Manicure Monday: Gelish Inner Vixen

I haven't been splurging on manicures in a while. Partially because I thought getting a few too many no chip Shellac manicures in a row was going to deprive my nails of oxygen. I also have a terrible habit at picking off my manicures once they start to chip. This is something you should not do with Shellac! Alas, I picked off a few too many and decided to give my nails a break and let them heal and grow out. I probably went about three to four months without stopping in a salon, but last week after a particular hard day at work teaching elementary music classes, I decided to treat myself.

I stopped into a salon in my hometown. I have never been there before and stopped in because I read good reviews on Yelp. I felt a bit rushed and that they didn't do the best salon job (ie. no cuticle oil or lotion massage... that's my favorite part of the manicure!) but the manicure looked nice. I picked the shade from Gelish called "Inner Vixen" found here. I thought it looked very appropriate for fall!

It is a dark brown with a reddish sparkle to it in just the right light. I usually do not go for sparkle or shine in nail polishes, but I thought this looked very vampy! I loved the color. What I didn't love was that this manicure from this particular salon chipped and started to lift up within a week. I felt like it was just a regular manicure for more than twice the price! I think this was because the salon technician was rushing me out. However, I liked the color and would definitely choose that again. I might take a bit more of a manicure break at salons because I happened to pick off this polish too... I have to work on that habit!

What is your favorite nail color for fall? Leave us a comment below!

Love, Erica

Manicure Monday: Art Deco Modern Polish

I tried to create a tape manicure design over the weekend. I started with painting my nails with a base coat (Essie First Base Base Coat) and proceeded to paint my nails a soft purple brown color. This was Essie's Ladylike. I think this new color is great for fall as a neutral!

I attempted to take a photo in the sun to get a more accurate color, however, I am not sure about that lighting situation. 

Next, I used painters tape to outline where I would be keeping the Ladylike color. This part was the hardest part for me to try and make a uniform thickness of tape. It was also hard to put the tape on my right hand, as I am right handed. I think with more practice I will have more success with tape manicures.

I then painted my nails with OPI by Sephora in In The Shadows. I waited until the two coats were dry and removed the painters tape. One thing that I thought would not make a difference but actually did was using painters tape. I used to use scotch tape when I did tape manicures. However, I found that the scotch tape would lift up some of my polish along the edges and leave a sticky residue on my nails. Painters tape was perfect! No wonder why people use it for painting! It did not leave a sticky residue and did not lift up any of my polish. I was worried about my right hand not being dry enough but the paint did not smudge as I removed the tape. This is a valuable tip to remember for next time.

I finished my manicure with Seche Vite quick drying top coat. The above picture is before I cleaned up the edges with nail polish remover.

I hope you enjoyed the design and will try your own tape manicures! :) 

Love, Erica