The "Double" Reverse Stamping Technique

Good morning my awesome readers, I hope you all had a cheerful Christmas and enjoyed it with family and friends. As promised I have brought to you a new technique that out of creativity I decided to call the "double"reverse stamping technique since you are doing twice the procedure.

So, on Christmas Eve I only had a couple of hours to get ready and head to Mom's house for a family party. As I was tired from baking like 5 cheesecakes/pies the day before I still had not made my mind if I was going to be able to create a holiday mani or simply wear plain nails, so I decided I'd try this new reverse stamping technique but it occurred to me to add a couple of layers of color.  Let's get started!

You will need:

•   Zip lock bag

•     Scissors (optional)

•     Permanent marker

•    Clear nail polish or any top coat will work

•    Colored nail polish

•     Stamping plates

•     Stamping kit

•     Nail polish remover

•     File

•     Q-tip and orange stick

 I thought it would be genius to first draw a square on the zip lock with the permanent marker so it will be easier to identify where exactly is the clear polish, and so that you actually know how many stickers you have and also create a few extras in case some get screwed. Then you can proceed to the following steps.  See photo below :)

The original inverted stamping technique:

• In a zip lock bag apply any type of clear nail polish or top coat in a series of squares that will be used to apply on your nails. (Make sure these squares are big enough to cover your nails but not too large so that clean up will be faster).

• Let it dry completely.
• Once it's dry choose which design you will use on your nails from the stamping plates
• Go ahead and do a regular stamping procedure but this time you will stamp the design on top coat on the zip lock.  It is important that you let it dry completely

Top coat already stamped

The "Double":

• Once the stamp is dry you can start applying nail polish and color the design as you like, I did two coats of color

•  Let it dry completely. Seriously, I left the fan on and took a nap meanwhile. :)
•  Start carefully peeling off the entire design with twizzers preventing tearing it off 

• Lay your stamping stickers apart from each other

• Proceed to apply base coat on one hand
• Carefully lay a design on your nail exactly how you want your design to look, as once it makes contact with the base coat and you would want to remove it and relocate it could smear or even break

• Use a q-tip to carefully smooth out the surface of the sticker on your nail. Be aware that too much handling or friction could ruin the design

• Once the surface is smooth whatever is exposed at the tip of your nail you should carefully bend it downward to the tip of your finger

• You can start doing the entire process on the other hand
•  If you have waited long enough to be sure your first hand is dry, you can carefully start peeling the excess sticker around your nail our cuticle. If you are not sure, you can always use a small nail scissor or just wait until the end and remove it with nail polish remover
• File the excess on your tip and sides (I would have posted a photo but my camera did not focused and the pics were blurry)  :(
• Apply top coat
• Clean up around your nails, and voila!

A simple method yet results are amazing!

How easy that was?!  A super easy design that everyone will rave about, and the secret is to make your own nail sticker.  Honestly, I did a few steps and while leaving it dry I took a nap, another step, took a shower and came back to finish.  I had my nails done with a dry sticker and all in less than 15 minutes.

I know this technique may not be new to many people but I thought I’d share my version and experience.  I really hope you guys liked this post and find it useful to create ah-mazing manis for any occasion.  Please tag me @sprinklenails or  #mysprinklenails in Instagram so I can see your designs if you tried this technique.  Love you all and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! XOXO

Tips & tricks: My nail care routine

Hey everyone!  I'm back again for an extensive and detailed review about my nail care routine.  Be ready to read a lot, but note that this might actually help you.

To do or not to do acrylics? Is the question... Well, like I've said to many of my fellow and lovely Instagram followers:  DO NOT DO ACRYLICS! Oh my God you won't know how bad acrylics are until you see your naked nails after wearing acrylics for a couple of weeks.  They dry your nails, weakened your nail bed, filing can hurt your cuticles, and the consequences of all this you are going to notice as soon as you decide not to wear acrylics anymore and your nails start splitting to shorter than nubs and by then you will want to have your fake nails again.  Yes, I am saying this from experience.  I used to be an acrylic junkie (as long as I could afford it), every Christmas, every summer or every new school semester I needed to have my french acrylic nails or at least with glitter to hide my bitten and shorter than short nubs.

Anyways, if you have committed yourself to a nail care routine and leave away all those bad habits that include biting and tearing off your cuticle skin (yes, some people do that, my mother does this and is a disgusting habit) then you might be ready for some tips.

