Manicure Monday! Neutral + Sparkle Ombre

Welcome. Today is another Manicure Monday!

This is one of my favorite looks for a neutral nail, and I have to admit, it was inspired by a manicure I saw on The Only Way is Essex, which is kind of like the British version of The Hills. It is a decidedly guilty pleasure. One of the girls in the show had a taupey-brown polish, like the one I used, with rhinestones along the cuticle of an accent nail. It was flipping perfect.

To get this look, I used:

Orly's Bonder Basecoat
Two coats of Wet 'n' Wild's Megalast Salon Nail Color in "Wet Cement"
Ulta's Nail Lacquer in "Chic Peek" (it's a super old polish, so just try to find something that is darker brown and shimmery, if you're looking to try this out)
L.A Colors's Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer. I don't know what the color is called, it's just the silver glitter one.
I topped it off with Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat.

In order to get the sparkly ombre, I applied the polish with small sponge applicators, the kind you get with small, usually drugstore brand eyeshadow palettes. Then I put some blobs of color on a plastic baggy, which I dipped the sponge in. From there, I kind of just winged it, and tried to get the majority of the polish by the cuticle. Then I just used less as I moved toward the tip of the nail. Sponges work great for this because they hold product for awhile, so you shouldn't have to keep dipping. The Ulta color is underneath the silver, and I took it up a little higher to give the look another layer of sparkle. It's subtle in the picture, but I like the effect it has under the silver. If you want to see all this in action, be sure to comment and I'll see about filming this whole process for you :)

Thanks for reading. And see you tomorrow. 

Manicure Monday! Mixed and Matched Mint

Here's a mint green, sparkly, shimmery, silvery manicure. I felt like going a little nuts, so every nail has a different look, but the mint green ties them all together in a neat little, figurative, bow. 

Polishes I Used to Make This Look:

Orly's Bonder Basecoat.

The Mint Green: Revlon's "Electic"

The Shimmer on the Thumb Nail: Love & Beauty's "Seafoam Galaxy" also known as "Mint"

The Silver on the Index Finger: Revlon's "Silver Dollar"

The Glitter on the Middle Finger: Funky Fingers's "Flashing Lights"

The White on the Ring Finger: Coastal Scent's COAT Polish in "Star" (The silver is Revlon's "Silver Dollar" as well.)

The Sparkle on the Pinky Finger: Revlon's "Stunning" 

I topped them all off with Orly's Won't Chip Topcoat.                                                                                                                                     

So that was fun. Hope you thought so, too :)

See you again soon!

Beauty Habits to Make Your Life a Bit Easier

I love making lists, so here's one of some simple beauty-ish things you can do to make your life easier. Perhaps that is an exaggeration, but, hey, when I do these thing, my life seems easier. Maybe some of these things will make you say, "Uh, duh Katie." Or "You aren't writing rocket science, here." First of all, I never said I was, and, second, I know I appreciate reminders. Maybe you do, too.

1. Use lotion on your hands. Everyday. Especially in the Winter. Multiple times a day.
Doing this will prevent all that annoying and painful cracking. It will also help moisturize your cuticles and allow your nails to grow out better. I like to keep a small bottle with me in my purse or backpack, so anytime I get in from being outside I can moisturize those dry knuckles. 

2. Use a mouthwash.
I just think it helps my mouth feel super duper clean when I use a mouthwash. You can get ones that help with whitening if you can't stand white strips. Right now I'm using one by Crest, but I change it up almost every time that I buy it.

3. Own a facial moisturizer. And use it. Preferably one with SPF.
One of my favorites is Aveeno's Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer. It has an SPF of 15, and helps keep my face from literally falling of in the winter. In the summer, when I have parts of my face that get very oily, it doesn't over do the moisture and add to the oilyness, which is fantastic. I don't like having to change products based on season very much, so this moisturizer is ideal for me. The SPF protects my skin from UV rays, which will help prevent wrinkles and cancer later. Also, moisturizing will prevent your skin from overproducing oils to compensate for dryness, and those extra oils can lead to acne. Try out Aveeno if you like, but remember to find something that works for your skin. 

4. Curl your eyelashes.
As long as you can mentally and physically handle it, curling your eyelashes helps open up the eye and can make the eyelashes look longer, which I think I can safely assume we all want to do. I curl my lashes pretty much everyday, even if the only eye makeup I'm wearing is mascara. Practice makes perfect, and if you are afraid to try it, well, I hope you overcome your fears someday.

5. CHAPSTICK.
Dry lips are annoying and painful. And they can be a pain in the butt when trying to apply lipstick and other lip products, so keep a chapstick on you as much as possible. I love Carmex, in any form, and recently I've been using Blistex Five Star Lip Protection, which is fantastic, by the way.

6. Try out a face primer. 
If you have been struggling with foundations and haven't been able to find one you love, shift your focus to a different kind of product. I use face primer whenever I remember to, and I think it can be really helpful for getting a natural look. Face primers just smooth the face out and create a nice base for face makeup, which sometimes is all a foundation needs to really perform. You can also get ones that reduce redness or counter other discolorations in skin. Currently, I'm switching back and forth between Hard Candy's Sheer Envy Primer and NYX's Pore Filler.

7. Switch up face washes, treatments, etc.
Our skin is designed to help itself, so it will acclimate, to a certain degree, to the different products that we use. I like to use different acne washes from time to time, or else I find that my skin just gets used to it, and the results aren't as great as when I started using the product. Some of the most successful products I have used to treat acne are: AcneFree, Biore, Clean 'n' Clear, and Neutrogena. 

8. Drink water, sleep, eat "right."
I hate water, I like to eat foods that taste good, and I don't sleep as much as I should. So I'm not going to try and suggest that you change your lifestyle. Plus, I am not a doctor, so I can't give you any clinical advice or evidence to show that doing the above things will make you happier and healthier, but I can say that it is generally accepted that drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, and eating healthy will help you feel better and can even help give you clearer, more hydrated skin. That's all I have to say about that. If you want more information about these tips, check out the following websites.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4287/10-Reasons-Why-You-Should-Drink-More-Water.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/drinking-water.ht

9. Take your makeup off of your entire face every night.
Doing this will keep everything clean, unclogged, and breathing. I also find that if my skin is going through a dry spell, not washing my face and applying moisturizer before bed means I'm going to wake with my skin about to fall. off. my. face. It's unpleasant. You can find all different forms of makeup remover for all different prices. Just look for one that is non-drying and makes taking your makeup off comfortable. Some can feel sort of abrasive. 

I'm sure this list could be so much longer, but it's not so much fun to overwhelm ourselves. 

I hope you enjoyed these little things. Do you have any helpful hints for making life easier? They don't necessarily have to be beauty related. Feel free to share them in the comments, and thanks for visiting!