Through all history of nail polis, different shades of red, from pink to brownish, has been the most common color. Today, popular nail polish is made of nitrocellulose which is solved with color pigments. Many nail polishes contains toxic substances like formaldehyde and toluene which can harm both your health and the environment. To solve this problem, production of organic nail polish has started. The history of nail polish dates far back in time, all the way to the ancient Egypt and China. The use of nail polish and make up hasn't only been steadily increasing, but varied due to social circumstances and war for example.
One of the first record in the history of nail polish is from Egypt. Queen Cleopatra and Queen Nefertiti are thought to have used natural ingredients to paint their nails red. They mixed oil, Arabic gum, powder and henna and covered her nails with this. Nail polish in Egypt wasn't only for decoration, it also had a hierarchical function; the stronger shade of red (in China, see below, the same was applied for black), the more powerful the person. The Chinese Ming dynasty also take part in the history of nail polish as they discovered a mixture suiting for polishing nails; Arabic gum, albumin, colors from flowers, beeswax and gelatin. This original popular nail polish had to dry for several hours. Another very early Chinese dynasty, The Chou, was so rich that they could afford to wear gold and silver on their nails. Black was also a preferred color in ancient China. There were also other early cultures who decorated or painted their nails in different ways like the Inca Indians ans Native American tribes.
The history of nail polish is very long, there are records of the use of nail polish from practically every age. From the 15th century there is a text written by the Italian painter Cennino d'Andrea Cennini which tells about the use of make-up and during the 17th and 18th centuries painted portraits reveal shiny nails. In the early 1900's, just before the real popular nail polish was made, women used a wide range of polishing cloths and substances like mineral powders, creams, oils, tinted powders to make their nails bleached, smooth, shiny and maybe even shimmering in a transparent color. These original mixtures didn't have any added preservatives.
Popular nail polish of today is actually a variant of automobile polish from 1920. USA was first with a patent in 1919, and 1932 Revlon was founded and had a leading position in the popular nail polish market for some years.. During the 1930's celebrities from Hollywood used popular nail polish which soon came in every womans possession. After World War I, make-up use became common (earlier it was primarily used by prostitutes). The fluorescent effect which was popular in nail polish during the '80s has had a come back and can still be seen on many women's nails. Men wearing popular nail polish is no longer a taboo and famous icons like David Beckham, Freddie Mercury, Marc Bolan and Marilyn Manson wearing black nail polish has inspired many. When a new nail polish color comes, the “limited edition”-trick is successfully used by the brands. Big fashion houses has also started to make nail polish, Chanel has for example made “Vamp” and “Black satin”.
Some important years during the history of nail polish:
1000 B.C, China. The Chou dynasty paints nails with gold and silver.
50 B.C, Egypt. Cleopatra paints her nails red.
1400, China. The Ming dynasty uses natural substances as nail polish.
1500, Inka, Native Americans decorates nails.
1500, Italy. Nail polishing occurs.
1700-1800, Europe. Portraits with shiny finger nails.
1919, USA. The first nail polish patent.
1920, French. Nail polish is common.
1932, USA. Revlon is founded. Movie stars wear nail polish.
1980, USA. Fluorescent nail polish is popular.
onsdag 25 november 2009
Organic nail polish
What do you wear on your nails? Automobile paint? Well yes, practically, if you're not using an organic nail polish. In these days of environmental pollution and disasters in nature, you want to use as less dangerous chemicals as possible, even when using make-up and popular nail polish. Natural nail products will also make your skin and health better. Many substances that were used in make-up and popular nail polish were disastrous bot for you and the environment. Today the situation has become much better but you can still help a lot by making active choices and learning about organic nail polish and natural nail products. You'll be surprises by what difference an organic nail polish makes compared to a conventional one. Since the organic nail polish contains less toxic substances, it will actually work like a health treatment for your nails besides being just as sparkling and beautiful as a more common popular nail polish!
PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics is one of the brands that produce organic nail polish and other organic make-up. Except from selling organic nail polish, the company is involved in various charitable donation agendas so by buying organic nail polish from them you do a really good thing! The organic nail polish from PeaceKeeper is made in USA and has not been tested in animals. PeaceKeeper's organic nail polish has been awarded the Safest Paint-Based Natural Nail Polish by the Environmental Working Group, the organic nail polish was ranked 3 out of 10 regarding how hazardous it is, 10 is the highest. The organic nail polishes and products are free from paraben, (dibutyl) phtalate, toluene, carcinogens, petroleum ingredients and formaldehyde. Zoya is another brand which offers natural nail polish. The Zoya nail polish contains very few of the toxic substances common in average popular nail polish but still has many of the desired effects, such as long wearing. You can chose between around 60 colors; in shades from shimmering and metallic to matte velvet and cream.