The era of acrylic is over and a lifetime of nail polish is about to start.  Once you have decided to leave behind those fiction days you will be able to see how beautiful your nails can grow and their capability to grow strong which is very important by taking care of them and buying the right products for your body, hands, and nails.  Remember that depending on how fast your nails grow you will be able to outgrow that weakened nail bed faster or in my case it could take months.

Lotions & Oils:  Before going to sleep I like to use Sally Hansen's Smooth & Perfect Hand Creme, just to wake up to soft hands and nice cuticles.  I also like to compliment my hand creme with cuticle oil.  In my case, I like to rotate the use these before going to bed, I will pair a cream with an oil depending on my mood because there are some nights when cream is all I want.

           

This is what I currently have on my night stand.

Bio-Oil - is not necessarily a cuticle oil but it does hydrates skin and it has Vitamin E (you can buy this at Walgreens)

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula - be careful not to apply too much, it will make your hand fairly greasy (you can also buy this at Walgreens)

Peach cuticle oil - I bought this in a beauty supply and cannot wait to finish it so I can by an almond scent oil :)

Burt's Bees Lemon Cuticle oil - it is part of my routine but I'm not too impressed by it.  I'm also waiting to finish it.

Julep's cuticle oil - I love this oil and it smells like Jasmines and will work wonders on dry cuticles.  I got this in my October mystery box.

Chap stick - this is pretty much self-explanatory.

Body:  I currently don't have a favorite body lotion, I grab whatever says "for dry skin" on the label and smells good and voila!  (In picture is "Love Spell" by Victoria's Secret)

Cuticle care:  My Sunday routine

Cuticle remover:  currently I'm using d'Rose Creamy Cuticle Remover which I'm so not impressed and desperately enough I will not wait to finish it, instead I plan on buying Sally Hansen's Gel Cuticle Remover which I've heard is the bomb and works in less than 15 seconds.   I bought this in a beauty supply.

Cuticle pusher/remover (end) and nipper:  I try to gently scrape my nail to remove dead cuticle and gently push them back while I still have on the cuticle remover cream.   When I'm done I like to carefully cut the excess cuticles with the cuticle nipper.   Some people prefer not even cut it and I've tried that but this is what works for me and my cuticles have not peeled in a long time.  I bought the cuticle pusher/remover (end) in a beauty supply, you can find the cuticle nipper in any drugstore.

Glass file:  I use it when my nails are dry; some people say that if you file your nails while they're wet you're prone to splits.  I like to shape them square, if you don't know your shape just Google different nail shapes and decide which one suites you better.  I bought this in Walgreens.

If my nails are fairly yellow I also try to whiten them mixing a tablespoon of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and brush my nails over and under with an old tooth brush that is assigned only for this and leave it on for at least 10 minutes. (not pictured)

For swatches:

Non-Acetone nail polish remover or strengthening

            *  Note:  I wrongfully bought a 100% Acetone nail polish remover and it dried real badly my nails and fingers.  When this occurred since I could no longer return it I just added a couple of drops of cuticle oil and it worked wonders!  Obviously it will leave your nails and cuticles greasy but hey, better than super dry and *cracked* skin.  It will definitely remove your nail polish faster while preventing dryness.    Be attentive because the oil will usually run out faster than the acetone, as you will need to add more eventually. (not pictured)

Essie Millionails - I like to use this as my base coat if I will keep the design on.  It is glossy and prevents splits. (not pictured)

Formula 2 - this also worked for me as base coat and it actually hardened my nails, I strongly recommend it.  You can buy this in Walgreens, it is a bit expensive I think it costs me like $18. (not pictured)

Elmer's Glue - I actually bought a nail polish bottle on a beauty supply and filled it up with this glue.  I use this as base coat when I will be using nail polishes with glitter (which they are usually a pain in the butt to remove), this will make the nail polish to come off on one piece without the need of nail polish remover. You can buy this in any drugstore. (not pictured)

NutraNail Natural All Growth Serum - I'm starting to use this around my nails and cuticles just because it won't make the surroundings look greasy or wet for the photo.  I bought this in Amazon.

Photo of my naked nails just after doing a routine whitening session!

Naked nails

Vitamins:  I try to take every other week a daily dose of Vitamin B-12, Vitamin E, and Biotin.  This routine will not let my body get used to the vitamins and will start the week with a kick-start.  I actually find the B-12 excellent to make the nails and hair grow faster, I highly recommend it.

