Does anyone know of a mint green nail polish that lasts like gel nail color? Thanks!=)

I'm getting my nails done for a wedding this weekend.  A month ago I had long, beautiful, natural nails that I cut off because they were starting to split at the ends, in the hopes they would grow back the same way, but alas, now they are just splitting and looking ugh.   I am definitely getting acrylics at a salon, so don't bother talking me out of that if you intend to.  I've only ever had them done once before, so I don't know what to ask for or what style is "in" right now.  I need to know the language to ask for the right thing!  Help please!  Thanks

I've been dealing with weird, lumpy, uneven ridges in my thumb nails for years now. Are there any base coats or anything that you think would help rectify this? Was thinking of investing in the pink gel. 

After applying my acrylics, I decided it was time for some nail art!  I was going to do Margarita nails, but my lime fimo pieces would blend too well in with the polish.  So I went with a Lemon Lime theme.     Each time I do acrylics, I learn at least one new thing.  This time, I really noticed how runny the ASP Aspire products are.  I read that another person on Instagram was having a similar issue.  No matter how lightly I dipped my brush into the liquid, the final product, after picking up my first bead, would be runny on my nail.  I'm  not sure if that is part of the ASP formula or what.  Also, the fimo pieces would work a lot better if encased in acrylic by using color acrylic powder and clear, but I'm not up to that step yet lol.     After the acrylic process, I used the following products: Beauty Secrets Base Coat China Glaze Entourage (yay for eBay!) StripeRite in Silver Glitter (this was going to be my margarita salt lol) Orly Quick Drying Top Coat Nail Glue and Lemon Fimo Pieces Cina Top Coat and Bonder   Now, let's see how long the lemon pieces last lol.

What is your favorite nail polish for spring and summer?

So I was on facebook and I saw an ad for a nail polish company I had never heard of before. It's called Bootie Babe (google it, I can't put the link) and its got some really nice colors, but it has one major difference from all other nail polishes -- all the bottles are shapes like booties!! (butts, backsides, derrieres, whatever you like to call it)  I've never tried the brand, but I thought it was pretty funny, what do you think?   ~We are all beautiful~

its expensive and just wondering if I can just buy the gel colored ones and use a reg top coagoiania how long is the drying time? Thanks

Over the weekend, I practiced more with acrylic on my nails and my mom's nails.  It's such fun!  My mom is also an excellent volunteer.  She comes to me and asks when I'm going to do her nails lol.     Here are a couple of pictures of mom's nails.  She wanted French white tips with an ocean blue stripe.   I think this nail came out the best of the bunch.     I went with natural shade tips, but I need to work on getting them look the same length.   Both hands.    Left hand.  I'm slowly trying to make it the acrylic thicker, but they hold up well while playing with Brutus and Meat Head lol.   Right hand, and I am a right handed person.   I decided to apply some polish.  Sally Girl in Pink It Up and Atomic Polish in Bowie in Space.

I have been using the Sephora- OPI brand nail polish and really like it but it does chip within a day or two.     I'm looking for a top coat that dries quickly and keeps polish from chipping for at least a few days.   Anyone have a good top coat recommendation that keeps polish looking great?   I've heard good things about Silky Wet Look Topper. 

LAMP!!!! Sorry about that NAIL POLISH! I am a nail polish freak! I love funky, bold, dark, glittery, bright, shimmery, fun colours. Although glitter is sometimes a pain to take off & cream ones tend to streak (at least on me) but I LOVE THEM ALL!. I like funky bold colours the best though. My collection is too big and I'm constantly trying to justify buying new ones, "oh I'll get rid of an old one" or "this colour is similar to another one so I'll throw out the older one". Ya right. Lol! I usually have to throw them out once they start taking forever to dry though. That's when I know they're a little "too old". I'm not a big fan of the base coat, colour & then top coat. I don't have the patience for that so if I find a polish chips easily I won't buy that brand again, unless the colour is AWESOME lol! Then I will put a top coat on.

And this time I'm the guinea pig lol.  I've done a couple of other manicures on me and my mom before this one.  This is my fourth time applying tips and acrylic.  I am still having difficulties with getting the right amount of liquid and powder, and applying it evenly.  However, I was able to buff it a better shine this time lol.  I still don't think I've found the right brush for me yet, if that makes any sense.  Due to its size, I don't feel like I have control of it.  The last time I was at Sally's a lady who does nails told me which brush to get to practice with, and she told me to cut the pointed tip of the brush so that it would be flat.  However, I'm not so sure if that was a good idea.   The thumb is from right hand, and the others are from my left hand.  For reference, I am a right handed person.  I took side views of the nails in order to kind of track consistency.   Other close ups of my left hand nails.     Shot of my entire hand.  I believe the cats approve of my nails because of their noggin' scratching ability lol.  

  So this is my nails at the moment, They are so cute! I have a light obsession with Owls!! My wonderful friend is a nail tech and she did them for me!! I'd love to see any Nail art you have now or had in the past!!