Other brand from which you can get organic nail polish or at least natural nail polish are Priti Nail Polish, Aquarella Water Color Nail Polish, Suncoat Water-Based Nail Polish. Many of the organic nail polishes I've mentioned in this article are almost as good as conventional popular nail polish when it comes to some important properties; easy-to-apply, quick drying time, chip resistance and shine. They seldom have that unpleasant scent from toxic odors that comes with an average popular nail polish. Best of all; they are much better both for you and our entire planet! But you can't always be sure that you get what you want. Even though a natural nail polish or other product claims it's free from a lot of toxic substances, these are sometimes replaced by other substances. In some unfortunate cases, these replacements are even more dangerous than the original. That's what happened to the Odorless Nail Polish Remover by Honeybee Gardens. The acetone was replaced by methanol which in small doses are more dangerous. A product can be enriched by a lot of organic and natural substances but they still don't have to be completely hazard-free. You have to read the label carefully to be sure you get the organic nail polish or natural nail products you want!
PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics is one of the brands that produce organic nail polish and other organic make-up. Except from selling organic nail polish, the company is involved in various charitable donation agendas so by buying organic nail polish from them you do a really good thing! The organic nail polish from PeaceKeeper is made in USA and has not been tested in animals. PeaceKeeper's organic nail polish has been awarded the Safest Paint-Based Natural Nail Polish by the Environmental Working Group, the organic nail polish was ranked 3 out of 10 regarding how hazardous it is, 10 is the highest. The organic nail polishes and products are free from paraben, (dibutyl) phtalate, toluene, carcinogens, petroleum ingredients and formaldehyde. Zoya is another brand which offers natural nail polish. The Zoya nail polish contains very few of the toxic substances common in average popular nail polish but still has many of the desired effects, such as long wearing. You can chose between around 60 colors; in shades from shimmering and metallic to matte velvet and cream.
Other brand from which you can get organic nail polish or at least natural nail polish are Priti Nail Polish, Aquarella Water Color Nail Polish, Suncoat Water-Based Nail Polish. Many of the organic nail polishes I've mentioned in this article are almost as good as conventional popular nail polish when it comes to some important properties; easy-to-apply, quick drying time, chip resistance and shine. They seldom have that unpleasant scent from toxic odors that comes with an average popular nail polish. Best of all; they are much better both for you and our entire planet! But you can't always be sure that you get what you want. Even though a natural nail polish or other product claims it's free from a lot of toxic substances, these are sometimes replaced by other substances. In some unfortunate cases, these replacements are even more dangerous than the original. That's what happened to the Odorless Nail Polish Remover by Honeybee Gardens. The acetone was replaced by methanol which in small doses are more dangerous. A product can be enriched by a lot of organic and natural substances but they still don't have to be completely hazard-free. You have to read the label carefully to be sure you get the organic nail polish or natural nail products you want!
tisdag 24 november 2009
Nail polish for dogs
Did you think that nail polish was only to be enjoyed by human? Well, you were wrong! In the spring of 2009 the well known and popular nail polish brand OPI revealed the news to the world that they they were to introduce a series of nail polish for dogs called Pawlish! Pawlish was the starting shot for a wide spread discussion all over the world on Internet communities and other forums. Was special designed nail polish for dogs a good or bad thing? OPI may have revived the discussion but it wasn't the first brand to sell dog nail polish. Dog care has been around for long with shampoos and paw salves, maybe first used by veterinarians but fast spreading to all dog owners. Companies saw the possibility to monetize this need and all kinds of remedies for the dog's fur, paws and mouth is available today. There's also a big business in dog clothes. Then the turn came to dog beauty. There are perfumes for dogs, for example Dog Generation's perfume Oh my dog, and now nail polish for dogs as well.
