Coloured tip nails :)

Sooo i thought i'd do a little post on one of my fave easy mani's to do
It basically involves leaving most of your nail nude and painting cute coloured tips to make them pop :)

So here's how:
1) After applying a clear base coat, paint a few coats of a colour which is similar to your skin for a mannequin-hands effect. I use OPI Samoan Sand :) You could skip this stage and just use your natural nail colour as the base but I like the ultra-nude look Samoan Sand gives me :)

2) Leave the base colour to dry for a good amount of time (so if you're using nail guides they will not pull off some of the polish when you take them of). Then, using nail tip guides (or free hand if you dare!), paint a layer of colour on the tips.

3) Leave to dry and wack on a top coat to keep it looking glossy and chip-free, and ta-dah you are done!!

Here are some of my favs, purple (fav colour ever!) and hot pink:
(Not gunna lie these are very messy, did the purple free-hand in a hotel room with my nails in the worst condition they have EVER EVER been because surfing destroyed them so bad ;/ BUT WHATEVER :))





Samoan sand looks two totally different colours in these photos, it's more like the first not sure why it appeared so dark in the second set of photos but ohwell :)

Hopee you like!
xo

Cleaning clip-in hair extensions

A while back I posted about my clip-in hair extensions - click here to see the original post - and I thought I would do a post about how to maintain your hair extensions and keep them looking nice and healthy so you can use them for longer :)

When many people think of hair extensions, especially the clip-in variety, it conjures up images of ratty, scraggly strips of obviously artificial hair, -shudder-, but by buying good quality real hair extensions and taking good care of them you can do your bit to help stop this prejudice!! And generally have some better looking extensions aha, which I suppose is probably the main reason you're here :')

My method of washing extensions is quite, erm, thorough as i'm a bit OCD about them looking nice and stuff - some people just shampoo and condition like normal but as extensions aren't attached to your head and so have no way of getting your natural oils they tend to dry out a lot more, so imo normal washing isn't really sufficient for them. Extensions tend to dry out rather than get greasy.

Q&As at the bottom of the post!
So lets get started :)

1) First of all, comb your extensions so they are smooth and have no knots. Fill your sink/bowl/whateveryourusing with lukewarm water and add some conditioner and mix it in. Then put your extensions in and leave to soak for 5 minutes.

2) Next gently rub a mild shampoo through your extensions, combing the product through with your fingers. Being gentle is vital as you don't want hairs to fall out - this will make them go scraggly more quickly. I tend to squeeze the product into the extensions rather than rub.

3) Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water, then squeeze out excess water. Next put conditioner on. My conditioner is for coloured hair which will stop the colour fading, so no giveaways with a dodgy colour-match! Remember to use plenty of conditioner on the ends as this is the part that will dry out the most.

4) Rinse again and squeeze out excess water. Next apply a hair treatment or masque (Aussie 3 minute miracle deep conditioning treatment is fab!) and leave on for at least 10 minutes (I often leave it on for about 30-45)

5) Rinse off and squeeze again. Now lightly comb through your extensions and lay them out to dry (you can hang them from a shelf by pinning them down with a book or heavy object, or I spread mine out on a towel on my bed). Leave them to air dry as it is better for them than using heat. As they dry I tend to spritz them with a bit of leave in conditioner, focusing on the ends.

6) When dry, they may look a bit wavy or not how you want them, so just use heat to style them how you want. Then you're ready to clip-in and go!


Q: How often do clip-in hair extensions need washing?
A: Hair extensions should be washed when they are looking dry and perhaps a bit ratty, which is generally after 5-6 wears.

Q: Real hair or synthetic hair?
A: REAL HAIR ALL THE WAY. It may sound gross, but they are so so so much better than fake hair extensions, which are truely awful. They look and feel fake and plasticy, and tend to end up ratty and trashy no matter how good care you take of them.

Q: I wash mine regularly but they look really scraggly and bad?
All hair extensions are eventually going to look past their best, they're just no substitute for your own hair unfortunately! Taking good care of them really does help extend their life though :)

Q: Should you use heat protection or hairspray on clip-in hair extensions?
Sure! If you're worried about drying out or damaging them, you can use pretty much any product designed for your own hair on your extensions if they're made of real hair too. Don't overload them with products though as it might weigh them down or change the way they look for longer than you intended!


