How to: Gel Nails

Many of you have probably heard of gel nails. Essentially you are able to paint your nails with a stronger nail polish that won't chip as easily. If you are someone who always has to have their nails done, but who doesn't want to spend a lot of money going to a nail salon, investing in a gel nails at home kit would be something to look at.

I currently use the gelish brand UV light (shown above) and it works perfectly! I know many UV lights can be pretty pricey, but look at some local nail shops/beauty shops and you might find some really good deals!

 Make sure to get a base coat and a top coat for your nails as it helps strengthen your nail polish and helps it last longer. However if you decide to get the Gelaze brand, the color nail polish doubles as a base coat so you'd only need the top coat! :)

 So basically its incredibly simple. Just apply the base coat/foundation coat and put your nails under the UV light and press the button until the light turns off. And repeat those steps with the color  polish and the top coat and voila, you're finished!

So what do you think about gel nails? I absolutely love them :) They should last about 3 or more weeks, however you need to get them wet as little as possible to help them last longer. Wear gloves while washing the dishes and don't go swimming everyday and they should last you a long time! Tell me what your experiences are with gel nails, and what else you would like seeing on my blog!

How to: Perfect Eyebrows

We've all seen them: The perfect eyebrows. I've met many people who feel that perfect eyebrows are so out of reach, they resort to plucking most of theirs off just to fill them back in again like coloring books. Now I'll let you in on a little secret (that isn't so secretive at all) most of those cutie boys out there that you're trying to impress don't give a darn tootin' what your eyebrows look like, as long as they look natural. However, most of us girls do care (I know I do.) So in order to get a win-win out of the situation, I'm gonna tell you everything I know about getting perfect, natural looking eyebrows!

First: Determine your eyebrow's shape.

Finding the shape of the eyebrows that match perfectly to your own face is actually incredibly simple and easy! Before starting get something to outline the shape of your brows, white liner tends to work the best for this as it contrasts with dark brows. Next, just find a thin straight edged tool (I use a thin comb) and line up (while looking straight) your nostril to your eyebrow. That is where your eyebrow should start.

After marking the start of your eyebrows, next line up the straight edge with your nostril to the outer side of your iris. That is the highest part of your eyebrow's arch.

For the ends, match up your nostril with the outer corners of your eye.

Next determine how thick you want your eyebrows to be. I don't have a specific trick for this, but you should kind go along with the natural shape of your brow. Outline the shape you want in the white liner like so (I'm using photoshop to show you cause I couldn't find a white liner and I was too lazy to buy a new one haha)

Second: Pluck away

Now that you've determined how you want your brows to look, pluck all hair that lives outside of the boundary that you just drew :) If your eyebrow hairs are really long, you may want to trim them (like I do) but don't cut off too much as the longer the hairs, the more naturally filling your eyebrows will be! I normally brush the hair upwards with a brow brush and trim any irregularly long hairs, but again don't trim too much.

Third: Fill in empty spots

Now if you have any patches of emptier looking areas, that is where you want to fill in with a brow pencil, or eye shadow. Most people find a brow pencil that is the same color as their eyebrows, however they come off way too strong. Go with a few shades lighter than your actual hair color and your eyebrows will look full while still maintaining a natural look.

***HELPFUL HINT***

Ok so chances are your eyebrows sometimes get a little unruly at times and go all over the place. A simple and very inexpensive way to fix this, is to get an old mascara brush, spray it with hairspray, and brush your brows in place. And voila- your brows will stay in place all day! 

I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial, and hopefully you like these tips! Let me know what works for you when you try to manage your brows :)