Nail Whitening Regimen including Bubble White Review

I thought I'd talk about my nail whitening regimen today since I've yet to discuss in depth.  After swatching the Ulta Carnivale set yesterday my nails needed a refresher, so I'll tell you about the steps I personally take to clean them up a little bit.

I had been wearing just a base coat today, so I started by removing that.  I purchased Bubble White, seen above, at Sally Beauty. It's a couple dollars a packet and if you're frugal you can try to use less and then seal it to get more than one use.  For today, though, I used half a packet per hand.

Click to Enlarge

The directions say to use warm, not hot, water and to place your hands in immediately for 5 minutes which I did. The powder bubbles once it hits water and then kind of fizzles a bit but it eventually stops shortly after. I've used it a couple of times and I can't complain about it. It does whiten, although not drastically.

I use a manicure bowl I got from Image Beauty for around a 1.50$ but you can use any container. Just make sure not to use more than 1/3 of a cup of water, as the directions state.

I certainly apologize for showing you my pre-whitened naked nails but we'll credit to science!  My nails were a bit stained and ragged from swatching. I also have not done my whitening regimen in quite a while, so they needed it.  Even though I use acetone and that cleans the surface, sometimes through the process of doing your nails underneath your nails get stained too (under the free edge).  That's mostly the staining you see here.  Usually removal can be messy and since it re-liquifies the polish, it tends to run and get everywhere.

This photo was taken after drying my hands from the Bubble White soak.  There is still some staining, specifically underneath my nails so I do a couple things to help clean that up as well as the surface of my nails.

I get underneath a bit brighter I use a duller cuticle implement and Sally Hansen Cuticle Gel.  I squeeze a little bit under each nail and gently "scrape" underneath, following the natural contour of my nails. I've heard that you shouldn't do this. I'm not aggressively scraping and poking and prodding, I'm just sort of grazing it. I think as long as you're gentle and take time not to stab yourself that not a lot of damage will be done. For me personally, using a scrubby brush and soap at the bathroom sink isn't always enough to clean underneath my nails to the degree I'd prefer. So I do this.

When I referred to a "duller" implement, I mean the one on the left.  It has dull edges, not a sharp, crisp edge like the one on the right. I think an orange wood stick would be a good option as well since it's not sharp and possibly abrasive like the one on the right, which I believe is a Revlon brand tool. I just want to reiterate that I'm not pushing hard, digging underneath or being rough. It's a process that needs to be done gently so you don't hurt yourself or damage your nails aesthetically.

The last step I do to whiten my nails is to use a fine, like.. ultra fine, grit buffer on the surface of my nails.  I tried looking to see where I got my current buffer but I'm not sure where. Either at Harmon or Sally but it's very fine, and when you touch it, it almost feels like it wouldn't do anything. It's super smooth. If you're going to buff regularly you need to make sure you don't take too much off. I passed over each nail about 3 times and that is it. And I pressed lightly.

The photo directly above is after all three steps (Bubble White, cleaning under the free edge & buffing) were complete. You can see a definite improvement from Before and After and the whole process only takes about 10 minutes. I hope this post was helpful if not at least informative!

Free Hand Shamrock Tutorial

Since I posted my most recent giveaway with an input space for suggestions, I've noticed the most requested thing was tutorials.  So I had to think about what I know how to do that hasn't been said a million times, and most likely better than I could describe it.  I use this little technique to make free hand hearts and since a shamrock is just three hearts with a stem, I figured I could share this with anyone who doesn't have or use stamping plates.

What You'll Need:
-A polish of decent contrast to your base color (I chose Essie Navigate Her over Funky Fingers Kelly.)
-A dotting tool
-Something to practice on (I use paper plates or the back of older Bundle Monster Plates, before they put the backing on them.)
-Acetone to clean off your dotting tool in case it gets goopy
-Something to wipe your dotting too off on (I use cotton rounds, but they can shred. A paper towel would work.)

What You Do:

Make sure your current manicure is dry.  It helps if you've already put your topcoat on and had that set, too.  If you mess up and have your topcoat on, sometimes you can swipe off your oopsie without damaging the base color.

1.

Put two little dots of polish.  This is also how I make free hand hearts.  If you use a tiny dotting tool, you can drag the pooled polish into a point, creating a heart shape!

2.

Add two more little dots on the side.  Do this quickly as you'll need to drag the polish from the dots to fill in the space at the end.


