A Mermaid’s Dream

As much as I usually can’t stand glitter polish because of the intense time and labor it takes to remove it, there are some polishes that are just way too awesome not to wear. This polish above is the PERFECT turquoise/teal/glitter combo. Called ‘Mermaid’s Dream’, by the one and only @DeborahLippmann, this polish literally makes you look/feel like a mermaid. (Please note the rainbow reflection on my shiny skin… #nofilter i kid you not…this polish turned me into an actual mermaid! :P ) Lippmann’s polishes are a personal favorite. The light teal base to this polish is pretty sheer, so I applied at least 3 coats to make the texture and look more opaque. 

Shop ‘Mermaid’s Dream’ ($18) and more of Deborah Lippmann’s polishes here.

Are you on #INSTAGRAM?! #TWITTER?! Follow me: @thefreshmani #FRESHMANI

DIY YELLOW OMBRE!

After my blue ombre post, I knew I needed to get down a good DIY ombre mani, so that all my readers can try it out for themselves. It’s SUPER simple! Grab two colors, I chose ‘Cab Cabinda Angola’ by USLU AIRLINES & ‘Minted’ by Revlon.

First, add one full base coat, choose the lighter color of the two. (I painted all of my nails with the yellow polish.) Secondly, paint half the bottom nails with the darker color. (I then painted with the green, halfway over the yellow). Next, paint the yellow (base color) again, this time on the top half of all nails, covering half of the green. Paint two coats of the third step, making the top of the nail a bit thicker/more opaque. Lastly, cover with top coat!!

VOILA! There you have yourself a spring DIY OMBRE #FRESHMANI! Try it out with these colors…the yellow polish by Uslu Airlines is my absolute favorite and only sold on www.femininrascal.com! (Fun Fact: FemininRascal.com delivers in NYC on the SAME DAY of your purchase!! How badass…)

PETER PAN COLLAR MANI

Inspired by my wardrobe filled with 99% of collared shirts, I decided to give my nails a little love with adorable hand-painted Peter Pan Collars! Mixed a little gold sparkle, leopard, and bright pink to bring out my girly side and added some stones/3d nail art on random nails to make my #freshmani pop a bit more! 

Hand painted by Mickie @MarieSoho Nails (their new location on Elizabeth Street, less hectic than the original Soho location…)

Book appointments at Marie Nails or call 646-912-9655!

Pastel Color Blocking Mani Spring 2012 polish collections are out - consisting of pretty pastels and loud iridescent neons. To start off my spring polish posts, I chose Essie’s new pastels: ‘To Buy or Not Buy’ and ‘A Crewed Interest’. As you already know, I struggle with just a plain, one-colored #freshmani…I get bored. These two pastel colors are super subtle and compliment one another. Try this #freshmani out yourself, most nail salons should be stocked up on these newbies! Keep it purrrty… @THEFRESHMANI is now on INSTAGRAM! Follow me!

Pastel Color Blocking Mani

Spring 2012 polish collections are out - consisting of pretty pastels and loud iridescent neons. To start off my spring polish posts, I chose Essie’s new pastels: ‘To Buy or Not Buy’ and ‘A Crewed Interest’. As you already know, I struggle with just a plain, one-colored #freshmani…I get bored. These two pastel colors are super subtle and compliment one another. Try this #freshmani out yourself, most nail salons should be stocked up on these newbies!

Keep it purrrty…

@THEFRESHMANI is now on INSTAGRAM! Follow me!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Honestly, this day brings me nothing but the urge to go head first into a huge box of whiskey filled dark chocolates, as well as a bottle of vino and re-runs of Gossip Girl. But, cmon ladies! Nothing is more typical and annoying than hearing that come from a single woman’s mouth… So get up off your lazy asses and #treatyoself to the freshest Valentine’s mani.  For this Valentine’s day, I went with the design of one of my favorite logos (and labels), Comme Des Garçons. The black polish and horizontal black and white stripes give my lovely v-day mani a little more edge. Nothing cuter than looking down and seeing these two little hearts look back at me >_<!! Gel Manicure by Valley NYC. Karen, as always. Polish: Gelish in Snowy White & Black. Happy Valentine’s Day! xx

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Honestly, this day brings me nothing but the urge to go head first into a huge box of whiskey filled dark chocolates, as well as a bottle of vino and re-runs of Gossip Girl. But, cmon ladies! Nothing is more typical and annoying than hearing that come from a single woman’s mouth… So get up off your lazy asses and #treatyoself to the freshest Valentine’s mani. 