The OPI Pawlish comes, for now, in six colors; pink, green, blue, silver, red and purple glitter. But just as the popular nail polish colors for human, the names aren't as simple as that. The Pawlish colors (in the same order as above) are called; Poodle Pink, Bow Wow!, Dog House Blues, Yuppy Puppy, Fire Hydrant Red and Mutt's New? You can purchase these blending dog nail polishes in .5oz bottles for $11,95 each, Fire Hydrant Red and Pink Puppy cost $13,95. If the nail polish for dogs becomes a hit, there will probably come more colors to chose between. If you think nail polish for dogs is a little bit too much, there's still much care you can give to your dog a little massage or pedicure after trimming the claws and using paw salve is a great way to make your dog feel comfortable and given attention. At first you may be skeptical about how dog nail polish will look and also if theres any idea to spend money on it. Maybe you and your dog like long walks in the wilderness or in the woods or your dog just likes to tumble around and isn't very concerned about its claws and a possible dog nail polish on them. And will your dog be able to hold still when applying the Pawlish? Well, maybe nail polish for dogs doesn't really fit a big German Shepherd or other powerful dogs, it's primarily for those small dogs you walk in the city and can put in your handbag.
When you've made up your mind and want to try nail polish for dogs; here's some tips! OPI's Pawlish is a good choice to start with, it's easy to apply, the formula dries quick and you only have to apply one coat of polish. This nail polish for dogs also safe and tried on human, not animals. If your dog is usually very lively and bouncy, wait until it's calm and relaxed before applying the dog nail polish or Pawlish. Many dogs are afraid of getting their nail clipped so be careful and make your dog feel that nothing bad is going to happen. Cut off extra fur around the pet's nail and then stoke the dog nail polish on the nail. Make sure your dog doesn't lick on it. When you've done all the pet's nails, make her understand how well she behaved, give her some dog candy and hug her.
Dog manicure (or rather pedicure) includes a lot of products besides the actual nail polish for dogs. "It's Dog Gone!" is a dog nail polish remover which you can use with remover wipes or pads. There's also a dog nail polish quick drying oil to buy and for decoration; Pet nail applique stickers. OPI isn't the only brand that makes nail polish for dogs. Other brands offer other colors like brown, glow in the dark and glitter top coat. A holiday collection includes green and red dog nail polish.
The OPI Pawlish comes, for now, in six colors; pink, green, blue, silver, red and purple glitter. But just as the popular nail polish colors for human, the names aren't as simple as that. The Pawlish colors (in the same order as above) are called; Poodle Pink, Bow Wow!, Dog House Blues, Yuppy Puppy, Fire Hydrant Red and Mutt's New? You can purchase these blending dog nail polishes in .5oz bottles for $11,95 each, Fire Hydrant Red and Pink Puppy cost $13,95. If the nail polish for dogs becomes a hit, there will probably come more colors to chose between. If you think nail polish for dogs is a little bit too much, there's still much care you can give to your dog a little massage or pedicure after trimming the claws and using paw salve is a great way to make your dog feel comfortable and given attention. At first you may be skeptical about how dog nail polish will look and also if theres any idea to spend money on it. Maybe you and your dog like long walks in the wilderness or in the woods or your dog just likes to tumble around and isn't very concerned about its claws and a possible dog nail polish on them. And will your dog be able to hold still when applying the Pawlish? Well, maybe nail polish for dogs doesn't really fit a big German Shepherd or other powerful dogs, it's primarily for those small dogs you walk in the city and can put in your handbag.
When you've made up your mind and want to try nail polish for dogs; here's some tips! OPI's Pawlish is a good choice to start with, it's easy to apply, the formula dries quick and you only have to apply one coat of polish. This nail polish for dogs also safe and tried on human, not animals. If your dog is usually very lively and bouncy, wait until it's calm and relaxed before applying the dog nail polish or Pawlish. Many dogs are afraid of getting their nail clipped so be careful and make your dog feel that nothing bad is going to happen. Cut off extra fur around the pet's nail and then stoke the dog nail polish on the nail. Make sure your dog doesn't lick on it. When you've done all the pet's nails, make her understand how well she behaved, give her some dog candy and hug her.
Dog manicure (or rather pedicure) includes a lot of products besides the actual nail polish for dogs. "It's Dog Gone!" is a dog nail polish remover which you can use with remover wipes or pads. There's also a dog nail polish quick drying oil to buy and for decoration; Pet nail applique stickers. OPI isn't the only brand that makes nail polish for dogs. Other brands offer other colors like brown, glow in the dark and glitter top coat. A holiday collection includes green and red dog nail polish.
måndag 23 november 2009
Nail polish stain removal
If your interested in and a common user of popular nail polish, it's very helpful to know about nail polish stain removal. If you're too eager to use your new popular nail polish or are in a hurry, the painting of your nails may result in having to remove nail polish stains. These are very unwelcome and may be hard to remove. If you're lucky, the stain of some popular nail polish in bright pink gets on a cushion on your couch and you can just turn it upside down without caring about nail polish stain removal. Or the nail polish stain gets on some other easily hidden place. Then the damage won't be too big, but you're not always that lucky. Then how do you remove nail polish stains? The sooner you're able to remove nail polish stains, the better. When trying to remove any kind of stain and in nail polish stain removal in particular, you have to know something about how different substances work when in contact with each other. The saying “similar solves similar” is easy to remember and explains the basic rule of chemical reactions. I'll try to explain this: If you have a water based solution, no kind of fat will resolve in this. It's the same the other way around. So if you get a stain from fat, you have to use a fat based solution to remove the stain. What about nail polish stain removal? Should you use a water based or fat based solution to remove nail polish stains?
