A Twist on the Traditional French Manicure

I love the look of a classic french manicure, but I was looking through my nail polish stash the other day and I decided to do a french manicure with a twist! Here is the final result:Keep reading if you want to see what products I used and the steps I took to achieve this look. Keep in mind you can use any brand of polish that is the same color, I am just showing you the particular products I used.

First, I applied a base coat to my nails. This gives the nail polish something to grab onto as well as prevents your nails from getting stained. I used the China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (Sally's Beauty Supply):


Next I applied grey nail polish to the tips of my nails. Try to make the line as straight as you can, but if it's a little uneven that's ok, because we can cover it up with the silver later! I used MAC nail polish in On the Prowl (MAC):
Then paint over your entire nail (including the grey) using a very sheer pink color. I used the Rimmel nailpolish in french manicure (Drugstores):
Next, I used a silver nailpolish with a fine tip brush applicator. I painted a line where the grey polish and the sheer pink color meet. Here I covered up any mistakes I made with the grey by thickening the silver stripe. I used So Easy Stripe Rite (Sally's Beauty Supply):
Last, I used a top coat to seal in the nail look! I used Beauty Secrets fast drying top coat (Sally's Beauty Supply):


This technique is fun because you can use any color combination. You can do pink tips with silver, black tips with gold, aanything you can think of you can do with this nail look!

I hope you enjoyed this. Comment below and let me know what color combination you used :D

Matte nails are a new trend!

It seems as if anything matte is becoming popular (ex: matte lipstick) and nail polish is no exception! China Glaze is one of the brands that now has a Flat Finish top coat. Their top coat is called Matte magic.

Details: This little bottle of milky clear (contradictory, I know) colored nail polish is a top coat that magically turns any nail polish that you apply into a matte color.

Where to Buy: I purchased mine at Sally's Beauty Supply. I originally purchased this for $5.99, but recently saw it on sale there for $2.99! This bottle is slightly smaller than regular China Glaze nail polishes. This top coat is .325 oz. I am sure you could also purchase this anywhere that China Glaze nail polishes are sold.

How to use it: You apply your colored nail polish as you usually would. Then, you let the nail color dry for the normal amount of time. Instead of using your regular top coat, you apply this to your nails

How it works: As the topcoat dries you will watch your nail color turn into a matte color. As you can see in the picture, the left nail has a regular top coat, and the right nail has the China Glaze Matte Magic. (Excuse the messy polish job)

My thoughts: I think this is a must for any nail polish lover. By owning this topcoat, you instantly double your nail polish collection!

Overall rating: A+
Note: I have not tried any other matte top coats, so I can't compare this to others.