Posts Tagged ‘valentine’s day’

DIY: LAST MINUTE VALENTINE’S HAIR IDEA

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photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

Whether you’ve got a hot date tonight or just hanging with your lady friends, show your Valentine’s Day spirit with some sweet hair flowers made from inexpensive spray roses. This is one of my favorite (and cheapest) tricks for romantic updos. Also, Spring is fast approaching, so you can really utilize this method for weddings and other events. Okay, here’s how I make these little gems…

  1. Run to your local grocery store and grab some spray roses. Right now they’re everywhere because of Valentine’s Day but I see them almost every time I hit the grocery store. I’ve seen them at every Ralphs, Vons, Trader Joes, Whole Foods…etc. They should be quite easy to find. Spray roses are much smaller than regular roses and they typically come potted. The cool thing is, if you keep caring for this $5-10 plant, you’ll have hair roses for days!
  2. Cut off a few rosebuds from the plant.
  3. Flip the flower over and trim the stem as short as you can without cutting the base that holds the flower together.
  4. Grab hair pins– also known as U-pins. They’re different from bobbypins. They don’t squeeze together so they won’t break or smash the spray rose.
  5. Lightly squeeze the hair pin and pierce it through the middle of the spray rose.
  6. The bottom should look like this!
  7. Fold the hair pin back on both sides (as seen in photo 7). That will keep the flowers from slipping out of your hair.

Enjoy your evening, ladies!

NAILED IT!

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photos/post/graphic design: Kristin Ess

Annnnd we’re back with yet another sweet Valentine’s Day mani. How can we help it!? This was inspired by a bracelet my friend got me with my name on it in morse code. This mani will be great for anyone who wants to add a little “LOVE” to their nails this week without using the typical red + pink. Personally, I love doing this because it’s gold, it’s subtle, it suits anyone at any age and it’s not too much for those who can’t wear polkadot or glitter manis to work. This is one of the easiest/quickest nail ideas and makes a great conversation piece. Here’s how to get a lil’ love in morse code:

TOOLS: Black polish. Clear coat. Polyester string (gold) from the craft/sewing store. Microbeads (gold). Small scissors.

  1. Cut 5 tiny pieces of gold string and grab 7 micro beads. You will need 3 pieces of the cut string to go across your middle finger for the “O” in “LOVE” so make sure they’re small enough that you can fit 3 across.
  2. Draw out morse code so you can get an idea of the spacing.
  3. Paint your nails solid black. To be honest, you can do this in any color but this is my fave. I did 2 thin coats.
  4. Once the color dries, paint on a clear coat.
  5. Quickly apply the micro-beads + string to spell out “LOVE” in the correct pattern. I like to do one finger at a time so the clear coat doesn’t dry before I get them on there.
  6. Last, apply a quick drying clear coat over the whole nail.

That’s it! Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!

Oh… and that cute little gold heart ring on my finger is from Catbird in NYC. I also got THIS ONE there as seen in our last Valentine’s Day mani! xo

ROMANTIC DATE MAKEUP

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POST + PHOTOS BY AMY NADINE, GRAPHIC DESIGN BY EUNICE CHUN

Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion for adding a little twinkle to your eyes, especially paired with a bright lip that’s actually kissable. Here’s how: (more…)

MANI MONDAY: WASHI TAPE GLITTER HEART

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photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

It’s almost Valentine’s day!! Whether you’re celebrating or not, a heart mani always looks simple + sweet. After trying to get a perfect heart a million different ways, I finally figured out the best way to do it. Washi tape! You can order it online, find it at a stationery store, or I’ve even seen it at Target in the stationery section. Washi tape is much less sticky than regular tape so you don’t have to worry about it adhering and pulling off your base color so much. Okay, here’s how we got the perfect heart!

  1. You’ll need a red, a metallic gold + a gold glitter. I used this for my red, this for my metallic gold + this for my gold glitter.
  2. You’ll also need washi tape and small scissors. I used the kind for trimming brows.
  3. Paint your nails with the red and let them dry for a few hours. I like to let the base dry overnight just to be safe.
  4. Cut a 2-3″ piece of washi tape, fold it in half but leave the ends apart like you see in photo 4.
  5. Place the open ends of the washi tape on your pointer finger on the opposite hand you cut with. Cut out a half heart that is a little less than half the width of the nail you’re putting the heart on.
  6. Gently peel your washi tape open to see the full heart.
  7. Place it on the nail and press the edges with a soft, dry, clean paintbrush.
  8. Paint the metallic coat first. This will give you the perfect heart shape, which you can’t get when using glitter polish alone.
  9. Now add the glitter polish on top of that.
  10. Peel your tape off slowly while the metallic and glitter polishes are still wet. You don’t want them to dry to the washi tape.

You can use a detailing brush to add more glitter to the heart if you want to. Add a top coat once the glitter heart has dried. xo