Another case is worth mentioning in this article on nail polish stain removal. It happens, and it happens often, when you sit concentrated and applies some popular nail polish from the big brands, that you suddenly have small stains all around your nails. If you need to remove nail polish stains during your manicure, a good tip is to use a nail correcting pen. With the applicator you can easily remove small lumps of nail polish that has ended up on the cuticles or outside of the nail. With the correcting pen there's no risk of smearing the nail polish on the nail as when you use a cotton top and liquid nail polish remover.
Another case is worth mentioning in this article on nail polish stain removal. It happens, and it happens often, when you sit concentrated and applies some popular nail polish from the big brands, that you suddenly have small stains all around your nails. If you need to remove nail polish stains during your manicure, a good tip is to use a nail correcting pen. With the applicator you can easily remove small lumps of nail polish that has ended up on the cuticles or outside of the nail. With the correcting pen there's no risk of smearing the nail polish on the nail as when you use a cotton top and liquid nail polish remover.
söndag 22 november 2009
Pregnancy safe nail polish
Are you pregnant and worried about whether you can use popular nail polish of today or not? there's no need to worry anymore; here are the answers to all of your questions. Popular nail polish just gets safer for everyone as research discovers new ways to create all these beautiful nail polishes without dangerous substances, and there are lots of pregnancy safe nail polish on the market. When you're pregnant there may be many things you have to give up and avoid; it can be anything from food to activities. But you should never have to give up your right to feel pretty when you get pregnant. During the pregnancy your body will, naturally, change drastically and you will enter different phases with symptoms like sweating, acne and striae (stretchmarks). Your clothes won't fit, you hair gets greasy faster than usual and you feel uncomfortable. In this case such a small detail as a sparkling pregnancy safe nail polish may do the trick and make you feel better! If you (or someone else) have painted your toe nails you may not see them very often but then suddenly, in a certain angle when you see beyond your big stomach, a bright popular nail polish like Essie's Bahama Mama shines back at you and might even think that your feet are pretty beautiful though the swelling. If you eat prenatal vitamins you may experience that your nails grows much faster than usual and this too is a good reason to use pregnancy safe nail polish.
Then what is a pregnancy safe nail polish? Simply, it's a nail polish you can use during your pregnancy without any risk for yourself or your baby. Besides the actual pregnancy safe nail polish, you also have to think about the place where you apply it. If at home, make sure you sit near an open window and if you visit a salon, choose one with good ventilation. These precautions are to minimize the risk of inhaling fumes from nail polish, which in too big amounts or repeatedly can be unhealthy or even dangerous for your child. How you apply the pregnancy safe nail polish is also worth considering; your feet are probably hard to reach so just lean back and ask someone else to paint your toe nails. These are some substances that everyone, not only pregnant women, should avoid in nail polish. These are formaldehyde, toluene, DBP and added chemicals in hardeners. DBP is a product from petroleum and this you should be extra careful with both during and after your pregnancy since it passes through breast milk.
Here are some examples of brands which offers pregnancy safe nail polish: Butter London, Avon, Priti Polish, China Glaze, Elizabeth Arden, L'Oréal, Sally Hanse, Revlon, Lippman Collection, Maybelline and OPI. If you're not sure if a nail polish is pregnancy safe, ask at the drugstore. You may also find more inexpensive alternatives of pregnancy safe nail polish at Walmart and the quality doesn't have to be lower. A pregnancy safe nail polish may have to be applied more often or takes longer to dry but that's not always the case.
After the pregnancy safe nail polish has been applied during pedicure, some foot massage is common to get. When you're pregnant you'll appreciate this especially as it relieves the pain in legs and feet causes by your extra weigh. Though, there are some risks to this. In zone therapy, pressure to specific spots on the body is used to treat different problems. If this is done the wrong way during pregnancy, preterm labor may be the accidental result. If you get pedicure with massage, for example at a nail salon day spa, be sure it's made by a professional who really know how to do it. The area around the ankles are the biggest risk zone in this matter. Another risk with leg massage is blood cloths. The risk for blood cloths during pregnancy is much higher than when you're not pregnant. The two cases I've described are rare but when you're pregnant you want to avoid any risk. The feet and leg areas are of course not forbidden but some light strokes after applying pregnancy safe nail polish are better than deep massage.
