Kell's DIY Nails

Behold my Easter Nails! I went with something that could also be worn through the end of tax season. This picture does the polish no justice what-so-ever. I had to try and take a photo during the course of the work day so I just snapped some quickly whilst holding a chocolate bunny. I started with 2 coats of Field Fox which is a gorgeous muted pale neutral pink. It looked so much better in person! If you are someone who loves neutrals then don't even think about buying this, just buy it! I was thinking it might have been on the sheer side but it's not. It's opaque and easy to apply. I will definitely wear this again. On my accent nail I went with some bling, Chiffon Twirl , another one from The Gilded Dream Collection. I thought this rose gold shimmer would be really sheer but I only needed 2 coats to get to the opacity in the photo; no undies. Nice surprise. Again, I wanted to add some decals so this time I went with the gold flowers in the DIY Nails Mehndi Set....

Have I dropped off the face of the earth or what?!? Fitting since today is EARTH DAY!! Ha Ha! I've also decided I'm hilarious... The husband and I went to see DisneyNature's Monkey Kingdom today; it was really cute. What did you do today?  Well, let's get to the good stuff... I rocked these awesome nails the last 2 weeks of March and I loved every minute of it! I applied 2 coats of Black Pool which is a very opaque black cream. I then applied one coat of Dazzling Dance over Black Pool. I purchased 3 metallic, topper like colors in the beginning of March (The Gilded Dreams Collection) and this was one of them. It's a very unique topper in that it dramatically changes whatever you layer it over. It gave Black Pool a purple duochrome effect. It also contains tiny holographic silver flakes. It's really freaking pretty! I can't wait to layer it over other colors. Last I added some DIY Nails Decals in Spaced Out ; these ones are in Holographic Silver...

Sorry I didn't have this up in time for St. Patrick's Day but life has been kicking my ass lately. Here is 2 coats of CND's Shellac in Serene Green . This is a really pretty deep forest green with shimmer. It came in the Charmed Set I bought awhile ago. It applied beautifully. I amped it up a little with some gold water decals from DIY Nails .

Rock Royalty is a dark purple with a hidden shimmer. When I first purchased it I thought it was just a straight creme but it has a shimmer that comes alive when sunlight hits it. It is super pretty. This shows 2 coats. It could have used a 3rd coat since its a little patchy but I didn't notice it until I went outside. Oh well. No one even noticed.

Applied 2 coats of Scarlet Letter from the Charmed Limited Collection . A really squishy looking red that was very easy to apply. It looks like a crelly (creme & jelly) on the nails. It's a great red. After curing my last color coat I added some heart decals from Icing to my ring nail. I bent the gold metal heart on an orange stick to give it a curve so it would better fit my nail. I then carefully applied a very light coat of Zillionaire , which is clear base filled with multicolored iridescent flakes. You can build it up or keep it light but it will never reach opacity alone as it is meant to be a topper. This combined with the UV Top Coat sealed my little decals in very well. They lasted the entire time on my nails without peeling or getting caught in my hair or on my clothing. These turned out very cute; so far my experimenting has been 50/50. Hope you all have a lovely day! I spent most of it in bed since it is my one day off this week. Red Siam Crysta...

Vexed Violet is a very unique color but I love it; it's a little bit brown, a little bit gray, and a little bit purple. Because it's a shimmer it is on the sheer side; it took 4 coats to get to an opacity I was happy with. But the durability and wear was not affected by the additional coats. In fact this held up even better than usual. I will definitly be wearing this again.   You can see how this looks different depending on the light. Indoors it look grey. It doesn't look this frosty in real life; the brush strokes are not nearly as prominent.

I thought I would go light this time with Cream Puff , a true white cream. I used 2 coats for opacity. After my 2nd coat of Color Coat I thought I would try using the Additives in Gilded Gleam which is a sparkly metallic gold. I used an angle brush to stipple the pigment around the edges of my nail. I then applied my CND Shellac UV Top Coat to seal it all in. I learned about the Additives through YouTube videos and I followed their techniques for applying it but I had a less than stellar result; I noticed that the Shellac didn't hold up as well when used with the Additive pigment between the layers. It was also very messy; it's a very lightweight pigment and it flys up in the air even when using carefully. Because the pigment interrupts the sticky seal between the color coat and top coat it started chipping and peeling away very quickly. While the look is cute I won't do this again. I do want to find another technique that might work better with the Additives though.

Here's my first Shellac manicure of the season (and year)! I thought this gray would make for a good neutral that would go with everything yet it's got a bit more edge  than say a nude or tan. 2 thin coats worked perfect. My first coat looked like it would be too thin but it wasnt and it kept me from getting pooling at the cuticle and sides of my nails. I always have an issue getting good coverage on the free edge and I'm not sure why. Although in reality it isn't as noticeable as it is in the photos. I need to crack open a new top coat; I think this is why I am getting some bubbling. In other news tax season is off and running; these last couple of days we have been completing some returns and having lots of consultations with clients who had some changes last year. Friendly Reminder: If you got health coverage through your State Exchange or Marketplace; besure to wait to get your Form 1095-A. They may even have them available through your online account. Those of you ...