Hope I helped! Love for hair extensions♥

Half-moon manicure tutorial

This week I had to cut my nails drastically - they have been in awful condition since I went surfing on holiday and since then i've been covering up the damage with polish but they were all splitting and peeling and I couldn't hide the damage anymore so unfortunately they had to go :(

After leaving them nail polish-free for about 5 days I really couldn't stand the sight of my tiny 'naked' nails anymore aha...so i decided to paint them, and to make up for the previous plainess I wanted to make them more interesting with a half-moon (or reverse french) mani :)

Here's what I came up with: (before cleanup sorry aha)


I used:

OPI Rumple's Wiggin & Max Factor nailfinity 882 Angel Nails (metallic silver/purple colour)

How to do the half-moon manicure
1) Remove previous nail polish and apply a clear base coat

2) Once base coat is dry, apply the colour you want as the half-moon, so here I applied the metallic purple/silver colour from Max Factor. This is quite opaque so I only needed 1 coat, do more if you need to but try to use opaque colours otherwise you will end up with looads of layers of nail polish which will peel.

3) Wait about 15-20 minutes for this layer to dry completely, and then stick on nail guide stickers where you want the half-moon shape to be at the base of your nail. The sticker protects areas you want nail polish free. Here's a (pretty bad, sorry!) photo explaining what I mean:



4) Apply your main colour (here I used OPI Rumple's Wiggin which is a lilac) from the nail guide sticker upwards, and leave to dry. Once it is fully dry remove the sticker and apply a top coat to seal it :)

Tah-dah! You are done :D

I've tried doing it the other way around and putting the main colour on first, then using tips to draw on the half-moons but even with the tip guides this gets quite messy and it's difficult to get the right shape, so this technique works better!

There are soo many combos you can try out, google image 'half-moon manicure' for inspiration!

Thanks for reading!

What do you think of half-moon manis? What colour combinations do you like?
xo

Glitter tip nails :)

A couple of weeks ago I had a glitter cravingg and decided to use loose glitter on the tips of my nails.
The process was extremely messy - there was literally glitter everywhere - but the result was worth it! Plus I was helping out at Rhythms of the World music festival that weekend putting wristbands on hundreds of people, so my nails got the best exposure ever!! ;D

Here are some pics (apologies for poor application and lack of cleanup!)





A blurred pic to show the glitter colours:



To do this manicure I started by applying a few coats of the base colour, Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry in Vogue (these nail polishes are really great and affordable)

After waiting about 10-20 minutes for the polish to be completely dry I stuck nail tip guides on my nails and put a clear top coat on the tips.

I then pressed the loose glitter onto my nails using my fingers. I tried sprinkling it on but it didn't stick as well and there was too much waste. This method was also quite messy but the glitter stuck amazingly and the manicure was perfectt for a good few days before chipping or major glitter fallout.

Once the tips had dried i removed the nail guides and painted 2 layers of clear topcoat on to ensure the glitter was well stuck down and it was not gritty.

I personally love this look but its far too much hassle to do on a regular basis!! Thank god for glitter polishes, I think I may use them to recreate this look again in the future aha :)


Have you ever tried using loose glitter on your nails? If so have you found an easier mess-free method? Let me know!♥

Giving my friend a makeover!♥

This weekend me, my twin sister Hazel and Bea decided to test out our styling skills by giving our friend Fiona a makeoverr :)

Hazel did the hair and I did the makeup, and she is wearing my dress/top from Primark as a top and Hazel's skirt from TopShop, and belt from idk where and bracelets from New Look :)

Here are some (quite dodgy) before shots:




And noww for the after shots!!




Ta-da!

Fee loved her new look and I hope you guys do too :))

Hair curlers used were Nicky Clarke
Makeup used:
No7 Tinted Moisturiser
Bare Escentuals Medium Beige (my powder but i use it for everyone as it is quite sheer and just warms the face up more)
Bronzer from ELF Blush and Bronzer Compact
ELF Mineral Blush in Coral
Eyeshadows from the ELF Mini Makeup Collection (the yellow/nude colour and the chesnut brown colour)
Antique Gold Barry M Dazzle Dust
Fiona's mascara, not sure what it was exactly but it was one of those dual mascaras
Unbranded gel liner (only used the tiniest bit)

Some of the ELF product swatches are avaliable here on an earlier post I did.


Ever given your friends a makeover? How did it go? :)