For some reason I'm obsessed with this color: "Every Month Is Oktober Fest" by OPI      Something about this colour is so...mysterious. Yes, it's a deep red with shimmer, but there's another level to it. I don't know, I can't describe it....   I also love matte nial polish. Something about the lusterless effect makes the nail polish so suphisticated....

I have some nail art ideas that I would like to do soon, but I don't have the right polish shades.  Talk about first world problems lol.  I am looking for a margarita shade (yellow green) and a strawberry daiquiri shade (pinkish vibrant red).  Does anyone have any suggestions for shades like those?  I posted this on IG, too, so if it helps I have access to the following brands where I live: various drugstore brands China Glaze OPI Orly FingerPaints Sally Girl Nina (or whatever it is called at Sally's) Sinful Colors Essie Zoya Ulta Brand Sephora by OPI Nails Inc. NARS Illamasque (or however it's spelled lol) Ciate   The nearby Sephora just started carrying the last four brands, so I don't know much about them besides their price.  However, for nail art purposes, I'm not sure I'm willing to pay the bigger price tag.  The most expensive brand I've bought so far is Sephora by OPI, and you get a LOT of polish for the price.  I love lots of polish lol.

Hi,   I recently bought a hello kitty nail clipper... it's too cute   But I can't seem to get the nail file out. Anyone can help me out here?   Thanks!!

Well, I applied tips and acrylic to my guinea pig's  - I mean -  my mom's nails lol. She was willing to be my guinea pig since the stuff she does at work destroys her nails and skin.  Here are some step by step results pictures.  My only request is no mean comments.  There's a difference between mean and constructive critisim.  On other people's IG pages, I've seen other people who have done nails for a long time leave rude remarks on people's beginning pictures.  I'll never understand those users.  Anyway, here are the pictures:    This was after I applied and cut the tips to length.  As you can see, the work she does takes a toll on her cuticles.  Yes, I did push them back as far as they would go.   After filing and blending the tip in.  I filed too much on the pinky.      I believe this is after applying the acrlyic.  I let it dry between two coats, but I'm not sure if I was supposed to do that.  We'll find out in a couple of days I guess lol.     You can tell she didn't get all the cuticle cream rubbed in when I took the pictures lol.  She went with natural shade tips, and then she later painted them.  Now to see how long it holds up lol.

I was desperately searching for orange sticks the other day (why in heck are these not sold anymore?) and ran across this awesome brush-on cuticle oil at Sephora (it's not online but I found it in-store). I've seen hand/cuticle creams before but what a clever idea to package it in a portable brush-pen thingy!  So convenient and purse friendly!  I was able to oil my cuticles while standing in line at the post office, while stuck on a boring phone call at work, while procrastinating on housework, etc.  Best invention ever!

As Lylysa called this, a "Welcome Meat Head" manicure!    Maybe I've taken Crazy Critter lady to a new level lol.  I haven't posted pictures of Meat Head on the other thread yet because I'm on my mom's laptop instead of mine.  Anyway, paw prints can never go out of style!   Polishes Used: China Glaze Inner Beauty Essie Blanc Sinful Colors Black on Black It's So Easy Nails Stripe Rite polish in Glitter Blue   In order to do the paw prints, I used my smallest dotting tool.  For the main part of paw print, I dotted around in a circle to try to shape it.  They are all pretty different, but so are a person's finger prints.  I then topped it all off with my new top coat: Orly Sec n Dry.  Very good top coat!  And it is dog slobber proof! lol.

I know this may be a "controversial" beauty topic, but I wanted to share this with you all, and I also would love to hear any advice.     I have been thinking about playing with acrylic, and my mom heard me talking about it.  She also spotted me researching the other night.  To me, it looks like something interesting to learn, and it is another way to relax with one of my favorite hobbies.  Well, surprise from mom!  She picked up the beginning "try me" kit from Sally's and a few other things while she inquired about what all I would need if I wanted to try it out.     There's also another reason: she wants me to do her nails again lol.  The gel held up pretty well for her, but a lot of people at work wear acrylic to shield their nails.  Some of the machines she works with and whatnot are not nail friendly.  Her nails already split and snag on things, and certain things she does at work take advantage of that weakness.  Her nails look painful at times, although some of the products I use are helping her, such as cuticle remover and cream.   Anyway, she is willing to be my guinea pig again lol.  I believe she has faith in my self regulated learning lol.  The kit came with a DVD and guide, and I will also do some more research this week.  Next weekend, as long as everything goes according to plan, I will do her nails.  I know it takes patience and practice, but the only way to learn is to practice.  And mom gets a relaxing manicure, which I think she needs since she has been working overtime.     Here's a picture of the supplies.  Has anyone dabbled with this nail art form before?  Any tips are greatly appreciated!        