I think that is all, I have literally squeezed my brain out remembering all this.  I hope that you liked this post and find it useful.  If you have any questions please contact me!  XOXO

            

LA Colors Sparkling Fuchsia review

First of, I want to thank you for visiting my blog and taking your time to read this review that I write with my heart for you guys.  Second, did you already entered my giveaway?  If not, please head to the earlier post with instructions and details for my giveaway for a chance to win nail polish and more amazing stuff!

And on to business, I have always been a fan of LA Colors nail polish mostly because they offer a wide variety of colors, fluorescents, glitters, and cuticle oil for a very fair price and recently discovered that they also produce jellies.  My very first jelly from LA Colors was Sparkling Fuchsia and I will tell you that I fell in love with that nail polish as soon as I laid eyes on it.  I mean, it was magical!  I also noticed that since it obviously it was a jelly, it probably would need a base color to give those sparkles a kick that would make my nails look kickass!!

On to the Sparkling Fuchsia, it is a super gorgeous fuchsia jelly loaded with tons of micro iridescent flackies that turn pink, blueish-violet, and gold.  Just AH-MAZING! 

  

For this swatch I used 3 coats with no undies and no top coat.

I also used this nail polish to create a simple design a few weeks ago.  I used a pink base color, 2 coats of Sparkling Fuchsia, I did the plastic wrap method with a gold nail polish and applied 2 star studs on my middle finger and ring finger.  I think this design looks so cute and girly.

I also took what would be my very first macro shot, I guess it looks a little blurry but you can still see some of the sparkles on it.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this review and find it useful.  Thank you so much for visiting and Happy Holidays!!

Epic Giveaway is going on! (CLOSED)

Welcome back lovies!
 For those that don't know already from my IG, I just started my very first epic giveaway.  Yesterday, when I was in about 920 followers more or less, I decided to post a black and white photo of the prizes just to get everyone excited and you know, make a BIG deal out of my giveaway.  So, I posted the b&w hoping that maybe in by the end of the week I would have my 1k followers so I could start the giveaway that I have been planning since October.  While I was trying to study, and gather all my books, notebooks, etc. to my desk, I went ahead and took a peek at my IG, and what did I found?!  OH-MY-GOD my amazing followers and newest followers just kept posting my photo and in less than 5 hours I had my 1k.  Just unbelievable.

I still cannot believe how quickly that photo went viral and how well everyone responded and supported my giveaway.  The purpose of this post is to give thanks to all my followers and everyone that has supported this giveaway one way or the other.  I assure you that I am already planning another giveaway that will be open to international and will have several winners.

If you still don't know the rules for my giveaway please read below. ;)

1. Must be following me @sprinklenails 
2. You must tag and repost the colored photo of the prizes @sprinklenails , #sprinkles1k , and also tag 2 IG friends that would be interested in my nail art
3. It will be open only for US and Puerto Rico
4. Only one entry per person
5. Giveaway ends in 1/18
6. I won't be allowing giveaway accounts even if you get a number from me
7. Please your profile must be public so I can see your entry
8. And last but not least... no drama! As simple as that, let's just have fun. ;)

**Please do know that if you unfollow me when giveaway ends you will be automatically blocked for future flash giveaways**

Do know that I'm on finals this week so I will keep posting numbers at my fastest convenience, I will be reminding those that are missing some of the rules but if you see that I haven't posted your number, don't panic! :D

That's all, thanks everyone.  Have a wonderful week while I am pulling my hair out with three exams and just recently a cracked windshield. LOL.  XOXO 

Pre-Giveaway going on! (CLOSED)

Hello darlings!  I wanted to announce that I am having a pre-giveaway on my Instagram.  I will be giving out extra entries until I reach 1k (which will be soon!)  Once I reach 1k extra entries will be closed and I will start the official giveaway which I will post a new photo and you will need to follow this instructions:

1. Must be following me @sprinklenails
2. Repost and tag the photo #sprinkles1k and tag 2 friends that would be interested in my nail art
3. Only for US and PR
4. No giveaway accounts
5. Your profile must be public so I can see your entry and give you a number
6. If you are younger than 18, I will need parents consent to use the mailing address for you to receive your prize
7. No drama, let's just have fun!!

I already took the liberty of posting a photo of the prizes, some of the brands are:

• Sinful Colors
• Revlon
• Orly
• Nicole by OPI

Share for a chance to win, good luck!!