New Years Nails

Hey gals,
Here is a simple New Years nail design that only requires some silver polish, black polish and top coat :) Hope you have an amazing rest of your 2014 year! 

♡Crystal

Christmas Nails

Hey there,
Here is my second nail design for Christmas!  Hope you enjoy!

♡Crystal

Christmas fun design

Hey there,
Thought I would start posting my Christmas nail designs. Planning on changing them again this week. So stay tuned for another design :) These were done with a wine purple and an I love nail art pen in white :) Simple and fun. Get in the holiday spirit!

♡Crystal

Winter Wonderland Nails

Hey there,
So yeaterday I had a little bit of time and I created this beautiful winter wonderland themed nail design. Enjoy!

I used these items in order:
▪Rise and Shine by Sinful Colors as the base color
▪Heartbreaker by Pure Ice on top of the base to give it a more shimmery look
▪Pearly Whites by Sally Hansen on the pointer and rind fingers
▪White by I love Nail Art Striper to create the snowflake and stripes
▪I used a dotter tool to create the dots look

Football Season: Denver Broncos Nail Design

Hey there,

So last night I had a little bit of time, oh I would say approximately 30 minutes, and I decided that I would change my nail color. What better way to get into the spirit of American Football than a gal with her nails done with colors from her favorite team! So, that's what I did. And my favorite team so happens to be the Denver Broncos who are on a winning streak so far this season (2-0) whoohooo!!!!

Lol but for those who have another football team as their fav, no worries this tutorial works well with any set of colors!

Chevron Nail Design: Denver Broncos

•  First things first, take off any left over nail polish on your nails. Make sure to wash your hands also with soap and water to get off any left over oils. Also, make sure that your nail shape is the way you want it before you begin designing (or else things can get messy 0.0 and nobody wants that)!
• Secondly, pick your colors. In this case I chose orange, blue, white, and black.
• I usually only focus on one hand at a time. So since I am right handed I start my designs on the left hand and placed a clear coat of nail polish from SinfulColors. I have been using these acrylic paints from Walmart for my design versus just polish because it gives a nice matte look, although regular nail polish works just fine. 

• Next up, start by making an orange chevron look. All you do is move your brush at an angle towards the center of your nail making a triangle and repeat this on the other side of the nail.

• Use this same angle technique to create the blue color design over the orange. This may take a few coats depending on how solid your blue nail polish is. Don't get discouraged! Keep pushing forward. 

• Okay you have this angle thing down now right? Well take a small brush and lightly create a thin line with the white color above the orange. If this turns out to be too difficult, do the angle technique with the white color first before the orange.
• In this tutorial I also created some small dots to give it a little flair :) but totally unnecessary unless you are into it lol then dot away.
• Side note: I lost my dotter tool, but I highly recommend using one.
• Make sure to buy a real good top coat. This way your design can go on being noticed for at least 1week and a 1/2.

I hope you enjoyed this nail tutorial. Let me know if you want to see anything specific in the comments :)



<3 Crystal

Nail Design: Fun and Bold

Hey all,
So yesterday my Mother-in-law surprised me with about 6 different colors of nail polishes (She knows I love to do my own nails). It was such an excellent surprise and just in time to change up my nail design. I ended up having some extra time before work today and contemplated on the design I was going to use. No lie I redid them like 3 times. I wanted to use every color haha but only ended up using 4. White, pink, turquoise,  and a beautiful, darkish purple wine color. Anywho below is the tutorial for this design. Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow me on Google+ so you don't miss any new designs.

P.S I totally ruined my nail design when I got to work trying to unload boxes haha so you should be seeing a new design in the very near future :)

