Nail File Friday’s: Yellow and Black Nail Polish

What do I do when I can’t make up my mind between using two colors – I use both! I’ve been doing this lately, which seems to be very ‘in’ and in trend – combining colors, doing multiple colors at once. It’s so fun! There’s also no need to take things ultra difficult, I like to make things easy, because let’s be honest, I don’t have that much time.

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Nail Polish Used: OPI Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet (canary yellow) and Essie Licorice (black)

Nail Tools Used: Nail Brush + Dotter  for cleaning the sides of the nails and dotter for making the dots on ring finger and thumb

OPI Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet (canary yellow) and Essie Licorice (black)

OPI Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet (canary yellow) and Essie Licorice (black)

OPI Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet (canary yellow) and Essie Licorice (black)

OPI Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet (canary yellow) and Essie Licorice (black)

Initially I was thinking that the color combination I was choosing was going to look a bit ‘bumble bee-ish.’ However, I love the final look!

Step One:  1 Coat of ‘Seche’ Base Coat

Step Two:   3 Coats of the ‘Exotic Birds Do Not Tweet’ Nail Polish – 3 coats for a brighter yellow (three strokes per coat on each nail)

Allow the nail polish to completely dry before doing any nail art ….

Step Three:   Using a piece of aluminum foil, place a bit of the ‘Licorice’ Nail Polish on it, dip the dotting tool and create a diagonal like with dots – wipe the dotter clean by dipping it in acetone after each use, going in a zig zag like pattern, continue to create the dots

Allow the dots to completely dry before apply the top coat ….

Step Four:  1 Coat of ‘Out The Door’ Top Coat

This is optional ….

‘Cuccio’ Cuticle Oil – Milk & Honey  – Cuticle oil will avoid your cuticles from drying that can happen from the nail acetone, it helps keep your cuticles moisturized

Have a great Friday!

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Disclosure: Mom Life With Chiari is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. I will not recommend or buy anything that I do not already own and love or would not use for myself and my family. I make a small commission when you click and make a purchase on any link my website provides at NO additional cost to you. Thank you in advance for supporting companies that support me!

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Nail File Friday’s: Marshmallow from Essie

I have to tell you that although I love my dark shades, you know, the reds, the maroons, the grays, I still have a deep connection with the white nail polish. My go-to is the Marshmallow white nail shade from Essie.

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Nail Polish Used: Essie Marshmallow (white)

Nail Tools Used: Nail Brush for cleaning the sides of the nails

Essie: Marshmallow (white)

Essie: Marshmallow (white)

Essie: Marshmallow (white)

I love this! There’s nothing like a good white polish. This look has the following steps – if you haven’t seen my how to on nail polish it has useful steps on how to prepare your nails for the perfect at home nail polish.

Step One:  1 Coat of ‘Seche’ Base Coat

Step Two:  3 Coats of the Marshmallow Nail Polish – 3 coats for a brighter white (three strokes per coat on each nail)

Step Three:  1 Coat – ‘Out The Door’ Top Coat

This is optional ….

‘Cuccio’ Cuticle Oil – Milk & Honey  – Cuticle oil will avoid your cuticles from drying that can happen from the nail acetone, it helps keep your cuticles moisturized

Hope you have a great Friday!

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Photo: TJ Dragotta

Nail File Friday’s: How To Apply Nail Polish

I wrote here on what works for me when preparing my nails for nail polish. I’ve also shared here the tools to own for the at-home manicure and today I wanted to share basic tips on how to apply nail polish. This is would be the fun part of doing a pretty polished look on your nails. I’ve found that once you get the into the habit or ‘rhythm’ of things, you’ll do these steps pretty quickly.

3 Easy Tips To Prep for Nail Polish:

Tip: Do you have a shaky hand, a dominant hand and a not so dominant hand? Yes, I have a dominant hand too – my right. Do your nail polish on a table or desk, somewhere steady, where you’ll be able to rest both of your hands as you polish. I like to use my right hand – my dominant to paint my left hand first. I do this so that the left hand has enough time to dry when I begin my right hand. It leaves me with less mistakes.

Still have an unsteady hand, no problem try this ‘Magique’ Liquid Latex Barrier for nails. It comes in a nail polish bottle, simply apply this around your nail – your cuticle, and then apply your nail polish – do NOT wait for your nail polish to dry, peel off the latex barrier right away after you’ve applied the nail polish. This latex barrier is perfect for gradient, splatter, water marble and stamping nail looks. Apply the latex as you go, do NOT try to ‘save time’ by applying the latex to all your cuticles at once – it’s tempting, but don’t.

Tip: Prep the area where you’ll be doing your nails. I like to work with a paper towel near by, especially when I’m ready to use the nail brush to clean up any mistakes. Simply fill the cap of the nail acetone and dip the nail brush inside, clean the area of your nails and wipe the brush clean on the paper towel after every use.

Tip: When using darker or brighter colors you don’t want the skin to stain and leave a messy residue, so wait for the polish to dry a little first before cleaning your mistakes around your skin.

4 Easy Steps To Apply Nail Polish:

1. Great nails start with healthy cuticles. When preparing the nail beds for nail polish, push back the cuticles, never cut. If you have areas where there may be a bit of dry or dead skin, if you do, carefully remove it with a cuticle nipper.

2. Before applying a base coat or any polish, be sure to use a bit of pure acetone with a lint free paper towel or your daily rubbing alcohol to clean the nail bed. If you use a cotton ball, be sure there are no traces of that left on your nail. You want to clean the nail bed first because it’s easy for oils or dust from the nail filings to get onto your nails and give you an uneven manicure. 

3. Do NOT shake your nail polish bottle. This creates bubbles in the polish which then transfer onto your nails. Instead hold the bottle on the palm of your hand and simply roll the bottle.

Lastly ….

4. You will apply 2 coats of nail polish on each nail. When you bring out the polish brush out from the bottle, try not to get too much polish – a little goes a long way, clean out the excess on the bottle.

You will begin the first coat by making the first stroke in the middle of the nail, from the back – by the cuticle, to the front of the nail, then a stroke on the left – back to front, and lastly a stroke on the right side – from back to front. That’s ONE coat. Do it again for the SECOND coat – middle stroke, left stroke and right stroke or ‘middle, side, side’.

IF you’re using a light nail polish shade say, a nude or even white, I’ve found they at times require a third coat.

My Final Look Has:

1 Coat – ‘Seche’ Base Coat

2 Coats of Nail Polish (three strokes per coat on each nail)

1 Coat – ‘Out The Door’ Top Coat

This is optional ….

‘Cuccio’ Cuticle Oil – Milk & Honey  – Cuticle oil will avoid your cuticles from drying that can happen from the nail acetone, it helps keep your cuticles moisturized 

Do you do things different, do you use different products? Let me know what they are, share all the good info! Hope you have a great Friday.

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