Happy Holidays!

This is my full article for December 2010's Amara Philly Magazine. Sorry, I should have put this up a long time ago before Christmas day...but I was lazy. :P It was cut down in the magazine, because there's so much content, haha! But I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Hey everyone, long time no see! I hope you’re all doing well! It’s been a busy ending to the 2010 year for me, but I always look forward to the Winter season. I happen to celebrate Christmas, so the Holiday season is all about Christmas trees, glittery decorations, baked goods, and caroling for me. Pretty Christmas colors are especially inspiring to me, such as candy apple reds, emerald and pine greens, gold and silver.

Since I have a lot of creative freedom with my articles, I decided to do something a little different this time. Instead of makeup, I thought I’d dabble in some nail art. I love painting my nails all kinds of rainbow colors, and using nail polish is just another easy, yet temporary way to spice up your look. So, I decided to incorporate some Christmas-y colors on my nails, using red, white, gold and silver to make a glittery stripe design.

I am by no means a nail technician, so please excuse the messy cuticles and uneven stripes! I usually try to clean it up after everything is finished and dried. To me, art is all about expressing yourself in a fun way that makes you happy. Doing art on your nails is pretty creative and unexpected, something people appreciate. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Plus, if you don’t like your designs, you can always take nail polish remover and cotton balls to it and start over again!

 (From Left to Right: “Star Spangled” by Orly nail lacquer, “White” by L.A. Colors Art Deco nail art lacquer, “Gold” by Love & Beauty by Forever 21, “Silver” by Love & Beauty by Forever 21, and “Silver White Glitter” by L.A. Colors Art Deco nail art lacquer)

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at first, and I ended up using all of these nail polishes. But you don’t have to use the same colors or brands. Nail art polishes have a built-in brush that is long and thin, which is convenient and perfect for doing artistic details. You always have the option of using a nail or art detail brush, and dipping it in regular nail polishes too.  I found the Love & Beauty and L.A. Colors Art Deco nail art polishes at Forever 21, for a couple bucks each. But I’ve seen nail art polishes like these at places like Hot Topic and online at www.cherryculture.com.

 I started off with a glittery red base, using “Star Spangled” by Orly.

 Next, I used the white L.A. Colors Art Deco nail art lacquer to make a diagonal stripe in the middle of my nails.

 Taking the gold nail art polish, I made a gold diagonal stripe on either side of the white diagonal stripe. (Yeah, I know, I’m messy, lol. I’ll clean it up with Q-tips and remover later.)

 I honestly didn’t like the way the white stripe looked, so this is where I tried to “fix” my design by outlining the white stripe in silver. It was okay, but I still wasn’t completely happy…

 Glitter fixes everything, so I put a stripe of glitter over the white stripe. Unfortunately, cameras are notoriously terrible at capturing glitter, so I find it better looking and more multidimensional in person.

I hope you guys like it! Well, even if you don’t like my design, or don’t wish to use that much nail polish (it only takes a bit longer to dry than normal coats of nail polish, seriously!), I hope you are inspired to try some nail art! Just get creative, you may end up with a design you really like that gets everyone’s attention. Thanks for reading! Happy holidays to all of you, and happy new year!