Kisses and Candy Mani and Nail Vinyls Review!

Happy Valentine's Day! Normally, I like to write new blog posts on Monday, but by then nobody will care about my themed nails. So I figured I would post a little earlier this week. 

Zoya lovin'

I'm a big 'ol romantic softie. I love V-Day, and to be honest, I don't understand why some people get so butthurt and defensive about it. It's gotten to the point where people who are celebrating valentine's day borderline have to apologize for it. Hey, listen: If you don't want couples to use a commercial Hallmark holiday to showcase their love for each other, why do YOU use it to go out of your way to shit all over the holiday? Although, I am in no way encouraging you to be a cynical grinch all the time. 

The bottom line is, whether you have a significant other or not, Valentine's Day is a great day to take the time in our busy SnapChat, Insta, Need-It-Now life to tell someone you care about that you appreciate them. Have a best friend? Go grab dinner together. Get your mom a bouquet of flowers. Go catch a game with your dad. Take your dog for a walk to get some heart shaped donuts. Volunteer your time at a retirement home. Literally do anything but sit online and be a big love grouch. 

Anyway, like I said, I love Valentine's Day. So I took the time to do a themed manicure using Nail Vinyls. Linda, the inventor of Nail Vinyls, made these ingenious little guys to make nail art a hell of a lot easier for just about anyone. So what are Nail Vinyls? They are sheets of vinyl cut into different shapes (chevrons, half moons, zebra pattern, French tips, etc) that you place on your nail, paint over, and then remove to create the desired effect. This is basically like a way better and easier version of a tape manicure. The vinyls are re-stickable, and leave no residue on the nail, unlike regular tape. Here's how they work:

Step 1: Paint a base color on your nails. Let it dry completely. 

Step 2: Apply Nail Vinyls, making sure that all edges and spaces around your cuticles are sealed (lifted edges = polish bleeding!)

Step 3: Paint over the stencil

Step 4: Carefully remove vinyls while polish is still wet. Clean up. Top coat. You're done!

I did some hand painted candy hearts on my ring finger just for fun. I love the way the whole thing turned out. Also, the heart midi rings I got at Forever 21 are so cute!

 

This past week I also painted my friend Jess's nails. I thought this fun Scrabble themed mani would also be appropriate to post this week...

I practiced those letters so hard. 

So that's it! I hope that no matter what, you had a lovely Valentine's Day. And make sure to check out that Nail Vinyls link I posted above! At $5 and up a sheet, it's a total steal to get artsy nails the easy way. Her IG is @teismom too, and she always posts new designs and sales! 

Color of the Month: Amythyst

There wasn't a lot going on this past week, besides a rowdy night in AC that I'd rather not go into detail about. So I figured that maybe as a monthly addition to the blog I would do a spotlight on that month's gemstone and do a manicure featuring that color. 

For all you Februay babies, this week's manicure is inspired by amethysts. I did a simple purple gradient/ombre manicure with an ombre chevron accent nail. 

For the chevrons I used @teismom's Nail Vinyls, which have become an almost overnight sensation in the nail art community. I'll be doing a full review of her Nail Vinyls in next week's posting, so definitely look out for that!

I also forgot to take a picture of the polishes I used, but if any of you are truly curious feel free to ask in the comments. 

Pretty reminiscent of my salon wall, right?

I really loved this manicure. Simple, with just the right splash of fun. 

Next week will be much more exciting, with a write up on my Valentine's Day themed nails that I'll be doing later in the week, as well as a feature of a girlfriend's Scrabble nails that I did for her and the Nail Vinyl review. Lots of exciting things!