1. Begin by cleaning your previous nail polish off your nails. Use some cotton balls and some nail polish remover with Acetone for natural nails and polish remover without Acetone for artificial nails. Trust me on this. 
2. Begin with the base color. For this design I used a white polish and put on two coats. Let your nail completely dry before applying the second coat of polish. This will ensure a smooth surface without rigid lines and bumps. 
3. Pick your first fun color for the dots portion, I used pink and turquoise for my two colors and chose to start with the pink polish first. I placed a small drop of polish on a piece of paper and used my dotter tool to somewhat align my curved design from one corner to the opposite in diagonal, corner of the nail. I repeated this for each nail on my left hand( I'm right handed so my left hand is usually my most comfortable place to start). Make sure to space out the dots. Leave extra space in random places for the second fun dot color. 
4. Repeat the above steps with the second dot color. You should now have a beautiful design. I actually almost stopped here but quickly realized I could't handle having all that white space so I continued on. 
5. I used the darkish-purple wine color to make a swoop curve in the empty space for a bold design. I began the swoop with the corner closest to me and slowly created the curve out towards the end of the nail. 
6. Great job on your design. Don't forget to add a strong top coat to your nails ensuring a longer  "design life" and clean off any excess polish from your hands with some polish remover and a Q-tip.
7. Thanks for reading and enjoy your amazing work.

Until Next Time,

CL <3

Nail Design: Polka Dots w/White Waves

Polka Dots and White Waves
By:Crystal Lobato

Hey there,

So last night I created one of my many nail designs for the summer and I am here to share it with you! I love doing different nail designs. I am a student constantly writing things down and looking at my hands, so when there is a chip on my polished nail or a crack I immediately know it's there and have to fix it.

Before, I used to consistently go get my nails done...you know go to the salon and let someone else takeover the beautifying in my life. Well needless to say I got tired of spending so much money on something I could do myself. I'm glad that I switched. I set aside about 15 to 20 minutes every one or two weeks (depending on how well the polish holds up) to create a new design. I love to create new things so by designing my nails it gave me an outlet and stress relief from my mentally challenging life of crunching numbers and problem solving.

Well here we go!

1. Clean your nails off with cotton and some nail polish remover. Polish remover with acetone work best. If you have fake nails on though don't use acetone. It will dissolve the nail. 
2. Put on the first coat of pink. I used Sinful Colors Nail polish. Then let dry and Put on a second coat to ensure a full consistent color on the nail. 
3. Focus on one hand at a time. 
4. 
   
   
5. So by using the dotter tool I began making dots from the top left of the nail (looking at my hand palm down away from my body) and created a swirl from corner to corner. 
6. Fill in half of the nail with larger and medium sized dots. Let them dry.
7. 
8. Next use a striper polish like Stripe Rite in white made by Its So Easy (you can get it at Sally's Beauty Supply) to create the wavy curved lines. 
9. Follow the wavy line you created with the dots. 
10. What I love about Srltripe Rite is that if you make a mistake you can use a drop of water to rub it off. It took me awhile to make the lines the way I liked them. So never fear messing up...just rub it away and begin again!
11. When all is done...use an expensive too coat to seal your design. Don't forget this step or you will find yourself washing dishes and your design and hard work has disappeared.  
12. 
    
    
13. Switch to your other hand and repeat. My right hand never looks as good as my left (because I'm right handed) but it's all good. Enjoy. Let me know how it turns out :)

A Calm Meadow

A Calm Meadow on a Sunny Day

Created By: Crystal Lobato

Using Digital Fresh Paint for Windows

 

Sometimes we all need to take a step back. Away from our cell phones and computers and nifty gadgets in order to just breathe. Hectic mornings and stressful nights call for some type of relief. Exercise, yoga, some spa time. For me when I feel I need to get away from my life (for just a while), I take a road trip up to the Colorado Rocky Mountains (about an hour away) and just take in the fresh air and calmness nature provides. She is beautiful, full of color and life. No electricity needed to view her but only the moon to provide the light in the night. Her clear streams and rivers give you an instant feeling of relaxation and you are far enough away from the city life to forget about your crazy day and enjoy the fact that you are alive and well, with the opportunity to view the sight that is before you. Mother nature puts it all into perspective and clears your mind. Most times it even helps me figure out the missing pieces to my projects and life that caused the madness and stress in the first place. I find the solution in those beautiful, peaceful mountains.

 

We all need that peaceful place where you feel safe and can let your mind go. Turn off the world we so constantly connect to (without truly talking to someone) and just breath. Sometimes you need to take time to improve yourself before helping others and that's okay even if that means you take a shower by yourself for 15 minutes to escape the madness the kids are causing in the next room. Simple pleasures are worth your time, a little time to breathe can help you do some great things in the future.

 

Until next time, CL <3