Tip for Your Tips - Lotions vs. Creams

Lotions vs. Creams
Lotions and creams. They're the same thing, right? They all do the same thing? Not necessarily. While lotions and creams do both moisturize and help to keep your skin feeling soft and smooth, they are slightly different. All products that moisturize your skin have the same goal, obviously. Their jobs are to keep moisture in the outermost layer of your skin. Yes, lotions and creams both do this, but they do so at different levels. 

Oil Based vs. Water Based
If they're oil-based, they're an emulsion, also known as a mixture of water into oil. If they're water-based, that means that they're an emulsion of oil into water. Most lotions and creams are water-based, but water-in-oil emulsions are also on the market.

So, When Should I Use What?
You can define the bases like you can with the oil in your car, by the viscosity of the mixture (this is a fancy term that really just means the thickness). The biggest difference between lotions and creams are their composition. Lotions have a low viscosity. So they're thinner. This is why they usually come in a bottle that you can squeeze or pump. Lotions are also usually lighter and a little less oily than creams are. Because of these reasons, people with normal-oily skin types probably only need to use lotion to keep their skin moisturized. Creams are usually thicker and usually come in jars. People with dry skin types should usually lean towards creams.  Some people switch to a cream during the colder, drier winter months.

Okay, Now What?
Don't go out and trade in your lotion for a cream, or your cream for a lotion if it's working for you. Everyone's different, and so are their bodies. So, find what works for you and go with it. 

Giveaways!

Hi everyone! I have another few giveaways to share with you tonight/today!

->Boombastic Nails is having a wicked giveaway of Deborah Lippmann polishes! There will be two winners for this giveaway! You should all definitely check it out! Click here to be redirected to this giveaway!

->Nail of This Week is having a wicked giveaway of a beautiful Butter London polish! Two lucky ladies/men will be drawn to get this polish! Make sure to check it out! Click here to be redirected to this giveaway!

Colour Club Berry and Bright with Bows

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a great morning/day so far! A couple things to say before I get to my nails. I sprained my hand somehow, so posts will be limited. I can't do nails at all right now, so I'll be posting older manis. Also, if you have any questions feel free to ask me, and I'll put them in my Tips for Your Tips Series! Well, here's today nail art!

I used Colour Club Berry and Bright, Sinful Colours Snow Me White, and Sinful Colours Black on Black!

The microbeads were bought off ebay!

Maybelline Gray's Anatomy with Cheeky Stamping

Hi everyone! I know this is late, again. But I had an English assignment that I had to get done.  Anyway, I'm not really in a talkative mood, I'm quite tired, so let's get straight to the mani! 

I used a new holographic polish I have, called Gray's Anatomy by Maybelline. It changes from purple to green, and I had an extremely hard time photographing it. I tried every room in my house, and none of them did this polish justice. 

I stamped on top of it with Sinful Colours Black on Black using the Cheeky plate CH44. I added the dots with a dotting tool that I brought off ebay. 

Giveaway!

Kristine at Pink and Polished Nails is having a super awesome Christmas giveaway for reaching 100 followers! You can enter her giveaway here! And don't forget to check out her amazing nail art!

Tip for Your Tips-Broken Nails

Everyone hates getting a broken nail. It's a pain in the ass, and sometimes it's just pain! There are a number of products on the market the claim to fix broken nails. I have only tried one (Nailene Nail Glue), and it didn't fully live up to my expectations. Nailene Nail Glue (specifically for broken nails) works rather well however, if you pair it with a teabag. You can see a great tutorial on how to fix torn nails with a teabag here. She uses super glue, but I use Nailene Nail Glue instead. Super glue can be damaging to your nails and I advise you not to use it. I use Orly Top2 Bottom over the glue after it dries.
     This method is extremely cheap, and also easy on your nails because teabags aren't made of chemicals like the other products out now-a-days.
     What do you do when you break a nail?

Gradient Manicure and New Practice Hand!

Hi all! I recently ordered a practice hand and fingers off of Ebay, and it arrived today! I was surprised to get an eye shadow, and two nail brushes as bonuses! I also had nail art flowers arrive today! I'm super pleased with the quality of  these products. The hand looks fairly real, and bends properly. The "slits" where the fake nails go in are a great shape and they're deep enough to not be annoying. Over-all great product! You can buy this exact product on Ebay from this seller.

On to the nail art! I love this colour scheme, it turned out so nice. I did the gradient using a makeup sponge, and Essie Meet Me at Sunset, Essie Tart Deco, and Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle White. 

The rhinestones were bought off of born pretty I thiiiink. I got them quite a while ago. If you haven't checked them out already, then you totally should. Click here to go to their website! They sell so much stuff for beauty and nail art! They also have practice hands!

You can see my other gradient manicure here!

