Beaut.ie How To: DIY Leopard Print Nails

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

leopard print nails

Flipping through the September issues of the magazines this year, a feeling of déjà vu has been creeping over me.

Hot as the hob of hell for Autumn/Winter 2010 fashion: kitten heels. Pointy toed shoes. Capes. Flared – or at the very least, bootcut – trousers. Camel as a colour, rather than a long-lashed humped animal with a cameo in SATC2. There’s lots of enthusiastic talk of a return to ladylike, grown-up dressing with an emphasis on elegance and minimalism, but most of what I’m seeing in the mags makes AW10 feel more like a straight up return to the mid ’90s than anything inspired by Mad Men.

Anyway, one of the other key trends of the season is Bet Lynch’s favourite print, and since even YSL has tipped the nod to a bit of nail art with Manucure Couture, it looks like AW10′s the time to work a bit of animal magic on your fingertips.

No special brushes or pens or other nail art accoutrements? No problem. Here’s what you need to follow my guide to achieving leopard print spots you won’t want to change:

three bottles of nail varnish (a base colour, at least one contrasting colour for the centre of the leopard spots, and a black polish to define their edges);
a bit of time; and
a reasonably steady hand.

Simples!

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Tags: AW10, DIY, How to?, leopard print, nails, swatch
Posted in DIY, Hands, Body & Feet, How to? | 26 Comments »

Rainbow (Warrior) Nails: Yay or Nay?

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

rainbow nails

Whenever I read Sophy Robson’s blog, there’s one manicure that always catches my eye. The header on the British nail maestro’s site features a handful of multi-coloured tips on a natural base, and Daiseeboo and I agree that it is fab.

The mani immediately put me in mind of Electric Picnic “that Electric Lightbulb yoke”, and I was determined to see if I could replicate the look with a view to wearing it on the weekend itself. I started with Orly Bonder base coat before popping on a layer of Goodbye Yellow, to make sure my natural nails were looking their very spiffiest.

Then, I started on the tips. Working from left to right, I created used two shades from the same colour family for dual colored tips that were asymmetrical on all but the middle fingers. The idea was to replicate the shape of a rainbow when the nails were beside each other. It honestly wasn’t difficult, just a bit fiddly, really – I found that not overloading the brush with colour so that it was sharp enough to create a neat edge and thinking a little about the placement of the sides of the tips kept things fairly straightforward.

If I hadn’t been in such a hurry to try the look and had dug through my stash properly, I could probably have come up with more color combos – and, eh, might have spotted this handy how to *before* I got started. Doh.

What do you think? Would you be tempted to give them a whirl yourself?

I used (L-R):
Darker shade – Barry M Spring Green. Lighter shade – Barry M Mint Green.
Darker shade – Rimmel Coral Romance. Lighter shade – Tammy Taylor Just Peachy.
Darker shade – Rimmel Sky High. Lighter shade – China Glaze For Audrey.
Darker shade – Sally Hansen Fuschia Bling Bling. Lighter shade – Barry M Baby Pink.

Tags: festival beauty, nails
Posted in DIY, Hands, Body & Feet | 40 Comments »

Tea Bag Wraps For Fragile Nails: Do They Work?

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

teabag wraps

We’ve talked before about using tea bags to patch up a broken nail and hold it together, but over the last couple of weeks I’ve been trialling a nail repair method that takes that concept to a different level. Tea bag wraps that cover the entire talon are supposed to add strength to fragile nails, which mine definitely are. My thumbnails are particularly prone to breaking, mostly because the edges of my smile lines (the lines between your nail bed and your tips ) sit really, really low down on those two nails, and I had the beginnings of no fewer than four cracks between them when I decided to get started on tea bag wraps.

I began by cutting open an unused tea bag (Lyons Green Blend, nom) and emptying the tea leaves. (Bordering on the sacreligious, I know, but needs must.) Placing the tea bag on the nail, I ran the handle of a small scissors around the edges of the nail to create an imprint of it, and then used the scissors to roughly cut out the shape of that nail. It was then pretty easy to just round the bottom corners freehand to ensure a neat base at the cuticle.