3.

Repeat on the opposite side. 

4. I really didn't know how to photograph step four since its a motion, but all you do is use the dotting tool to kind of push the polish into the center to fill in the space while keeping in mind what a shamrock looks like.

5. Use your dotting tool, you may need to re-dip to get more polish for this, to make a tiny little line at the bottom of the shamrock for the stem.

As you can see in the very first picture with my dotting tool and acetone glass, you need to practice it a few times to get it down.  Practice, in my case, didn't make perfect but it made "good enough", haha.  Given the fact you'll probably be using greens and it is nearly St. Patrick's Day, even a rough shamrock should be a discernible one!

Since I'm not so good at this, I only used one for my manicure as an accent nail.

"Natural" Light

"Natural" Light

Flash

Just am FYI, Sinful Colors Green Ocean does not play nicely with FF Kelly.  It clashes, I feel.  This is two coats over my FF manicure from the previous post.  If you try this, I'd love to see your results! Post your attempts in the comments section if you'd like (=

Orly Nail Rescue Step by Step Tutorial

It's not rocket science, its actually super simple and effective but I thought since I just had a minor break today on my pinky that I'd document it and make a post out of it for anyone who is curious.

Packaging

Inside the box is a brush on nail glue, the repair powder and a square file/buffer.  Lets be real, I lost the buffer after my first use.  You can use your own files or buffers since the one they include is small and awkward anyways.

So I somehow chipped my nail this morning, it wasn't drastic by any means - but to have cut at the break and then file would mean I would've had to even out my other nails and shorten them to match.

This is the chipped/broken nail.  It was still attached so I was able to use that as base for the Nail Rescue.  It was super bendy and ready to break off.


Now, I don't have a photo of my nail with the glue on it because the glue dries quickly and I needed to get the powder on as soon as possible.  But just imagine that same fingernail all shiny and you get the basic idea.

Then you dip your nail into the powder - I personally apply the glue to my WHOLE nail and then dip my WHOLE nail into the powder.  The directions tell you to do it that way too, even though the step-by-step photos on the side of the box shown it done differently.  I prefer to put my entire nail in to make sure I'm being thorough.

Ok that looks a mess, I know.  Brush or blow off the excess powder.  Your nail will feel grainy after that.  To smooth it out, use your files and buffers to smooth it down.  You'll know its good when it FEELS smooth. It won't look smooth but it will definitely feel very smooth to the touch.

It doesn't look "finished" but it actually felt just fine at this point.  I used the file to smooth the edges and sides of my nails and my buffer to get the surface area nice and smooth.

My "Rescued" Nail

All polished and good as new!

I love and recommend this product.  I've used it 3 times total and its done exactly what it is supposed to each time.  I don't suppose it would work in the event that you actually snap part of your nail off - at least, I've never attempted reattaching it.  I hope this was helpful! (=

Edit to add additional info:  I bought this at Sally's for around $6 or $7.  I think it is also worth mentioning, that in my personal experience, once on the nail, the powder does not dissolve in acetone (even 100% acetone).  After removing nail polish with it, the powder is still holding my nail together nicely.

cuppycake tutorial

As promised, here is my cuppycake nail art tutorial (=

Six simple steps to a delicious manicure!

1.  Choose a base color that won't clash with your icing color and paint your nails with it, lol.

2.  Paint nearly 1/3 of your nail with the a different color for the cupcake wrapper.

3.  Choose a color for the lines/ridges on the cupcake wrapper that stands out enough, such as white on pink.

 4.  Choose an icing color that doesn't clash with the wrapper color either.  If the colors are too similar you won't be able to distinguish the different elements of the cupcake.  Paint (doesn't have to be perfect) this shape (whatever that shape is LOL) over the edge of the wrapper up til about 1/3 away from the base of your nail.

 5.  Fill that shape with color.  I had to go over this a couple times to hide the pink edge.  It was slightly sheer but the lines only create texture which works in this case!

 6. Decorate!  Add sprinkles and a cherry (with a shiny spot if you like) to create extra elements on the cupcake.  I used a paperclip for the sprinkles and shiny glare and the end of a paintbrush for the cherry.  Dotting tools obviously work too.

That's it!  If you plan on doing one on each nail,  it's easier to do an assembly line type of deal by doing each step to all nails before moving onto the next one.  Make sure to wait for the decorations and design to dry before adding a topcoat to avoid streaking! Bon appetit!