For this Valentine’s day, I went with the design of one of my favorite logos (and labels), Comme Des Garçons. The black polish and horizontal black and white stripes give my lovely v-day mani a little more edge. Nothing cuter than looking down and seeing these two little hearts look back at me >_<!!

Gel Manicure by Valley NYC. Karen, as always. Polish: Gelish in Snowy White & Black.

Happy Valentine’s Day! xx

EMERALD GREEN - THE $ MAKING MANI Rainy days ALWAYS consist of a new #freshmani. Usually a bright color to lighten up the day. Zoya sent me their last collection of holiday colors and I finally got to use my favorite of the three, this emerald green polish called &#8216;HOLLY&#8217;. (Obviously this green polish reminds me of money&#8230;&#8221;stacks on stacks on stackssss&#8221; will now be playing in my head on repeat all week&#8230;) Shop HOLLY here: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/zoya-nail-polish-holly-zp577-green-nailpolish.html Bored of just one color?! This green is also the perfect color to use for a color-blocking #freshmani. Paint your ring fingers with a Bubblegum/Barbie pink (preferably &#8216;Yvette&#8217; by Zoya- http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Yvette.html) and you&#8217;ll have yourself a fresh color-blocking mani! Keep it gangster, girls&#8230;

EMERALD GREEN - THE $ MAKING MANI

Rainy days ALWAYS consist of a new #freshmani. Usually a bright color to lighten up the day. Zoya sent me their last collection of holiday colors and I finally got to use my favorite of the three, this emerald green polish called ‘HOLLY’. (Obviously this green polish reminds me of money…”stacks on stacks on stackssss” will now be playing in my head on repeat all week…)

Shop HOLLY here: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/zoya-nail-polish-holly-zp577-green-nailpolish.html

Bored of just one color?! This green is also the perfect color to use for a color-blocking #freshmani. Paint your ring fingers with a Bubblegum/Barbie pink (preferably ‘Yvette’ by Zoya- http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/Zoya-Nail-Polish-Yvette.html) and you’ll have yourself a fresh color-blocking mani!

Keep it gangster, girls…

SILVER METALLIC MANI When it comes to an actual metallic #freshmani, no polish will do the trick like NAIL ROCK. NAIL ROCK is a nail sticker company that sells three metallic stick-on nail packs as well as other fun and shiny nail sticker options. (The NAIL ROCK metallic red is super rad too&#8230;) Birds, don&#8217;t be fooled, when applying these nail stickers, be sure to follow directions! If you don&#8217;t file and buffer the top of your nails perfectly, the stickers won&#8217;t stick at all. The cut of your nails is important in this process too, square shaped nails work best! Once the beds of your nails are buffered properly, apply the sticker from side to side, covering your entire nail bed. Fold the sticker over the top of your nail and file the sticker off where your nail ends. VOILA! Easiest, cheapest &amp; freshest mani on the block, shop this silver metallic #freshmani and more here: www.nailrock.com Stay ICY ladies&#8230;

SILVER METALLIC MANI

When it comes to an actual metallic #freshmani, no polish will do the trick like NAIL ROCK. NAIL ROCK is a nail sticker company that sells three metallic stick-on nail packs as well as other fun and shiny nail sticker options. (The NAIL ROCK metallic red is super rad too…)

Birds, don’t be fooled, when applying these nail stickers, be sure to follow directions! If you don’t file and buffer the top of your nails perfectly, the stickers won’t stick at all. The cut of your nails is important in this process too, square shaped nails work best! Once the beds of your nails are buffered properly, apply the sticker from side to side, covering your entire nail bed. Fold the sticker over the top of your nail and file the sticker off where your nail ends.

