Nail painting is a safe way to go celebratory without making a commitment. Unless you run out of polish remover, that is. Before attempting this one, I was sure it wouldn’t turn out. It might not of looked perfect but look at that! It did turn out. Wanna try this Valentine’s Day inspired mani? You’ll need:

•   Navy Blue Polish

•   Red or Pink Polish

•   White Nail Art Brush

First, paint your nails with the blue polish. Next, use your nail art brush or polish pen to draw two thick horizontal lines across each nail.

While you wait for it to dry off, you can practice doing the heart on a piece of paper. I used the thin brush from the white polish, cleaned it off with a towel and dipped it into the pink polish.  Simply use the very tip to strike a small diagonal spot of paint (bottom left) and then another one perpendicularly , forming a little heart (bottom right).

Once you’ve got enough practice making hearts on the paper, try it over the nail. You can paint one heart on one nail or like me, one for each.

A few months back I shared a few tricks for packing efficiently but  after a generous Christmas (a generous stocking one too) I felt the need to write “Strategic Packing Part II: Toiletries”. If both you and me share the same-sex (assuming you’re female) you know the crap I have to go through before leaving town. If it’s by car, the trunk can only fit so much, it’s by bus, who wants to lift heavy luggage, if it’s by plane, damn TSA throwing away all my this-actually-cost-money stuff, and if it’s by ship, I have no idea, my first cruise is long overdue.  I guess what I’m trying to say is: packing toiletries is undeniably difficult because you always need a lot but have little space. To minimize that problem, here are a few key items I hope will breeze you in (they definitely do the trick for me).

I can downgrade all I want on beauty supplies but if the blow dryer takes up as much space as my bazooka (just kidding I don’t usually travel with my bazooka), I’m not doing myself any favors. Solution? When I bought my Babyliss Pro flat-iron kit it came with a mini blow dryer and a mini flat-iron both the size of my hand (and I have tiny hands). All for just an additional 10 dollars at folica.com. Bingo!

Next, hair and skin. I encourage everyone to take as many hotel samples home with you as possible. Think about it, you already paid for these guys when the hotel bill hit your account and if you don’t care for the contents just refill with your favorite products. They make awesome travel containers for shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer and so on.

Remember samples? Those you got with the beach tote after purchasing just about anything over $100 at Neiman Marcus? Or those your hair stylist stacks you up with after each visit? No? I’d ask for some next time. Hair spray, perfume, and facial care samples are all items that usually come is big containers but if you pack samples instead, you may be saving yourself of a meltdown after security mistakes your 10 oz hairspray can with an illicit substance.

I know I said perfume samples are great. And they are, just not as great as this atomizer from Sephora (top left). It comes with  a small funnel for pouring my favorite scent. I also got an itty bitty,  adorable Miss Dior but the top came off and poured perfume all over my zip lock bag. Safe to say Dior is staying home next time.

The make up part is tough. I’ve made a compromise:  I’ll have to survive with  this travel Mac duo-shadow set and report back. The reason why I love Sephora so much? They sell a mini brush set and mini Tweezerman (makes best tweezers ever) brow-set. And you’re thinking: say no more!

The no-nail-file-in-the-carry-on rule is lame and drives me insane but when I got this extremely small nail file matchbox, with multiple nail files I felt like screaming  (equivalent to doing jumping-jacks in Lulu reaction) and before I could open my mouth, several Nail Polish Remover pads came to my acknowledgement and I was speechless. One is just enough to remove polish from both hands.

Now I’ll get a little personal and show the little things I absolutely can’t live without when I travel but aren’t necessarily everyone’s priority. A small lint roller (duh), at least one moist cleaning cloth from Solstice (handy for cleaning sunglass shades and iPad screens), one Colgate mini-brush to freshen up on the go and lastly, a mini sucralose sweetener imported from Brazil. I like my drinks sweet and aspartame free wherever I go.

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I’ve been trying to find the perfect way to store my makeup for at least ten years now, no joke. The day has finally come when I don’t have to look through multiple powder dirty makeup bags to never find the right brush when I need it (a week later it’ll appear behind something somewhere in my bathroom), because some genius posted a picture of brushes buried in coffee beans on a website. I can’t remember the name for the life of me. Heart ya whoever you may be. 