Next up: a layer of base coat (Orly Bonder), onto which I immediately pressed my tea bag cut out, trying to avoid wrinkling or air bubbles. I held it in place while the base coat dried, then trimmed and gently filed down the free edge. Then, I added another layer of base coat for luck, before proceeding with the usual two coats of colour and finishing things off with a topcoat (Essie Super Duper).

I was pretty impressed with how well the wrap lasted, considering what it was made up of. I got a full five days out of mine before it started to lift at the edges, and there was no worsening of the tears that otherwise would have ripped straight across the nails. You really do need to use a dark shade or an opaque bright over it, though – sheers and pale shades won’t disguise the texture of a tea bag at all!

Tags: nail, repair, tea bag, wrap
Posted in DIY, Hands, Body & Feet | 12 Comments »

Beaut.ie How To: Wax Your Upper Lip

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

DIY waxing

If hormones or an unfortunate encounter with a razor at a should-have-known-better age have left you predisposed to dark hairs atop your upper lip, you’ve probably tried to sort the blighters out a time or two. While I’d always recommend starting with bleach to disguise them and seeing how that goes, here’s the lowdown on a more hardcore method I’ve turned to in the last while to get shot of mine: DIY waxing.

Start with a clean, make-up free face to give the wax the best chance of working effectively. Use make-up remover to cleanse thoroughly if necessary, then wash with a gentle rinse-off cleanser to ensure no residue remains.
Gently exfoliating with something like Dermalogica’s Daily Microfoliant (or using a muslin cloth in conjunction with your cleanser) will lift off any dead skin cells, but you may prefer to skip this step if your skin is sensitive.
My current weapons of choice are Boots own brand pre-loaded wax strips – they’re good even for beginners, there’s no danger of scalding yourself with them, they actually work ( unlike some Veet products I could mention), and they come on transparent plastic backing so that you can see exactly what you’re waxing. If you prefer to use hot wax, for God’s sake check the temperature of the wax on your inside wrist before putting it near your mush… and then remember to remove it from the heat source once it’s at the desired temperature.
Lightly powdering your upper lip will help the wax adhere to the hairs rather than to your skin. Some waxing kits, like Waxcellence, come with a preparatory oil for this purpose but I find they can encourage breakouts when used on the face.
Keep skin taught throughout the waxing process – the easiest thing to do is to pull your upper lip down over your teeth for the main event, and use one hand to pull the edges taut as you work on the stragglers at the sides.
As ever, apply the wax in the direction of hair growth, and remove swiftly in the opposite direction, being sure to keep the wax you’re removing close and horizontal to the skin. This will minimise redness – whipping wax off by pulling it out and away from the skin can lead to bruising, ow! – but you should still expect things to look a little tender for 24 hours post-wax, during which time you should lay off make-up and fake tan and avoid hot showers, baths, or exercising to the point of sweating excessively.
Use a cold compress or aloe vera gel to soothe any irritation or redness.

Tags: DIY, How to?, waxing
Posted in DIY, Hair & Hair Removal, How to? | 18 Comments »

Eyes With Impact: The Flick Goes Bright

Friday, July 9th, 2010

bright eye liner

I’m always banging on about eyeliner being the perfect product to use when you want to introduce a shot of colour into your look. It’s easier to wear and easier to apply than a full-on colourful eye, and it’s not as scary to someone who’s not used to playing with colour as a bright pout or cheeks.

Usually, I like to wear mine across the upper lashline, teamed with a lick of black liner to really set it off and add definition. I’ve been opting for a slightly different take on that look lately, though, and have just been applying a shot of colour to the outer corner of my eye while sticking with black across the rest of my lashline. This still looks fairly subtle, but you get a definite and noticable flash of colour which I’m loving.

It looks like I’m in good company – I spotted Gisele sporting turquoise flicks during her recent runway return at Sao Paulo Fashion Week.

If you fancy getting the look yourself, try working from just inside the edge of your lashline outwards to form a cat’s eye style flick. I’m using a small eyeliner brush and Too Faced Shadow Insurance as a mixing medium myself, and am especially liking purples and on-trend turquoise (good woman yourself, Gisele) worn in this fashion.

Whaddya reckon? Would you be into this yourself?