VOILA! Easiest, cheapest & freshest mani on the block, shop this silver metallic #freshmani and more here: www.nailrock.com

Stay ICY ladies…

BLUE OMBRE MANI After recently dying my hair a little more blonde/ombre, I was inspired to do something similar to my nails. With no color in mind, I got to Valley Nails and immediately sat down next to this rad chick who had just gotten the freshest BLUE ombre mani. Without a doubt, I knew I needed to copy her. I got a gel mani, again, so it would last me around 3 weeks. Valley has soo many different gel colors to chose from, as well as glitters that you can get on top of your color gradient #freshmani. (*Kuniko and Karen are my girls at Valley, I trust them with anything that I request.)  Love my blue color gradient #freshmani? Book your appointment with Valley, here! xx

BLUE OMBRE MANI

After recently dying my hair a little more blonde/ombre, I was inspired to do something similar to my nails. With no color in mind, I got to Valley Nails and immediately sat down next to this rad chick who had just gotten the freshest BLUE ombre mani. Without a doubt, I knew I needed to copy her.

I got a gel mani, again, so it would last me around 3 weeks. Valley has soo many different gel colors to chose from, as well as glitters that you can get on top of your color gradient #freshmani. (*Kuniko and Karen are my girls at Valley, I trust them with anything that I request.) 

Love my blue color gradient #freshmani? Book your appointment with Valley, here!

xx

A Walking Christmas Present. For the holidays, I obviously went for a pretty hectic (yet adorable) christmas-y mani. Polka dots, as you can see from previous posts, are always a must. And what reminds you more of Christmas than a big red present bow!? This was my first gel manicure EVER&#8230;And it was AWESOME. It lasted for about 3 solid weeks and even looked good as new on the third week. (TIP: When getting a gel mani, make sure to moisturize your hands frequently and put cuticle oil on your cuticles to ensure that your nails don&#8217;t get damaged from the gel polish.) Of course, I went to @ValleyNYC (where else?!) and I used the classic white gel polish with red acrylic nail art paint. This manicure did run me about 90 bucks, but the artists at Valley do an excellent job, keeping your nails looking SO fresh for a couple weeks. Totally worth every penny. Treat yourself to a nice gel manicure, I promise you will not regret it. xx

A Walking Christmas Present.

For the holidays, I obviously went for a pretty hectic (yet adorable) christmas-y mani. Polka dots, as you can see from previous posts, are always a must. And what reminds you more of Christmas than a big red present bow!? This was my first gel manicure EVER…And it was AWESOME. It lasted for about 3 solid weeks and even looked good as new on the third week. (TIP: When getting a gel mani, make sure to moisturize your hands frequently and put cuticle oil on your cuticles to ensure that your nails don’t get damaged from the gel polish.)

Of course, I went to @ValleyNYC (where else?!) and I used the classic white gel polish with red acrylic nail art paint. This manicure did run me about 90 bucks, but the artists at Valley do an excellent job, keeping your nails looking SO fresh for a couple weeks. Totally worth every penny. Treat yourself to a nice gel manicure, I promise you will not regret it.

xx

Festive &amp; Fresh. I wanted a simple festive mani, without the typical burgundy/red&#8230;so I chose this purple/pink/red-ish color by Essie called &#8216;Bahama&#8217;. (Just one color sort of bores me after a couple of days&#8230;so I&#8217;ll probably add a gold tip to turn it into a metallic french!) xx Shop &#8216;Bahama&#8217; at www.essie.com!

Festive & Fresh.

I wanted a simple festive mani, without the typical burgundy/red…so I chose this purple/pink/red-ish color by Essie called ‘Bahama’. (Just one color sort of bores me after a couple of days…so I’ll probably add a gold tip to turn it into a metallic french!) xx

Shop ‘Bahama’ at www.essie.com!