My Manicure

If you have weak nails that break often or just don’t seem to grow, I know where you’re coming from. About six months before I started this nail art blog my nails were so thin they would actually bend when I pushed on them. They’d break the instant they grew past my fingertips and I never had to cut them - they never got long enough to! I tried every nail polish that claimed to be “diamond strength” or “maximum growth” and none of them did a thing for me. 

Then I heard about the vitamin method - specifically “Biotin.” Biotin is a natural B-vitamin that stimulates the growth of nails and neutralizes harmful molecules that circulate the body and inhibit nail strength and health. I purchased a $12 bottle of Sally Hansen’s Nail Essentials and took one 3mg pill a day for a month. It took about a week and a half for me to notice a difference, but after that waiting period my nails were visually thicker! When I pushed on them they would no longer bend, which led to less breakage, which led to significant length.

After I finished my bottle of Sally Hansen I switched to a cheaper grocery store brand of Biotin that offered 5mg in a much smaller pill, more pills in a bottle. This is what I’m taking now, one a day, and I can’t even remember the last time I broke a nail. My nails grow fast, (I actually have to trim them now!) and they feel so much stronger. I can wear all the nail art I want, and it’s all thanks to Biotin. :)

If your nails break often or aren’t long enough to support all the nail art designs you’d like to try, this product might be your answer. I frequently see Biotin sold as either 600mcg, 3mg, or 5mg. I recommend you buy a bottle that is 5mg, any less and you won’t see as significant results. One tablet a day is all you need.

You can purchase Biotin at drug stores like CVS or Rite-Aid, or at any grocery store in the vitamin suppliment section. (Personally I order my Biotin from Amazon, because they have a Source Naturals 240-tablet deal for about $30. If you just want to try a single month supply though, to see if it works for you, you can find a 30-tablet bottle at a grocery store for about $5.)

I’ve discovered a marvelous little product: Nail Tek’s Extend. It’s a nail polish solvent renewer. For the five dollars I spent on it, I’ll never again have to throw out the last third of a gloppy nail polish.

I used to try and thin out my thick nail polishes with a little nail polish remover, but that’s actually a terrible way to go about it. Using nail polish remover will certainly thin out polish, but it’ll chip off much easier and the color will become weaker. Nail Tek’s Extend is the actual lyquefying solvent companies use to create their nail polishes. Adding a few drops will thin out the polish that becomes thicker with time as its solvent evaporates, but without the weakening effects of using remover. I purchased mine at Ulta and it’s sold on Amazon.com as well.

Those glops at the bottom of your nail polish bottles are perfectly good color without the liquefying solvents. Extend will work on any color, company, and even works on nail strentheners in addition to regular color polishes. You only need to use about two to three drops to refresh a gloppy polish, so your five dollars will really go along way with this product.

My most frequent nail product purchase, (other than nail polish remover,) is Nailene’s Perfect Tip French Manicure guides. They’re little stickers shaped like your nail’s smile line, and allow for sharp and crisp definition when it comes to DIY French manicures.

The manicure guides are slightly curved, while the pedicure guides are completely straight. I get mine from Rite-Aid and I’ve seen them at CVS as well. It’s only a couple dollars for 96 tip guides. 

The guides are very easy to use. You simply place the sticker guide where you’d like the white line to begin, apply white nail polish to your tips, and wait for the white to completely dry before peeling off the sticker guide.

What’s left is a clean French manicure smile line. (However, no matter what company of guideline stickers you’re using, once in a while a bit of polish might seep under the sticker and mess up your crisp line. What you can do to prevent this is make sure you rub the sticker onto your clean nail completely before applying polish, also avoid applying more than two coats of nail polish as any more than that will warp your sticker. If you still have a smudge, simply dip a cotton swab in nail polish remover and roll it along the edge to clean up your French manicure tip.) The final step is to swipe a coat of clear or nearly clear over the entire nail. 

Note: A nude-tinted clear is what’s shown on my hand in the photo. A pink-tinted clear can work as well, or a clear with a shimmer added. You can add gems like I did, or just leave them classic.

And by no means think you’re limited to just white. A unique twist on the traditional French manicure is as easy as substituting any bright color of nail polish for more interesting tips.

My Konad kit is here! :D

Ten image plates, ten stamping polishes and a clear topcoat. one stamper, two scrapers and some other bits and pieces like rhinestones and a nail buffer.

The top three plates are M51, M63 and M66, which I ordered individually. The kit came with plates M4, M5, M6, M7, M8, M9, M16, M20, M22 and M24. 

I did my toes right away using OPI’s “Dating a Royal.”

Then I stamped my fingernails using Zoya’s “Dea” as the milk chocolate base and Konad’s “Wine Red” stamping polish.

I love Konad! It’s very fast and easy to use. I’m wearing a different design on my hands right now, so I’ll get that posted to show you soon. It’s way fun to stamp and if you’d like to see Konad in action, just head over to YouTube and search “Konad.” I completely adore my giant Konad set and I’m very happy. :D

OPI DS “Glamour” is my favorite nail polish. It’s amazing on, you have no idea. If you haven’t checked out OPI’s Designer Series line, they’re all unbelievably prismatic without being difficult to apply like some thick glitter polishes. They’re actually really smooth and I love OPI’s brushes. If I wasn’t already married, I would marry OPI.

Nail polish people call prismatic polishes “holographic” but I’m stopping that right here. Prismatic polishes are not “holographic.” It’s not like there’s a tiny Princess Leia pleading for help on top of my nails, yeah? So they’re officially going to be called “prismatic” polishes on My Manicure. :)

OPI’s Designer Series comes in taupe and light pinks as well as bolder colors like blue and ruby. I love them and you should too.