Tip for Your Tips-Letting Your Nails "Breathe"

"Dont you ever let your nails breathe"
Let's talk about that. Just in case any of you don't know this, your nails are made of built-up keratin and are dead, therefore do not need to "breathe". In fact, one of the best ways to help your nails grow stronger is to keep polish on them. Not only does polish make the nail thicker, since it's like a blanket it also keeps moisture in. Nail polish allows for your nails to remain moisturized longer, making them stronger and healthier.
    For those of you that already knew this information I apologize for being repetitive, but for those of you that didn't, I hope I could be helpful!

Sally Hansen and Colour Club-Tape Manicure

Hi everyone! I'm supeeeerrr excited about this mani today! Okay, I decided to do a tape manicure. If you read yesterdays Tip for your Tips you saw that I discovered a way that makes the tape not stick to the base colour. If you haven't seen it, go check it out here! Anyway, so here's the first tape mani that I like enough to show you guys. I honestly love the way this turned out.
    The colours I used were an old Sally Hansen that I can't see the name of, Colour Club Glitter Wonderland and NYC Matte Top Coat(loveeee!!). So, i painted the nails Glitter Wonderland, used a matte topcoat and then did the whole "tape thing" with the navy blue. I added some micro beads last minute, and think they added a nice touch! What do you think? Do you like tape manicures?

Tips for Your Tips-Annoying Drying Times

Everyone hates spending all that time to paint their nails and do nail art only to end up smudging one or two because you thought they were dry. Well, here's a tip on how to test if your nails are dry, a couple to help dry them, and how to fix a smudge!
I always used to rub my finger over my polish to see if was dry and would end up ruining my mani. So, instead of doing this, gently tap another nail on it. I there's any resistance then your nail isn't dry.

So, if you find your nails not drying there are a bunch of things you could do.
-Drying drops are amazing, Nicole by OPI has some great ones, but they're expensive.
-You can use aerosol, which should be specifically for nails. I hear PAM works, but I have no idea.
-Nail Dryers are controversial because some people think they put bubbles in your polish. I've never had this problem, and will continue to use them until I have that problem.
- Ice cold water is another thing that i've been told works. I haven't tried it, but apparently if you put filtered water in the fridge until condensation forms on the outside of the glass, and keep your nails in it for one or two minutes, it drys them.
-Fast drying top coat like Seche Vite and China Glaze Fast Forward!!

If you smudge your mani there are two things that I know of will "mend" it.
1. You can lick it. Yeah, I know. Strange, eh? Once you lick it you just even it out with your finger.
2. You can lick your finger and do the same thing.
Something in saliva seems to bond the polish back together. It wont completely smooth it over, but it helps. And with another coat of polish you can barely tell!

Well, there's your Tip for Your Tips!
Goodluck, and happy polishing!

Tips for Your Tips-Tape Manicures

Goodmorning everyone! Hope you're all having a great day so far! This is my first daily Tip for Tips! I'm going to start with something that always troubled me!
Tape Manicures! Lucy from Lucy's Stash does incredible tape manicures, (which you can see on her blog, here) but I noticed that whenever I tried to do them, they looked like crap. After experimenting a lot, I came to a conclusion. Top coat. If you use a fast dry top coat like Seche Vite, then after that's dry, put your tape on your nail but not before putting the tape on the back of your hand to remove some of the "sticky-ness"! After doing this, your design should come out much better!

Blog Organization! Please Read**

Hi Lovelys! Okay, so I've decided to try to give my blog some more organization. Instead of randomly having nail art posts, the plan is to have certain days where a design will be posted. The days i've picked are Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday! If I only get two nail design that week, it will be Sunday and Thursday, but i'm going to try my darndest to get three!
      Another idea I have is to have a polish haul post once a month, instead of randomly scattered into my blog. This will happen at the end of the month, (last week) and may or may not replace a design post, depending on how busy I am. This will start next month, since I've already done a haul post this month.
     I will also be posting daily tips for your tips! Well, it may not be everyday, but hopefully it will be pretty consistent! The tips may be things you know already, or things you don't; anything that is important about nail art or the over-all maintenance of your nails. You can find these tips, (starting tomorrow) by typing in "Tips for Tips" in the search bar, or scrolling down to find "Tips for Tips" in labels!

Thanks so much for reading!

New Franken Polish-Tiffany's Blue Shoes

So, here's my newest franken polish: Tiffany's Blue Shoes! I couldn't get the colour quite right in the pictures, (it's a little darker) but I think it's almost the perfect Tiffany Blue! I was inspired by seeing this colour, and got it by mixing white, blue, and a little bit of turquoise. 

     I honestly love this colour.

Colour Club Ruffles with Bundle Monster Snowflakes

First winter/Christmas Design! Okay, so. Just a warning, this design is treacherous. I hate this. I actually hate everything about this. But, I said I'd show my failures as well. So, here it is. I'm sure I would've loved this, if I would have used different colours. 

     Go check out Kristine, at Pink and Polish's version here! She did an amazing job! Absolutely gorgeous. The colours I used were the new Colour Club Winter Affair collection, and for the accent nails I used Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle White. I stamped them using Bundle Monster plate BM-323 with Sally Hansen Insta Dry Co-Bolt Blue.