recommend that you cut your cuticles, as their purpose is to protect you from infection.
4. Moisturize your hands with a cream or cuticle butter. I use Burt’s Bees Lemon Cuticle Butter (pictured above) every day, several times a day. Moisturized cuticles will make your manicure look more polished.
5. Shape your nails. I use either a crystal or regular nail file when shaping my nails. When filing your nails, remember to file in one direction. Do not file back and forth, which can cause peeling.
6. Apply a base coat to the nail. Base coats protect your nails from staining and also help your nail color to last longer. I would recommend Orly’s Bonder or CND’s Sticky Base Coat. If you need a nail strengthener, try OPI’s Nail Envy (which I am using at the moment) or Nailtek’s Foundation II.
7. Apply your nail color. You should apply at least two coats of nail polish. Be sure that you paint the edges of your nails to avoid premature chipping.
8. Apply a top coat. I recommend Seche Vite’s Fast Drying Top Coat (pictured above), Sally Hansen’s InstaDry, or INM’s Out the Door Fast Drying Top Coat. In addition, OPI, and many other brands, have drying drops that can speed up the drying process.
9. Clean up your cuticles. Be sure to clean any access nail polish that may have gotten on your cuticles with a corrector pen (pictured above) or precision Q-tips with nail polish remover on them.
10. Finally, when removing your nail polish, be sure to use a nail polish remover that has some type of moisturizer in it so that you don’t dry out your cuticles. Do not use pure acetone! If you are going to use acetone, at least use the one that has wheat protein and/or vitamin E in it. I use the Beauty Secrets Acetone from Sally’s Beauty Supply (pictured above). I’ve also heard good things about Zoya’s Remove +.

I hope these tips help you to care for your nails at home! If you should have any questions about any of these tips, feel free to post them below. XX

This post from Say Yes to Happy just gave me so much life…I had to pass it along. Enjoy and be creative!!

Say Yes to Happy

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