Tags: colour, eyeliner, flick
Posted in DIY, Eyes, Lips and Cheeks | 22 Comments »

Beaut.ie How To: The Bling Accent Nail

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Last week’s post about my sparkly statement nail drew lots of mostly favourable comment, together with a “How To” request from Glamazon via the magic of Twitter. “Any chance of a step-by-step for the mani-challenged on those fab nails?” she wondered. Sure thing, sez I, only too happy to have an excuse a reason to play with bling again.

I got four full days out of the original manicure, by the by, just topping up any tipwear as it appeared, and by then I was hanging for a new paint job anyway. Removal was easy peasy: I just soaked some cotton wool in nail varnish remover and let it sit on the bejewelled nails for a few minutes before wiping them clean.

Doing them isn’t that difficult, either. Honest. A bit fiddly, maybe, but that’s it. If you’re thinking of giving this a whirl but want more info, read on for the blow-by-blow guide!

1. Gather everything you need in one place and lay it out ready for use.

Using glue means there’s a pretty high probability of sticking to everything you touch if you have to toddle off mid-mani to retrieve any equipment. My kit consisted of a base coat, nail varnish, pointed tweezers, a tube of nail glue, a pile of mini flat-backed crystals, and a top coat.

2. Paint your statement nail as normal with a base coat and one coat of colour.

It doesn’t really need to be totally opaque since you’re about to cover it in bling and there won’t be much of the colour on display.

3. Make a small pool of glue, pick up a crystal with your tweezers, and dip the base of the crystal in the glue before applying it to the nail.

I used the flat end of the tweezers to press the crystal down onto the nail to be sure it stuck. Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of absentmindedly using your fingers!

Repeat until the nail is covered. I worked in lines for a tidy finish, so started with a line of crystals down the middle of my nail working from base to tip, then did either side in line with the crystals of the first row, then just staggered the outer edges.

4. Finish with a layer of top coat. Now, this is optional. I didn’t actually put a top coat on mine until Day 2, because I was reluctant to do anything that might diminish the sparkliness of the crystals, but I do think it contributed to their staying power. They were still very bling-y, in fairness, but it definitely did detract from their faceted look.

Tags: accent nail, bling, DIY, manicure, statement nail, swatch
Posted in Ask, and you shall receive, DIY, Hands, Body & Feet, How to? | 21 Comments »

Lynnie Nails it: The Statement Nail Goes Bling

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

katy perry rhinestone nails

When Katy Perry posted pictures of a particularly sparkly silver manicure on Twitter late last year, I was instantly smitten. I wasn’t convinced by her Oompa Loompa or floral Minxed nails, but the Swarovski-encrusted tips that she sported for the VMAs in September and then again for October’s MTV Europe Music Awards had me seriously considering getting busy with bagfuls of tiny rhinestones. There were a whopping 76 weeny crystals on Katy’s thumbnail alone, each one painstakingly glued into place over CND Silver Chrome nail varnish by the fair hand of celebridee manicurist Kimmie Keyes to create the discoball effect.

Not having days on end to spend doing my nails, regardless of what Dad thinks, I shelved the thought of recreating the look myself until the trend for a single statement nail on each hand emerged. Himself was away last night and I had a packet of rhinestones from Claire’s Accessories just begging to be put to good use, so I stuck on Bride Wars, whipped out my pointed tweezers and some nail glue and set to work.

Want to see how it turned out?

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Tags: Dior, manicure, nails, swatch
Posted in DIY, Hands, Body & Feet | 46 Comments »

Introducing: The Accent Nail

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Bit unsure about this whole nail art malarkey, don’t reckon you’d have the skill to bother wrangling some Blixz into place or the patience to place a lace mani?

You might dig the stylings of the accent nail, so.

The lazy gal way to make a subtle statement, the accent nail is just that: one digit per hand is painted a different shade, texture or tone, to provide a little bit of extra interest. Me? I went for purples in the look above, and before you sneer at the bleedin’ state of my hands, let me explain. I was working for Prudence mag at Xpose Live at the weekend and days of lugging boxes, hanging posters and dishing out magazines meant every nail I possessed broke right down to the quick. Ow.

