Rehab your nails: On the go cuticle care!



Well, fall is nearly upon us and that means winter is not far behind.  If you're anything like me (or you live anywhere that gets as cold as it does where I am!) then you know how terrible winter can be on your nails.  There are lots of ways to combat this, one of my favorites being paraffin dips, but aside from that one thing that can really help is keeping hands out of water.  Frequently wetting nails can actually weaken them so in the winter, waterless mani's are a great alternative to the traditional ones. Keeping your cuticles under control is especially important in the colder months when they can easily dry out and crack.  So today I'm going to tell you how you can do a quick 10 minute manicure with ZERO water!  This is so easy that those of you who work in offices can get away with doing it at your desk with minimal interruption to your workday!  I'm using mostly OPI products for this but generally speaking all you need is some lotion, a GEL cuticle remover, and a cuticle pusher.  I've added a file to the picture above and if your nails need reshaping it's a great time to throw that in but if you just need a quick cuticle pick me up you can skip that step.  So here's the how to:

Put the gel cuticle remover on cuticles and let it sit for three to five minutes.  The gel is important because this is a mani you can do on the go and having a liquid can be messy.  If you're sitting down to do this you're welcome to use a liquid BUT keep in mind that liquids don't stay on the nails as long either whereas gels are going to sit on the cuticle and penetrate them.  Since we're not using water to aid in softening them it's going to help a lot to have the gel. 

After it's set for a bit use your pusher to gently push back the cuticle.  If you're keeping up with regular mani's and cuticle care you should not have anything to nip off so this should be super simple and effective. I always keep nippers on me and if your cuticles are pretty bad you'll want to add them to this routine.  However, as you do it more you'll find you don't need them.

Step three is to add the lotion. Again if nails are very bad and you're doing this at home you can add some oil and let it penetrate three or four minutes and THEN add the lotion.  But if you're on the go just add the lotion and you're done!  Easy ten minute manicure that will keep your cuticles under control this winter!

What are your favorite products for winter?

Sailin...


I can't believe summer is nearly over.  Or rather, I suppose it IS over! Today is the very first day of Autumn.  I love the cooler months but I also miss the warm weather and the swimming AND....sailing!! So today I have some sailor nails for you.  I used a decal from the Born Pretty store on my middle finger here.  I'm always concerned about water decals because in past years water decal meant floating a decal in some water, GENTLY picking it up with tweezers and praying to God it was placed correctly when it hit the nail or else it was over.  Thankfully these aren't like that at all! You just pop it on where you want it, wet the back and slide. Just like a temporary tattoo!  They're super easy to remove too. No scrubbing or soaking.  You can pick up these decals at BornPretty.com! Don't forget you can save 10% by using the code below! :)






Zoya Ultra Pixie Dust Fall 2014


Today I have the Fall 2014 Ultra Pixie collection from Zoya for you! The collection consists of three shades all of which have fine micro glitter and mega hex particles for tone on tone 3D effects. These do not need any top or base coat and are super fast drying so they're very easy to use.  I wasn't a huge fan of the Magical Pixie Dusts that wee released over the summer so I was a little pensive about these. It's not that the shades weren't pretty or the formula wasn't great it's just the effect of them was a little much for me.  These are far less chunky and much easier to wear than those!  I used two coats for each of these swatches. Zoya recommends two to three thin coats.
 


First up is Noir, described as a deep, vampy plum with red hexes.  I think this one was my favorite of the three. The plum jelly base is super pretty and the effect reminds me a lot of the black jelly polishes with purple and red glitter that were popular awhile back. It's textured but not insanely so and it was glittery and pretty.


Next up is Oswin, a red textured polish.  This one is really stunning too although there are no different colored glittered flecks in it.  It seemed the most opaque of the three and the 3D effect was really evident on this one. Dr. Who fans will also appreciate the name. ;)


Finally we have Arianna, a blue toned wine with red hexes.  This one was the least opaque for me. I love the color of it but it really needed another coat for opacity (again Zoya recommends between two and three coats).  Overall I really liked this collection and I'm not much of a fan of reds.  The colors are all really great for fall and I think they'll be really great for the holidays!  Which one is your favorite?

**These polishes were provided to me for my honest review. I have not been compensated for my opinion.**

Artic Holo



Today's mani is sort of a fail mani!  I started out with a a great water marble...


With added glitter because why not, right?  It's been forever since I last water marbled and while it was great fun it was also just as time consuming as I remember.  After I was finished with it I wore it around for a day or two before I got bored and decided to stamp a pattern on it.  I think it came out sort of like some nice winter tights! I liked it but I also wish I'd have used a different black because it wasn't as opaque as I'd have liked.  In either event I hope you like them! :)

If it puts your mind at ease - you've saved humanity, once again...


