fancy french

update of my life... i graduated!! why this is relevant to BB: i can update more! woohoO!

anyway, i had some time today so i did my nails. i've been trying to conserve $ these days so i've been doing french tips on my own:


excuse the cheesy pose. hahaa i'm too lazy to use my digicam.

what i used:

(horrible picture, i know)

* OPI Alpine Snow (the solid super white)
* OPI I'll Take the Cake! (the sheer pinkish)
* Canmake 708A (clear polish w/ iridescent med & small glitter)
* Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
* some cheap flower nail stickers from Forever21
* soft file block (for 'roughening up' the nails slightly so the polish has more traction)
* dense smudge brush (normally used for makeup -- from Target)
* ONYX Professional 100% acetone nail polish remover

what i did:
first, i filed/buffed my nails to give them some texture so the polish will hold/stay on better. then i applied OPI Alpine Snow to the tips of my nails, and w/ the smudge brush + polish remover, i cleaned off/shaped the jagged parts of the white tips. i let the white dry for a bit, then applied the pinkish OPI I'll Take the Cake! onto the upper/non-polished part of my nails (the part opposite from the white). this polish adds a soft & subtle pearl to your nails that that makes them look acrylic. before it dries, i added the clear coat to the white tips and work up, going over the freshly-applied pinkish coat. (FYI- if you coat your whole nail w/ the OPI I'll Take the Cake!, it will smudge your white tips! the clear coat, however, doesn't smudge them.) after this is done, you have your basic french do.

i wasn't going for the crazy jdm look so i didn't add too much to my french tips, but i did want to make them a little more fun by adding the Canmake 708A glitter polish and the flower + rhinestone stickers on my thumb and ring fingers. (i absolutely LOVE 3D nails but they kind of bother me when they're on. i end up picking at them - bad bad BAD!)

alrighty, time for bed... almost.

Best.TopCoat.Ever. - Seche Vite

this has got to be the BEST top coat ever. i first found out about seche vite overhearing a girl on the bus (in NJ, not cali) rant to her friends about how great it was. so, i tried it and absolutely LOVED it. i never really thought there were so much variability in nail polishes but there definitely is. not only does it dry fairly quickly, it also allows your nail polish to stay on for @ least a few (to several) days longer before chipping. of course, this also depends on if you have a good base coat underneath your color polish to keep it from sliding off. however, this is one top coat that i can consider my HG. love, love, love it! (btw- when i went to taiwan earlier this year and got my crazy nails did there, they were using seche vite too.)

Price: $4.50 - $10.00
Where to Buy: drug stores, beauty stores
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars
Tip: if you buy it at a drug store (e.g., CVS), expect to pay around $7.99 for it. i bought mine at Sally's for $4.99 (or so) w/ my membership discount (membership costs only $5/year) -- well worth it.

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to piggyback off of this nail polish post, i'd also like to share another nail polish that i LOVE:


OPI strawberry margarita ♥

if you're looking for a nice candy pink (w/o glitter), this is the color for you! over the weekend, i got my nails done and picked this color to try. it's not a light pink or a dark pink -- it's just in between. the color is so vibrant - it really pops! it would make a really cool m&m color. lol


my crappy webcam doesn't take good photos. the pink actually looks more bright and slightly coral-ish than what is seen here.

i ♥ OPI.