Hey Gang! I hope your holidays were lovely. It's about time for me to start Tax Season 2015 so (as you might already know) I won't be posting all that regularly through April 15th. If you don't know, I work for H&R Block as a tax preparer and I get really slammed and work lots of overtime to meet the needs of my clients.  Tax Season requires me to make some adjustments one of which being switching to gel nails; they hold up much longer and help to prevent breaks. I use CND's Shellac and will post photos of my Shellac manicures during tax season; just remember it won't be all that frequent. I also recently stumbled upon Project Pan and thought this would be a great way to streamline my makeup routine as well as purge a few items from my stash. I first found out about Project Pan from Anya Marie  on YouTube when she was doing the Finish 6 by Christmas Challenge. What is it: Project Pan 101  (Watch this video for a great intro from Amber F) I will be participating ...

Today's prize is a Nail Art Package; quite a few different items to help you get creative.  10 Sheets of Nail Guides : At first I was looking for just Chevron & Traditional French Guides when I stumbled upon this awesome selection of nail guides. 2 different types of Chevrons, 5 Zig Zag patterns, 2 types of Waves, Straight, Heart, Circles, Lightening Bolt, Tear Drop, and 2 different Traditional French. Seriously everything you could ever need or want! Suicide Prevention Nails , Party Animal Nails , Retro Christmas Nails , Zoya Nail Art , Cresent Moon Nails . Jane's Tiny Things, Truly Outrageous Nail Decals: High -quality water slide decals in the raddest designs around!  The Truly Outrageous set comes with 64 decals (2 different sizes, color and black & white). The white paper will slide away when activated with water and you'll be left with these gem inspired designs on a clear background. Mix it up with round, marquise, square, pear, trilliant, and emerald cuts. ...

For the last two weeks of tax season I went with another gel mani so as to make my nails as hassle-free as possible.  Sunlight Limeade is a really shimmery lime green that leans on the sheer side. My photo above shows 3 coats but the great thing about Shellac is dry time is not an issue. I initially tried mixing it with Cream Puff, an opaque white cream, but I didn't like the result so I ended up just doing Limeade on its own. The formula is really thin and easy to work with. When I mixed it with Cream Puff the consistency was a bit too thick for my liking. I'm wondering if there's a way to thin Shellac; I'll have to research that. Sunlight This held up incredibly well and my nails grew super long while wearing this; I wore it longer than 14 days too. The only down side to Shellac is the removal. Keeping pure acetone on your fingers for an extended amount of time really drys them out. I always have to do some super intense moisturizing after removal. Shade

February is always a busy month for me and this year was no exception. I didn't get a chance to post my manicures but I did take photos. Please forgive the terrible condition of my hands and the bad photo. CND's Shellac is great for me at tax season; my nails look great for 14 days straight, my nails get the added strength of a gel manicure so they are less likely to break, and application time is much quicker than traditional manicures because you don't have to wait for each layer to air dry.  This is how the color translated most of the time. For February I decided to wear Tropix which I initially thought would be a vibrant coral but in reality it ended up looking fluorescent pink most of the time which I really dug. The picture above was taken after about 4 days of wear. I had a bit of an issue with the color coat pulling away from the edge of the nail as well as trying to wrap my tips but I found a few things to try next time to eliminate those issues. It's importa...

CND Shellac, Cocoa. 2 coats. I've had this sitting in my Nail Folder for months now... I kept forgetting to type up a post on it. Back in May Burt and I went up to Mojave Valley, AZ for a wedding. We decided to make it a long weekend and stayed a night up in Laughlin, NV as well. When it comes to vacations I highly recommend CND Shellac because you don't have to worry about your manicure not holding up. Nothings much worse than staring at a chipped nail all weekend when you are supposed to be relaxing and having a good time. So, I went ahead and opted for this nice neutral color so I wouldn't have to worry if my outfit was clashing with my nails. Cocoa is a really nice opaque tan cream, not too light, not too dark. The bottle makes it look a little orange and dark but on the nail its much better. I think this would look universally flattering on all skin tones. The formula on gel polish tends to be a little thicker than regular polish but if you slow down your applica...

CND Shellac, Hotski to Tchotchke. 2 coats. I love painting my nails, but sometimes life can get a little hairy and you can't always find the time to do your nails regularly enough to keep them looking nice. For me that happens during tax season when I'm practically living at the office. It's a serious drag to feel as though you need to find some time to polish your nails yet you're not enjoying it. For a long time I have been following gel nail polish products. I even went and got a few them done at salons. Once I tried the OPI Axium Gel, then a generic that I couldn't determine the brand of, and of course I tried CND's Shellac. As far as the application and removal process goes I was drawn most to Shellac. However, when I went to a salon (listed on the CND website) and had an approved nail tech apply it, it was a total disaster. The application looked like it was done by a 7 year old and it didn't have the shine, nor the staying power; it started pe...