 
These are some fun nails I did over the weekend.  I honestly have NO idea what this stamp is meant to be but it reminds me vaguely of Star Trek and in another way of little dead fish.  In either event I had polished my nails with some bright Butter London shades and then I decided to throw some glitter on and THEN I wanted just ONE more thing to add to it.  So I chose this stamp.  I did quite like the results although the glitter sort of gets lost in the mix.  I have ordered a new, softer stamper too which is supposed to help with placement of stamps.  Hopefully it comes soon so I can try it out because it's been awhile since I've done much with stamps and I'm clearly struggling a bit! In either event I hope you like the nails! What does this pattern make YOU think of?



All I have is your letter read and I cannot get it out of my head...



Today's mani is one I've wanted to do for a little while but hadn't really got around to yet.  I'm working on preparing to apply for a promotion at my job and between that, planning vacations, and just life in general things have gotten so hectic that I  haven't really had much time for nails.  About two weeks or so ago my husband sweetly offered to buy me some new stamping plates and now that I've gotten them I've been itching to play with them.  So this was one of the first things I did.  It actually prompted a mail carrier to tell me it looked like I had the Declaration of Independence on  my nails and a co worker noted that it looked like I had tiny pictures on my nails! Both were male and if men are noticing my nails I'd call it a win! ;) I hope you enjoyed them as well and thanks for following along!

The Digital Dozen 2nd Anniversary Giveaway!


It's that time again!!

Welcome to the Digit-al Dozen 2nd Anniversary Giveaway !!!




It’s been 2 years since the Digit-al Dozen first got together,and although we’ve had a few different line-ups in that time, one thing has remained constant  - our love of nail polish and nail art.


To celebrate, we are holding a legendary Giveaway featuring 51 prizes.  To all our brilliant sponsors,we can’t thank you enough for helping us set this up for you, our amazing readers.


Because we have a large amount of sponsors, they all have different shipping policies.   When you start the Rafflecopter, you will be asked which country you live in, because some prizes are only available in certain places. Ready?  Here’s the list –


INTERNATIONAL PRIZES

·        Above The Curve - Summer Destinations 2014 – 4 polishes
·        ALiquidLacquer - 5 polishes
·        Alter Ego Nail Enamel - 4 bottles
·        Black Dahlia Lacquer – 4 bottles
·        Celestial Lacquers - 6 bottles
·        Cupcake Polish - $25 gift card
·        Delush - 3 bottles
·        EllaGee - 4 bottles
·        Lacquistry - 4 bottles
·        Literary Lacquers - 6 bottles
·        Indigo Bananas – 6 bottles
·        Serum No 5 - 4 bottles
·        Vivid Lacquer - 4 stamping plates
·        Girly Bits - 2 bottles
·        Jindie Nails - 6 bottles
·        Superficially Colorful - $25  GC
·        Darling Diva Polish - 4 bottles
·        Llarowe - $50 GC -
·        Amazing Chic Nails - 2 bottles
·        Mrs. P's Nail Potions - $15 gift
·        Black Sheep Lacquer - 2 polishes
·        Renaissance Cosmetics - 3 full size bottles (in stock items only) and mini cuticle oil
·        Laquerlicious Nail Polish - 3 neon toppers. Beat The Heat, At The Lake and Lemon Limeade.
·        Nayll – 4 bottles of custom made polishes – you get to make your own!
·        JORD Watch; $129 voucher
·        $85 GC from The Digit-al Dozen, to a nail e-tailer of your choice
·        tube of Liquid Palisade from Kiesque
·        Nailed Kit decals set


US ONLY
·        Daphine Polish - 5 bottle Summer holo collex
·        GlitterDaze - 4 bottles
·        Gothic Gala Lacquers - 5 bottles
·        Karma's Kiss Lacquer - 4 bottles
·        LoveAngeline – 2 Gemstone polishes
·        LynnBDesigns- 5 bottles
·        Majestic Lacquer - 3 bottles
·        Philly Loves Lacquer - 4 bottles
·        Savoie - 4 bottles
·        KBShimmer - $35 electronic CG
·        6 Harts Polish - 2 polishes
·        Overall Beauty - nail art tape sets (with different colors nail tape) with nail wheels and nail art decals     plus a bottle nail polish (mystery color ), and a set of Overall Beauty Minerals ( 6 colors)
·        BKD - Space Sauce Teardrop Shaped Nail Polish Pendant Necklace - Nail Polish Jewelry
·        Shimmer – 5 bottles