Good morning, Beauty Talk!   With so many heart parties that have gone on these past couple of weeks for some wonderful ladies on here and for the ones that have been thrown for myself (which I am very thankful for), I was inspired for a little nail look to tie in Beauty Talk and all the love and support this community has for one another.   I know it looks like a Valentine's Day nail look, but hey, hearts are hearts, and on BT, hearts are year round!   I got back into the realm of gel nails, so I did a french mani with glitter from Red Carpet Manicure, then wanted extra bright pops of color for the hearts so I used acrylic paints and clear coated them on top when dry.    This nail look is for all you lovely Beauty Talkers! Love, hearts, appreciation for you all! 

Hi Y'all,   I have very weak and short nails and I was looking for nail products to lengthen and strengthen my nails but I can't decide! Any suggestions?

Hi ladies! I hope you are all doing well. So a few days ago I was looking at some SpaRitual polishes on Sephora.com just to look at the reviews on them because I just picked up one of their polishes from TJ Maxx. I've heard about and seen the line  every time I go to Sephora and I was really curious but skeptical about the brand. I later found out they are the sister brand of Orly and they are vegan so that made me feel better because I LOVE Orly polishes and I've been looking for more vegan brands. So I went  to my local Sephora to see the colors they had and 3 looked awfully familiar to me. I thought to myself I'm pretty sure I've seen these before. So I went home and I Googled them. Lo and behold two are exact dupes and one a little bit darker dupe of three of the Orly Cosmic FX collection that came out for Fall 2010. I know that not everyone was not able to get their hands on the polishes they wanted from the collection so I thought I'd do some research so that you ladies, if you missed out could still get the dupes.    Dupe #1. SpaRitual Meditate On This = Orly Lunar Eclipse   Dupe #2. SpaRitual Off the Grid = Orly Halley's Comet, OPI Catch Me In Your Net, Julie G Mermaid's Tale (if you don't have a RiteAid where you live), Zoya Charla   Dupe #3. SpaRitual Optical Illusion ( 2-3 shades darker) = Orly It's Not Rocket Science.   If you ladies wanted to get your hands on the Orlys but couldn't, check out the SpaRitual ones! I'm planning on purchasing Meditate On This during the Chic Week sale.

Although it's not nail art, I wanted to share this with you all.  We have all seen the various brands of shatter/crackle polishes, and now it seems like OPI has been inspired by the different Ciate manicures.  I saw this at Ulta the other day, so I decided to buy one while they were in stock.  The Liquid Sand polish is another texturized type of polish.   In the bottle, it looks like a jelly base glitter polish.  When you apply it to your nails, it looks like a jelly polish with bright burgundy glitter in it.  However, it dries to a matte, grainy finish.  For the picture, I had to use the flash on my camera in order to try to capture the true burgundy color.  Without the flash, it looks black.   OPI Liquid Sand polish in Stay The Night (I hope the picture is not as small as it looks in the text editor)     The concept of it is cool, but it's kind of messy to apply.  I think the brush for the polish needs to be smaller.   Do you all think this will take off and spread like wild fire like the Shatter and Crackle polishes?

Nail polish trends come and go, but I am excited for this one: holographic polish! I know the product has been around for a while, but sometimes it can be hard to find.  On Instagram, I see some nail lovers who make their own holo polish, but they may not make it to sell.  When I heard about China Glaze releasing a holo collection, I knew I would  need at least one shade lol.   I did a quick manicure last night with it, but, since it was late, the sun was not as bright.  I'll have to wait for another day to get a better picture of the holo effect.  Anyway, this is China Glaze Not In This Galaxy.   The shade itself is similar to OPI's Your Web or Mine from last summer's Spiderman Collection, but this has the holo effect.  Your Web or Mine is one of my favorite shades, so I love this holo version of it.  The formula was a bit thin, but it could have just been my bottle of it.  I used three coats to get it as even as possible, but it would still smear a bit with each coat.  Other than that, I love it!

Nail polish has always been my first love- and my first beauty splurge.  I have a ridiculous nail stash- and one of the things that I struggle with is organization and knowing what colors I have in my stash.  Picking a nail color is usually a lengthy process because I have way too many choices.   I've settled on swatching on nail sticks as a way of cutting down decision-making time, but I'm sure there are other ideas (short of putting them up on what would literally be an entire wall).    What do you do to organize your nail polish stash?    

Hi ladies!! I hope you all are well! What are some of the polishes you've been dying to get your hands on? Lately I've been purchasing tons of nail polish and clothes instead of makeup (I alternate phases between them) and I managed to find a few of the polishes I've been lemming very badly over. I still have a few that I've been on a serious dusty hunt for for the last 3 months and I don't want to order them online because I have a bad history with ordering things online. They are:   OPI Crown Me Already  ( This is #1 on my list!)        Sparrow Me The Drama        Planks A Lot   Orly Gilded Coral (it's never in stock at my local Sallys)   Illamasqua   Scarab   What are your polish lemmings? Please share!