Posts Tagged ‘summer’

NAILED IT!

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photos + post by Kristin Ess

Sometimes you’ve gotta get a little country! Nothing screams sweet southern style more than gingham, so let’s make that into a mani, shall we?!

  1. Start by painting the nails white.
  2. Using the DIY sticker method we showed you a couple weeks ago, paint blue, pink, green or whatever color you love on a piece of tape. Wait for it to dry and cut it into thin strips. You’ll need 6-10 strips per finger.
  3. Lay 3-5 strips horizontally on the nail.
  4. Then lay the other 3-5 strips vertically.
  5. Trim the excess with cuticle nippers. (I decided to add one more blue strip at the tip of the nail at this point because I thought it looked better with blue at the top!)
  6. Apply a quick drying top coat to seal your gingham pattern.

You can do all your nails or just one. I didn’t want an overwhelming sense of this pretty lil’ pattern, so I just stuck to one.

PRETTY POLISH IDEA

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photos + post by Kristin Ess

First of all, sorry for the lack of posts this week. By now you know that Lady Conrad has a brand new book called THE FAME GAME. We joined her on her book tour and that busy schedule left little time for much else. But we’re back and bringing you the ombre stain mani! We’ve seen lots of ombre techniques in the past, but this one is pretty cool because it’s done on your bare nails and has more of a stain effect than looking like actual nail polish. This was much easier than I thought it was going to be, but you should be prepared to practice once or twice before doing the actual mani. It’s all about technique! Here we go:

You will need: 3-4 gradient nail polish colors (dark to light and all in the tonal family), a clear top coat, a triangle makeup sponge, a cup of water, a piece of paper for blotting the polish, a paint brush + nail polish remover for clean up.

  1. Unscrew the lids of your 3 or 4 gradient colors so they’re ready to go. Be careful not to knock them over! Here I used because I was feeling very mermaid inspired.
  2. Get a little cup of water and soak your triangle makeup sponge. Squeeze the sponge out about 80% leaving it damp but not wet. This will keep the polish from soaking up too quickly.
  3. Apply a single line of the darkest color toward the edge of your sponge. The first time, I went over the line twice so that there was enough polish to transfer to the nail.
  4. Next, use the second darkest color and make another line above that one. Coat it twice also. Keep going until you build up your 3-4 colors. NOTE: you want to work somewhat quickly so the polish doesn’t dry out.
  5. Dab your sponge on a piece of paper and you’ll see the colors together but not quite blended.
  6. Bounce it up and down in the same spot a few times and you’ll see how the separation of colors disappears and they become blended!
  7. Line the tip of the sponge up with the tip of your nail and when you’re ready, give it a med-firm press. Bounce it up and down a couple times in that spot. DON’T BE SCARED that you’re going to mess it up because you’re not. If you keep it in the same general spot it will be just fine. It doesn’t have to be exact. If it’s a little off each time you bounce it up and down that’s actually good because it blends the colors even more.
  8. Re-apply a line of each polish color to the sponge for every nail. If you work quickly, you can probably re-apply polish to the sponge for every other nail.
  9. Now you have pretty polish but a mess around your nails.
  10. Take a little polish remover + a paint brush and clean up the sides and aroud the cuticles.
  11. Apply a top coat once the ombre has dried completely. The top coat will also make it appear more blended.

Try it in other colors. We did pink and blue but we’d love to see what you choose! Tweet them to us @TBDofficial and we’ll pin them!

BEAT THE HEAT

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photo: Christian Dior

Seasonal Summer Makeup…

For most of us, summer is our favorite time of the year… no school, half-day Fridays, pool parties and late sunsets… but unfortunately it doesn’t bring with it carefree make-up.  Between humidity and heat, you can look in the mirror an hour after you’ve applied your make-up and it has either traveled across your face or it’s gone.  Or perspiration has caused tiny sweat blemishes.  And if you’re spending all day in an office with recycled air conditioning, your skin and lips are dried out, even though it’s humid outside.  So this is the season to simplify your routine by going sheer and waterproof.  Here are some tips to get you through in style:

  • After applying sunscreen, skip foundation or switch to an oil-free version, a mineral powder foundation or a tinted moisturizer.
  • Spot conceal any blemishes with concealer and immediately spot powder them to set it.
  • Skip powder on the rest of your face as it can get cake-y with humidity and perspiration. Use blotting papers instead. (Check the ingredients listed on the papers to make sure they do not include mineral oil which could clog your pores and cause breakouts).
  • Switch to a waterproof eyeshadow (ask a make-up expert at the beauty counter to show you the different cream shadows that are water resistant; there are so many gorgeous ones out there) or skip shadow and do a cat eye with a waterproof liquid liner or gel liner.  For a refresher in how to do winged eyeliner, Lauren shows you how in our Get Catty tutorial.
  • Finish your eyes with a waterproof mascara.  Skip the bottom lashes if they tend to smear on hotter days.
  • If you’re already sporting a tan, all you’ll need is to swirl a cheek stain on the apples of your cheeks (avoid cream blush as it won’t last in the heat).  If you’ve been protecting your skin with a hat and sunscreen, fake it with bronzing powder by applying it with a wide-head bronzing brush everywhere the sun would hit your face: top of your forehead, your nose, cheekbones and chin, then don’t forget your neck and chest.
  • Avoid a sticky gloss and opt for a sheer lipstick or if your lips are dried out, use a tinted lip balm.  You’ll find there are tons of really pretty corals, pinks and red lip balms at your drug store or department store once you start to look for them.

So even though summer make-up is more high maintenance, once you’ve switched to waterproof and sheer products, you should be able to have fun in the sun and not worry about it.  But carrying a small compact mirror in your beach bag to keep an eye on things every now and then never hurt…

XO Amy Nadine

OH, BY THE WAY…

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photo: http://pinterest.com/pin/14484919/ post designed by kristin ess

Here are my favorite summer time styling secrets for blowing out your hair in this hot-hot-heat:

*During the summer months, open the window while you blow dry. If there’s no “new air” circulating, it can literally double your blow dry time. If it’s really humid outside, turn the air conditioning on while you blow dry instead. Don’t trap yourself in a teeny tiny bathroom with no air. Your blow out will take forever.

*Do your best to blow dry during the cooler part of the day– early morning, or late at night.

*Half way through your blow out, turn on the cold air setting and cool everything down. This will lower the temperature of your scalp and helps avoid trapping heat+ moisture near your scalp (which is what makes your hair frizz right back up)!

*If your hair always tends to frizz up after blow drying, coil it in a low, tight bun and let it set while you finish getting ready. Right before you head out, let the bun down + put a small amount of anti-frizz serum or argan oil through the ends.

*The key to blow drying on a hot day is getting it done quickly. You just want to hurry up and get it over with! If you have straight or wavy hair, keep brushing your hair with a flat/paddle brush while you’re blow drying. Water gets trapped between the hairs which is what keeps it wet. The quicker you separate the hairs and get air between them, the faster your hair will dry.

*My last hot weather blow drying tip:  always finish your summer time blow drying by using cold air for a full 2 minutes. It will make a huge difference.

xx Kristin