So, I don’t have much to work with at the moment, hence the stubbiness above. The main shade I chose for this was Estee Lauder’s new Ultra Violet, which I am liking a lot. Longevity isn’t great, but then, I find glitter always chips and flakes quickly - The effect is lovely so I’ll put up with it. I initially tried a matte topcoat on one nail per hand for my accent but, eh, you couldn’t actually see it, so I went for a different shade of purple instead. The accent nail is painted with Dior vernis in Silver Purple, a metallic-tinged pearl-finished cool violet.

So, what else’d look good? Matte navy with one super-shiny nail would be a goer, I think, as would four metallic gold nails and one glitter digit.

In fact, with this, the world is your oyster: you could play with contrast, texture or if you have a Konad nail stamping kit, one nail per hand could be treated to a pattern. Basically, the only limit is your imagination!

Tags: DIT, manicure, nails, ss10, swatch
Posted in DIY, Hands, Body & Feet | 5 Comments »

Beaut.ie How To: The DIY Lace Mani

Friday, February 5th, 2010

I’m still not quite over the desire to Minx my nails, but I’ve been distracted lately from their mirror-finish gloriousness by the lace manicure. It’s not exactly a new concept: the Japanese have been at it for donkey’s years. However, with so much lace on the runways in recent seasons it’s a look that’s been cropping up on ‘slebs in the last little while as statement nails gain in popularity this side of the world (finally, something to thank Lady GaGa for.) You may even have seen it without realising, especially if you’ve spent any time ogling a certain black knuckle-duster McQueen clutch. Drool.

There are a couple of ways to achieve this lace manicure look – if you’re a Konad (nail stamping kit that I am dying to have a go of) fan, you can get plates that can be used to create a lace effect, and there are even lace-look Minx decals. However, for the true textured lace mani, you need to use, well, lace.

If you have some old net curtains handy or live within striking distance of a trimmings store, you’re all set. If you have a harder time tracking some down, think outside the bosca – I wanted but couldn’t find black lace, so I bought a headband with a black lace corsage from Penneys for all of €1.50 and just used the fabric from it. Sorted!

The simplest technique I’ve been able to find is the one recommended by celebridee manicurist Elle Gerstein (responsible for the aforementioned McQueen nails as well as the lovely lacey numbers sported by Blake Lively), and, of course, it isn’t that simple at all. It involves using a brush-on gel resin or nail glue and a dry-fast glue spray, and while the results look incredible if you happen to have those items to hand, you’ll either have to soak your nails in acetone and then buff off your lace mani, or wait a couple of months for it to grow out.

So here’s what I’ve been doing and what I recommend trying instead:

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Tags: DIY, lace, mani, manicure, nails, seche vite, swatch
Posted in Beauty News & Links, DIY, Hands, Body & Feet, How to? | 20 Comments »

Honey & Spice & All Things Nice Face Mask: When DIY Beauty Goes Wrong

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

You might remember me mentioning earlier this week the lovely Aveda facial I had in Cork’s Imperial Hotel, and how happy I was with the way my skin looked afterwards. Well, that was a bit of beauty karma – I was due a few good skin days, because a couple of weeks ago I wound up with a nasty bout of irritant contact dermatitis after an experiment with a DIY face mask went badly awry.

Now, I don’t usually go in for DIY beauty in a big way, but I was at a bit of a loose end one day and came across a couple of easy-looking recipes that only called for ingredients that I had in the cupboard. There was one concoction in particular that had its users raving non-stop about the fantastic results they were seeing – fading acne scars and a lessening of breakouts with regular use was reported – and once I saw comments from people with sensitive skin about how they’d no adverse reactions I was totally sold.

Feeling quite George’s Marvellous Medicine, I got to work mixing honey, ground nutmeg and cinnamon to a gooey chocolate-coloured paste. I smeared it all over my face and spent the next 30 minutes catching any wayward drips, then rinsed it off using the nutmeg as an exfoliant.

Immediately, my skin looked clearer, brighter, plumper, more even-toned and glowing, and it felt super-soft to the touch. I was fecking delighted with myself. Later that evening, though, when I was taking off my make-up, I thought my face looked a bit odd – a little bit inflamed or something.

I reckoned I must be imagining things.

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Tags: calamity jane, cinnamon, dermatitis, DIY, face mask, honey
Posted in Brands, treatment & product reviews, DIY, Skincare | 16 Comments »