Pinwheel Nail Art

The other day was an unusually windy day which led me to think of windmills.  Windmills led me to think of pinwheels which inspired me to do this design.  You'll need the following materials to do this design:

Materials

• Base and Top Coat
• 3 shades of polish
• Striping tape
• Small brush or toothpick
• Large dotting tool

For this design I decided to use a fun playful palette of bright colors and I decided to alternate the colors so that each finger would be slightly different.  When choosing your color palette keep in mind that you will be layering the colors in this design.  Some light colors may not work well over some dark colors and often the layering changes the finished shade.  

       

Start by painting your fingers whatever base color(s) you choose and let them dry completely.

Once, your base color has dried completely tape a t‐shape slightly off  center of your nail.

Then tape and x‐shape over the t‐shape.  It should look something like this…

Then using your second color and a small brush fill in every other triangle and remove the tape.  Try to work quickly so that when you remove your tape you have clean lines.

With your third color and a small brush draw a line from the top corner of one triangle to to the middle of the next triangle.  Continue all the way around until you get back to the first triangle.  It should look something like this…

Fill in the center and around the triangles with your third color to create  the pinwheel.

With a large dotting tool and your base color make a dot in the center of the pinwheel.

Top with a fast drying top coat to seal your design.  This will smooth out the design and give it a glassy shine.

This fun playful design makes a great accent or full manicure and can be worn anytime of year.  If your skills are honed you can do this all freehand or you can tape each layer if your not feeling adventurous.  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, see you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

Color Club's Safari Collection Swatches and Reviews

If you can't actually go on safari this collection will at least let you live it on your nails. I recently ordered and received this collection.  I only own 3 other Color Club polishes and was very impressed, so I had to get my hands on this collection.  To say the very least I was not disappointed by this collection.

1018 ‐ Lion's Den

This polish has a great formula, this is a two coat application.  This color has a lot of character, it is a gold metallic base with an iridescent that shimmers pink and red that show in the light.  This color really rocks!

1019 ‐Nail‐Robi

This polish has a fantastic formula, this is a one coat application.  The color is a beautiful rich creamy royal blue with just a hint of violet.

1020 ‐  Tribe & True

Another great formula on this polish, this a two coat application.  The color is an interesting earthy green with just a slight yellowish hue.

1021 ‐ Look Don't Tusk

This polish has an absolutely amazing formula, this is a  one coat application.  Light colors with a one coat application is an unusual phenomena, so I was very excited by this.  This color is a very creamy off white shade that is perfectly named.

1022 ‐In De‐Nile

Another light polish with an amazing formula, this too is a one coat application.  The color is a perfectly pale blue solid cream.

1023 ‐Safari Sunset

This polish also had a great formula, this is a two coat application.  This color is a nice peachy pink nude with a pretty gold metallic shimmer.  I really like this color it feels really elegant.

This collection is one of the best I've come across so far, the formulas are fantastic and the names describe the colors so well.  These colors are exactly what I would expect to see out on an African safari.  The light colors really compliment the dark hues and the whole collection is very well balanced.  I really like this collection, the color combinations are endless.

Need some inspiration try out one of these designs:

See you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,

#Color Club Safari

Give Your Hands a Little TLC

Spring is in full swing.  Mother Nature is reviving plant life, animals are coming out of hibernation, the sun is shining (most of the time).  While, Mother Nature is cleaning up after a long harsh winter so too are many people.  Spring cleaning is on everyones' schedule and Spring cleaning means getting your hands dirty.  Not to mention harsh cleaners and the number is does on your nails and skin.  So after a long dry winter and a tough weekend of cleaning treat your hands to a little extra TLC.

Start by removing your nail polish.

Then scrub your hands with an exfoliating hand soap.  If you don't have an exfoliating hand soap there are many recipes online for home‐made hand scrubs.  Or you can simple use a handful of table sugar and moisturizing hand soap.  I like to use a very generous amount of sugar because it dissolves with the washing process.  Be sure to scrub your cuticles well to remove any dead skin.

After scrubbing your hands, apply a generous amount of cuticle oil to your cuticles and nails.  Don't rub it in.  If you don't have cuticle oil you can use other oils such as baby oil, vitamin E oil, or extra virgin olive oil.  I often use vitamin E oil (I keep some around to keep my tattoos bright).

Then apply an abundant amount of your favorite hand lotion, I like to use baby lotion.  Don't rub this in completely either.

While your hands are still wet with moisturizer put them in plastic gloves or plastic baggies.

Then either wrap your hands in a towel or place them in oven‐mitts to keep them warm for about 20 minutes.  I don't own oven-mitts so I typically wrap my hands in dish towels.

When 20 minutes is up, unwrap your hands and remove the baggies or gloves.  Rub in any remaining lotion and enjoy your soft beautiful hands.

See you next time.

Your Fellow Plebe,