This, my friends is the best brush holder ever invented, I promise! I’ve seen something similarly done at Sephora, but even so. First of all, it does the job of putting your artsy tools at easy reach like no other, it looks fabulous and smells amazing. All for $14 doletas total ($7 for two thrifted glass vases and another $7 for a coffee bean bag purchased at the grocery store. It’s a winner.

This was so easy to make I feel kind of silly laying out instructions, but for the sake of keeping it informational, here ya go:

•   Pour coffee in its most solid form in one, two or how many you need glass vases. Make sure you leave half an inch or even more of glass uncovered on top so the coffee beans don’t overflow once add brushes to the equation. Mine is kinda a little too full because I don’t follow my own instructions.

•   Start burying your brushes with the hair up one by one in your vase.

I made two vases. One for smaller brushes and another for the big guys. Do I have enough counter space in my bathroom? Of course not, but most likely I’ll either showcase them one at a time or just keep both in the cabinets. It’ll be a mystery where the freshly brewed coffee scent comes from.

•   If you’d like to keep it neat, line your brushes up according to your preferences. I went with purpose (facial in one line, eye in another). For better visibility, stadium seating alignment will do the trick (higher in the back, lower in the front).

Because I also have the same problem finding my pencil-liners I figured, why not throw them in too? It’s so much easier spotting the right colors this way and perhaps, grabbing the right one for a change (the mental picture of me lining my lips with black eye-liner remains vivid in my memory). Just say it… another genius idea. Only this time I thought of it first. Finally!

Remember when it was a cold day and I we out to learn ice skating? That day I was wearing a side french braid which a tutorial for has been requested. The wait is over boys (with long hair) and girls. You’ll need two clear elastic bands and you should be good to go:

It’s been a while since I’ve become an avid consumer of Sally Hansen real nail polish strips.  If I’m feeling a little down, all I gotta do is stop by the closest CVS, stick them on my nails and leave the apartment for a line of compliments, guaranteed. Joy!

People always ask me if they last long or at least the 10 days promised on the package, and they totally do, as long as you apply it correctly.

For nearly $10 a box with 16 strips, I try to get maximum usage out of them by opening just one of the two little packs with eight strips each.  One strip alone is definitely enough to cover two nails and if you open both packs at once and don’t use it all right away the nail polish will dry off . Been there, done that.

No reason to be intimidated. This is not only super easy, but it comes with  instructions and everything. But you know how we like things broken down bit-by-bit around here, so, here you go:

Step 1 – Remove the transparent plastic from one strip first

Step 2 – Now remove the white paper from underneath the nail strip

Step 3 – All you gotta do is place the polish sticker over the nail. Notice I precut mine  in half to use on another finger.

Step – 4 Take off the excess on the sides and you should be all done. No waiting time (Oh yeaaah)

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I knew it! You’re obsessing about my Christmas updo! Just kidding, I’m not that pretentious or obnoxious but I was secretly hoping someone would ask how to. It’s very easy and all you need is:

•  a brush

•  lots of bobby pins

•  two clear elastic bands (they’re sitting on top of the bobby pins, I swear!)

•  exceptionally good hairspray

•  some kind of hair accessory

•  hope (always)

Shall we?

“Here she goes again with her free-hand crazy artsy nails”. Sorry for my complete boredom, guys. How about I owe you all a video-tutorial of something else that doesn’t include nail polish or nail polish remover and we call it even? I’m not promising but next week, maybe? Stay tuned.

You’ll need:

•   your sister-in-law’s “golden era” dior vernis polish
•   your own “timeless gold” dior vernis polish
•   artsy nail skinny brush (from another polish)

- First, “golden era” on it all (at least two coats). Let it dry

- Draw the outline of two triangles on each side of your nail with skinny brush and “timeless gold”

- Fill in the triangles

- Wait for it to dry off and if you don’t ruin it when you grab your bag or another lame excuse for being impatient,  you should be good to go

Now, is it just me or does this design elongate the nail?

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