US & Canada Only
·        Smokey Mountain Lacquers - 4 bottles
·        The Polish Bar - 4 bottles
·        Canadian Nail Fanatic – mystery package of 6 bottles


UK ONLY 
·        Quirk Polish - 3 bottles one of kind unreleased polishes
·        All one prize – 1 x Freckles polish, and Freckles Polish Necklace, and 1 x bottle from Laquerdaisical
·        All one prize - Stellar Polish -  1x polish and ring, 1 x bottle from Little Lost Ones
·        Pretty Quirky 2 x full size bottles 'Stole the Bouquet" and "Deva' , PLUS 1 x bottle from R+ R Lacquers
·        a voucher for a personalized planner from Personal Planner UK
·        a zip up pouch with set of brushes and dotters plus a selection of nail art: nail stickers, flat gems and rhinestones from Nailtopia


That’s an enormous list, isn’t it!!  How exciting – ok, so you know what you need to do, enter the rafflecopter and we’ll let you know on September 25th(or thereabouts) if you’re a winner.

  
The Giveaway will close at 11.59pm GMT on Tuesday September 24th.  If you are a winner, we will let you know which prize you have won, and then we will then put you in touch with your sponsor to claim / choose your prize (some sponsors have provided specific prizes; some will let you choose your own polishes).

  

Good luck !!



A Tale of Two Cities...


It's the final day of the Digital Dozen's two year anniversary week!! Today we were allowed to choose what we wanted to do, from the list of the things we've done earlier in the week.  I chose pairs even though it was the one I struggled with most in the first place!! I had the idea to do twin cities but I don't have the artistic skills to make anything recognizable! So I did some sister cities instead with this representing Paris and Chicago. I used a dark, sparkly grey for the background on my "Chicago" nails because in all the time I've spent there it's hardly been a sunny experience!!  Then I did a nice, standard pink on the Paris nail.  I hope you enjoyed following along with us this week! Don't forget to check out the other ladies work below!


Make tea. Not war.


Its day four of the Digital Dozens Terrific Two's challenge! Today's inspiration is China which I believe is the modern anniversary gift for two years.  I LOVE vintage china and have a whole collection of little tea cups and plates and what not.  I mostly used the colors for inspiration and teal/mint with a copper or gold accent is one of my favorite combinations.  Then I just added delicate pattern. I think this was my favorite inspiration day for the week!  I hope you loved them too! Please don't forget to check out what the other girls came up with for today's theme!


The sun sits high in a sapphire sky when my ship comes in...


It's day three of the terrific two's challenge with The Digital Dozen!  Today's manicure is inspired by Sapphire, the traditional birthstone of our anniversary month, September.  I have to admit I drew a blank on this one at first and then I did some googling and came up with a whole lot of nothing!  I did find some star sapphires which I remember being sort of intrigued by in my younger days.  As luck would have it I had a magnetic polish and a magnet which emulated this quite well.  The rest of my plan got sort of abandoned when I found this STUNNING polish in my drawer.  It's Zoya Dream and what a perfect name for it!  The sparkle caught my eye a few times so I finally decided to use it but I just couldn't bring myself to cover the whole of it with the little gems so I settled for just a few down the center!  I hope you enjoy these!! Don't forget to check out the other ladies art work below!!



Got cotton your web...


It's day two of the two year anniversary weekly challenge with The Digital Dozen! Today's mani inspiration is Cotton, the traditional two year anniversary present.  I decided to do some little cotton plants on a bright blue sky background.  Cotton grows on little stick like stems and as it grows it sort of puffs up and then fluffs outward so I've sort of done two representations of it.  I hope you like the mani!  Please don't forget to check out the other ladies art below!!



The Digital Dozen Does...The Terrific Two's!


This week is a very special Digital Dozen challenge week! It's our TWO year anniversary!! I can't believe it's been that long already but it's been an incredible journey and I have so much fun every week coming up with new designs for the challenge. Some have come really easily and others have been a real challenge.  This week we're doing themes related to the number two so for today I have a mani inspired by things that come in pairs.  It's a LITTLE outside the box but I thought paws/legs come in pairs so I went with this cute kitty manicure. If you live at my house pets also come in pairs! We have TWO cats and TWO hamsters. But I digress.  The kitty is a water decal from the Born Pretty store. It was sent to me for a review and as you can see it's wicked cute and stupid easy to use. Just put it on the nail, wet, press, lift and voila! Perfection in a second.  Don't forget to check out the other ladies mani's below!!





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