Perfect 10! My Steps for a Week-Long Lasting Mani

It has come to my attention -- after mentioning in a recent post that my manis last a week -- that this information shocked many of you. I thought that how long everyone's lasted, but I guess I was wrong. As with so much else on this blog: I'm thrilled to share my secrets with you!

Long ago I worked in a hair and nail salon downtown and learned a lot of tips from both the nail tech and hair stylists. In fact, even now my new hair stylist calls me an "advanced client" because I need so little explanation on everything.

So now here are the steps I take, good, bad and ugly. I hope your nails will look shiny and gorgeous for a WHOLE WEEK!

 My arsenal of tools

* Cotton balls to remove old polish

* "Jug" of Nail polish remover from Sally's (it's cheap and works really well)

* Orange buffer and black Beauty Secrets File from Sally's

* Small blue bottle of cuticle softener (the bottle is old but has a pointed tip; I just keep refilling it with a cheap bottle of cuticle remover from Sally's

* Serious Cuticle cutters and metal cuticle pusher (spend the extra 10 bucks and you will have great ones for years! SO worth it)

* Economy size base coat, again from Sally's

* My secret weapon Essie Good to Go (the best 10 bucks you will ever spend as far as quick-dry top coats go.)

 

Yep, it starts off ugly. My nails peel just like anyone's! I just removed my blue polish and it's still in the cracks but that's ok.

 

My hair grows at a snail's pace, but my nails grow like a Chia pet! I start by cutting them with toenail clippers each week. They make a straighter line than the small clippers do.

 

Then I go at them with my favorite straight edge nail file that you can get at Sally's

Then I go around each cuticle with some cuticle softener/remover. I leave this on for about a minute or more. It starts to get drippy fast so I don't use too much.

 

Then I begin the cuticle pushing/gunk scraping. Sexy huh? This creates a smooth base for the most crucial part in the polish application in my opinion -- the bottom of the nail. If there is too much cuticle you end up with messy polish that bleeds.

 Then it's time to scrub the gunk off. Just keeps getting sexier, I know. I use a cheap little nail brush that I actually got in a little set from a student of mine for Christmas a few years back.

 Then I go around now that the cuticles are soft from the washing and clip away any excess bits of dead skin.

 Then I take my buffing cube and buff the the tips and tops of each nail.

 

I especially focus on the area closest to the cuticle where the nail is fresh.

After this I give my hands another washing to get rid of all the powdery nail shavings.

After that I apply a layer of base coat, which acts like glue for your nail and the polish.

I apply the polish with one stripe straight down the middle...

...Then curve one stroke around each side. This is the trickiest of them all, especially when you're painting your dominant hand.

After applying 2 coats of nail color, I add my magical quick-drying super shiny top coat, Essie Good to Go. And then in about 5 minutes it's all dry! That stuff is incredible!

And just in case you were wondering how I store all this, here is the shelf in our linen cabinet with colors organized by hue. My husband even got me some of those tap lights so I can see in the way back!

Overall I'd say this whole process takes me about 30 minutes.

That's it ladies! I hope that helps you save some money on salon manicures. Good luck and remember practice makes perfect. Any questions, leave 'em in the comments. I'd be happy to help!

Fade-Out/Ombre Mani

Finally home from Vegas and well rested. I didn't realize how tired I was until I woke up at 1 in the afternoon the day after our return flight! Yikes! Guess I needed some rest. I was not very productive for the rest of the day, but I did manage to go pick up a few items to fill up our bare refrigerator and take a few outfit pics.

The real highlight of my day was finding this new fade-out/ombre mani inspiration from Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere! Huge thanks to her for the inspiration and great taste.

So this time I copied her, but I can see this transitioning into so many different color combinations later this fall. I've been loving all the gold french tips I've been seeing around the blogger/Pintrest world, but it's just too hard for me to do the tips straight. This fade-out tip is a perfect compromise because imperfection is totally on your side.

I tried out a few different combinations (see below) before I decided on my final colors of Revlon, Dark Pleasures "Talk Dirty" & Essie "Steel-ing the Scene"

I used a make up sponge to put on the darker tips. The key is: less is more. Only put a small swipe of polish on one corner of the sponge. You can aways add more later. I went back and did an extra layer right at the tip to make the fade more strong. At the end I used a Q-tip dipped in remover to go around and clean up the edges.

And there you have it! Fade-out/ombre mani that will be perfect for all your fall events! Have fun creating your own color combinations. I'd love to hear all about them... and if you send me a picture I might use it in a future blog post!

 The finished product!

 "Dirty Talk" & "Steel-ing the Scene"

 All my trial combos, one on each nail. I decided on the ring finger combo, but I also like the pointer finger option too. Not so impressed with the light tip trial at all.

My work station.

Ready to go in minutes with my favorite and quite possibly the best quick-drying topcoat out there: Essie "Good to go." The best ten $10 you can put towards any at-home manicure, I promise! It's always dry before I even remember that I just painted them and start engaging in some sort of mani-damaging activity. I've been using it for years.