Nail Design – Rock It!

If you are not a big fan of the bright colors, or the neon ones you should try this gorgeous black leather effect for your manicure.

• First polish your nail with classic black nail polish. Let it dry. 
• Stick thin tape strips in order to make diamond-shaped gaps.

• Fill them with matt black nail polish.
• Remove the strips carefully.
• Enjoy your gorgeous nail art!

Colorful Beautiful Tape Nail Art

Beautiful manicure for you ladies .

Here are the steps and technique  how to create it 

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First apply base coat in this case white .

Then make fewyellow  spots over your nails . Around the yellows dots apply pink polish such as at the second and third picture .

And again around the pink polish apply blue . When it’s dry place the tape as shown at the tutorial each tape should start from the yellow dot .

After that apply black layer of nail polish . Remove the tapes and apply top coat . Ta-da super easy !

DIY tools for your nail art kit

Fancy doing your own nails, but don't want to spend too much? Here are some nail-art tools that you can make from things lying around the house. They help create the perfect dots, lines and just about any design you set your mind to.

 

Detailing brush

What it is:

These brushes, which are the easiest and most efficient of all tools, are a must have for any nail - art designer. There is no end to their usefulness, as they can be used to draw anything from thin stripes to intricate flower patterns. A good detailing brush will also prevent smudging and lumpy polish.

How to make it: 

Take any paint brush and cut its bristles till you get a thin brush. In order to avoid cutting too much, start from one side and cut a few strands at a time. You can also use old eyeliner brushes after thoroughly washing them and occasionally dipping them in nail polish remover to prevent the bristles from getting dry.

Dotting tool

What it is: 

A dotting tool is essential to get the perfect polka-dot design.

How to make it:

Multiple items can be used to get cute dots — a toothpick, the back end of a paintbrush, a driedup ball pen or a round-tipped pin. Different-sized dots can be achieved by using different tools.

Manicure strips

What it is: 

Apart from helping one sport a trendy manicure, these strips help create neat geometric designs with ease.

 

How to make it: 

Cut small strips of cellotape and stick them on butter/trace paper. This will also help you reuse them. Ideally, these strips are half a centimetre each, but feel free to experiment.

(Contributed by Meera Nair)

DIY manicure: simple steps to fresh nails

Hands and nails can reveal so much about a person. Do you invest in a salon manicure or take an at-home approach to nail care?

Well cared for hands and nails can show the difference between being a polished professional or a frazzled mess. We don’t all need to visit the salon every month though. I’m going to give you some basic advice on how to care for your hands and nails at home. Firstly, keep your hands and nails clean. A quick scrub with a nail brush will keep you looking well-groomed. Secondly, make sure you keep your nails trimmed. You can choose the length that suits you but stay consistent – it doesn’t look good if your nail lengths are all higgledy piggledy.

Manicures aren’t just for ladies, men always look more polished when their nails are clean and short too! And let’s face it – the real reason we get manicures? It’s a great opportunity to relax and keeping our nails neat can help us feel good about ourselves each time we look at our hands!

 

Whether you decide the nail salon or an at-home manicure is the right level of pampering for your lifestyle (and your wallet) let me walk you through a DIY manicure. You know there will always be a time when the nail salon is unexpectedly closed or you have a hangnail and need to tackle your own manicure anyway.

DIY manicure – what you’ll need:

-  Nail polish remover

-  Cotton balls or cotton pads

-  Cuticle groomer or cuticle cream

-  Nail clipper and nail file (try to avoid metal files as they can be damaging)

-  Nail buffer

-  Hand scrub and hand cream

If you choose to apply nail polish, you’ll need:

-  Rubbing alcohol

-  Base coat and clear top coat

-  Colors and nail designs … here’s your chance to get creative!

-  Fine paintbrush to add design details or fix up any mistakes

 

7 steps to a basic DIY manicure:

Start out by cleaning your nails with cotton balls and nail polish remover. This will remove residue from your nails, even if you’re aren’t wearing nail polish.

Gently push your cuticles back with your cuticle groomer or apply cuticle cream. Don’t cut your cuticles yourself!

Clip your nails to your desired length. For men, the ideal length should show about 1 millimeter of white. Some people like to go very short with nail length, but cutting nails too short could expose skin under your nail bed. Women can get away with having longer nail lengths as a fashion statement, but women should also consider shorter nail lengths to help nail polish last longer. Nail polish on longer nails tends to chip faster.

