The All-White Manicure Is White Hot (And Easy to Do Yourself!)

zaterdag 3 augustus 2013

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by April Daniels Hussar 19 hours ago

The all-white manicure is one of those fresh and sexy trends that's totally DIY-able. A ton of the spring/summer runways featured models sporting all-white, and even Kim Kardashian showed off her short white mani a while ago, so this week I figured what the heck?! I tried it myself, and I'm quite happy with the results! I did find it a little trickier to work with than colored polish, but overall, it's really just two coats, a top coat, and voila!

Here's the shot Kim K Instagrammed:

(Side note: Oh how I want her Cartier Love bracelet!!!)

Kim captioned this "Short nails are everything" -- and I do think they look great like this. I left mine a little longer, mostly because I'm lazy and didn't feel like trimming and filing them! But I like my results too!

For my at-home mani, I used Dolce & Gabbana Intense Nail Lacquer in "true white" ... which is actually SLIGHTLY off-white. It's like almost a creamy white, but not quite. ($25 at SaksFifthAvenue.com) I just happened to have this laying around, but some other great options would be Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "White On" for a real bright, quick-drying white ($2.49 at Target) or OPI "Cream of Capri" for a similar look to mine. ($6.99 at BeautyEncounter.com)

I also used Essie "No Chips Ahead" top coat, which really helped smooth out the whole look (and of course it makes the mani last longer). ($7.79 at Target)

Now, I must say that I found the white polish a little more challenging than usual, and I've read this same thing from other beauty bloggers. I think it's because it has to be pretty thick for the white to be opaque, and because it's so white, mistakes show up easily. My first coat looked pretty bad, but once I realllllly carefully went over it with a second coat, it looked a million times better. So my advice is -- don't panic if your first pass looks like crap! Have some nail polish remover and a Q-tip handy and it will be fine.

I do think this manicure would also look great with a little bling, like a sparkly top coat on just the ring finger nails (or all of them), but for now, I'm kind of loving the fresh whiteness of it.

What do you think?

Images via April Daniels Hussar and KimKardashian/Instagram

ABOUT THE AUTHOR April Daniels Hussar

is a California girl transplanted to the wilds of suburban New Jersey, and is a shoe-loving, book-obsessed writer and mama.

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The 'Chalkboard Manicure': We Have All the Dirt on the Hot New Trend

zaterdag 13 juli 2013

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I knew as soon as I saw the Ciate Chalkboard Manicure kit that I had to try it! I love to doodle, and I love nail polish and manicures ... match made in heaven! Plus, it seemed somehow more easy to accomplish at home than some other DIY nail art kits and designs I've seen. So, this afternoon my daughter Isabella and I decided to test it out. Here's how we did:

The kit ($25 at Sephora.com) comes with the "chalkboard" paint pot, a "mattnificent" top coat, and four "chalk pens." They also include a handy instruction booklet and a bunch of fun design ideas.

It's pretty simple -- the hardest part is thinking of the designs and them drawing them on (trickier with your non-dominant hand, obviously!).

Step 1: Apply two coats of "chalkboard."

The chalkboard paint goes on really glossy but dries almost instantly into a super matte finish. I couldn't believe how fast it dried!

This stuff is super matte!

2. Once the black is dried (seriously, it's almost instantaneous), use the chalk pens to draw your designs.

Child's play!

Now, they say in the instructions that you can erase chalk mistakes with a paper towel and water, but only the pink seemed to come off really easily. I wanted to get rid of this failed moon and stars:

... but this is what happened after I wiped the nail off:

Hmm. I ended up trying again and scrubbing pretty hard; I got most of the white off and then just painted another quick coat of black over it.

3. Finally, you just paint a coat of the top coat over your nails, and admire your handywork!

Isabella loved it!

So did I:

I took a shot outside too because the colors looked more vibrant in the light:

I love this kit - I think you could really do some great looks with it. And what a fun idea for teachers, or kids going back to school! Or a bride-to-be at a bachelorette party (I would have loved painting MRS HUSSAR or something fun like that). You could also do a cute "French manicure" in color, or stick with a theme related to a holiday. The possibilities are endless!

Would you try the chalkboard manicure?

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