After cutting your nails, make the edges smooth with a nail file. You could file your nails just to smooth the edges, or you could choose a particular nail shape to create a look. Some common nail shapes are oval, square and squoval (square with rounded edges). The latest nail trends; round and almond shape are also gaining popularity. To determine the best nail shape for you, look at how wide your nail bed is. If you have a wide nail bed, a round or oval shape may complement your nail shape. If your nail beds are narrow, try a square or squoval shape.

Continue to smooth your nails by using a nail buffer on the surface of your nails.

Now that your nails are smooth, it’s time to focus on your skin. Use an exfoliant or hand scrub to get rid of any rough skin. If you want to keep this manicure completely DIY, try making a hand scrub with sugar and olive oil.

Complete your DIY manicure by massaging your hands and forearms with hand cream to keep your hands soft.

5 extra steps for a polished DIY manicure:

Prepare your nails for polish by removing excess oils with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball or pad.

Apply a base coat on each nail. This will protect your nail from staining and can help nail polish ‘grip’ so that it lasts longer.

Now the creative part: nail polish! You can use any color you’d like, mix and match colors, attempt French tips, or try one of this year’s most popular nail trends: ombre nails.

After your nail polish dries, seal it with a clear top coat to increase shine. To protect your nail polish from chips try to paint along the front of your nail to really seal the color.

The last step to a professional looking manicure: dip your paintbrush in nail polish remover and remove any excess polish or tidy mistakes!

 

Tips to make your manicure last longer

Now that you’ve accomplished this great DIY manicure by yourself, here are some tips on how to make your manicure last longer.

 Long lasting manicure tip 1

If you’ve applied polish, wait until your nails are completely dry to go on with your usual activities. Even though nails may look dry, it could take up to hours for nail polish to completely harden.

Long lasting manicure tip 2

Keep your hands and cuticles moisturized. This will help your hands look well cared for and will help your manicure last longer.

 Long lasting manicure tip 3

Wear household gloves when washing dishes or doing chores. This may seem like a no-brainer, but I’m guilty tackling the dishes with no gloves and drenching my poor nails. Our nails are porous so too much time underwater can weaken them. Wearing gloves will protect your nails from harsh detergents and can help prevent chipping.

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I hope these nail and hand care steps and tips created a fabulous DIY manicure for you. Let me know how your DIY manicure turned out in the comments section.

Written by beauty expert, Jacquie Carter. Jacquie is Director of Outer Nutrition at Herbalife. 

5 Ways Your Nail Polish Habit Is Ruining Your Nails

There’s nothing we love more than a fresh manicure. But always having polish on your fingers, or changing colors weekly, can end up weakening your nails, leading to dryness, discoloration, and even breakage. And, sadly, not even perfectly applied color can mask these issues, let alone fix them.

To help you keep your nails healthy, while polished, we got the low-down from Priti NYC nail guru Kim D’Amato about some of the consequences that come from constant manis and how you can avoid them.

Always wearing polish on your nails

“A well-manicured hand gives you that boost of confidence and is always lovely to look at — and it adds a pop of color to your day,” D’Amato says. However, your nails do need a break between manis, so be sure to let your nails go naked periodically. Nails are made of layers of dead keratin, so they do not “breathe” so to speak, but they will weaken if they are constantly covered in polish. 

Forgetting the base coat

Always be sure to wear a clear protective base coat, D’Amato advises, to avoid yellow-nail-syndrome. Yellowed nails can be caused by a number of things, including nail fungus, smoking, or an underlying medical problem, but excessively wearing nail polish without a base coat can also be a major cause.

Constantly changing your color— and using acetone between shades

Traditional nail polish removers can really dry out your nails,  leading to peeling and splitting (which can increase your risk of contracting a nail infection). Avoid remover with an acetone base at all costs, D’Amato warns, to keep nails healthy. She suggests using Priti NYC’s soy-based remover instead.

Peeling your polish off

Peeling nails can be caused by many different factors, such as dietary deficiency of vitamins, minerals, protein, amino acids, side effects from medication, weather changes, and exposure to chemicals, and psoriasis. But you up your risk for weak nails when you decide to forgo the remover and pick at your chipping polish — a major no-no. The cells on your nail grow in a slanted direction, like fish scales, and pushing them in the wrong direction can cause breakage.

Focusing on just the color

Taking biotin and vitamins can help keep your nails healthy, D’Amato says, as will using gloves while doing housework. However, the act of ”doing your nails” needs to entail more than simply slapping on polish. Keep your nails healthy by trimming and  lightly buffing them in one direction — from the cuticle to the tip — then rubbing  oil onto and under the nails to seal in moisture, she advises.