What are the rules concerning pregnancy safe nail polish during delivery? Women have different experience of this; when you give birth vaginally it's sometimes OK to have a popular nail polish and in other cases it's not. This may differ from hospital to hospital but to make sure you are as well prepared as possible, don't wear any popular nail polish or other when going to the maternity ward. When surgery (in this case Caesarean section but also in other kinds of surgery) is performed, a machine measures the level of oxygen in the blood through a device put on the finger. If you wear pregnancy safe nail polish this may affect the measure and give a wrong value. When you're going in for labor you will probably want to be as clean as possible out of security and hygienic reasons so skipping pregnancy safe nail polish will probably just feel like the right thing.
Then what is a pregnancy safe nail polish? Simply, it's a nail polish you can use during your pregnancy without any risk for yourself or your baby. Besides the actual pregnancy safe nail polish, you also have to think about the place where you apply it. If at home, make sure you sit near an open window and if you visit a salon, choose one with good ventilation. These precautions are to minimize the risk of inhaling fumes from nail polish, which in too big amounts or repeatedly can be unhealthy or even dangerous for your child. How you apply the pregnancy safe nail polish is also worth considering; your feet are probably hard to reach so just lean back and ask someone else to paint your toe nails. These are some substances that everyone, not only pregnant women, should avoid in nail polish. These are formaldehyde, toluene, DBP and added chemicals in hardeners. DBP is a product from petroleum and this you should be extra careful with both during and after your pregnancy since it passes through breast milk.
Here are some examples of brands which offers pregnancy safe nail polish: Butter London, Avon, Priti Polish, China Glaze, Elizabeth Arden, L'Oréal, Sally Hanse, Revlon, Lippman Collection, Maybelline and OPI. If you're not sure if a nail polish is pregnancy safe, ask at the drugstore. You may also find more inexpensive alternatives of pregnancy safe nail polish at Walmart and the quality doesn't have to be lower. A pregnancy safe nail polish may have to be applied more often or takes longer to dry but that's not always the case.
After the pregnancy safe nail polish has been applied during pedicure, some foot massage is common to get. When you're pregnant you'll appreciate this especially as it relieves the pain in legs and feet causes by your extra weigh. Though, there are some risks to this. In zone therapy, pressure to specific spots on the body is used to treat different problems. If this is done the wrong way during pregnancy, preterm labor may be the accidental result. If you get pedicure with massage, for example at a nail salon day spa, be sure it's made by a professional who really know how to do it. The area around the ankles are the biggest risk zone in this matter. Another risk with leg massage is blood cloths. The risk for blood cloths during pregnancy is much higher than when you're not pregnant. The two cases I've described are rare but when you're pregnant you want to avoid any risk. The feet and leg areas are of course not forbidden but some light strokes after applying pregnancy safe nail polish are better than deep massage.
What are the rules concerning pregnancy safe nail polish during delivery? Women have different experience of this; when you give birth vaginally it's sometimes OK to have a popular nail polish and in other cases it's not. This may differ from hospital to hospital but to make sure you are as well prepared as possible, don't wear any popular nail polish or other when going to the maternity ward. When surgery (in this case Caesarean section but also in other kinds of surgery) is performed, a machine measures the level of oxygen in the blood through a device put on the finger. If you wear pregnancy safe nail polish this may affect the measure and give a wrong value. When you're going in for labor you will probably want to be as clean as possible out of security and hygienic reasons so skipping pregnancy safe nail polish will probably just feel like the right thing.
måndag 16 november 2009
Nail care at home
In this article you can read about how to do simple nail care at home. Everyday our hands and nails are exposed to a lot of chemicals and substances which will result in damages if we don't protect our hands and nails. Nail care at home should be done regularly to offer a good protection. To go to a nail care center once in a while is a good way to keep the nails in good condition, but if you don't have the money or the time, you must replace the professional salon nail care with nail care at home. A basic nail care at home is a simple procedure everyone can learn to do at least once in a week. How often you need to do a nail care at home depends of course on a lot of things. If you have a job where you wash your hands a lot or where your hands get dirty, you need to do the nail care at home more often. That's also the case during the summer when the nails are exposed to the sun and water a lot more than during the other times of the year. When you're outside and the weather is cold, use gloves to protect your hands and nails.
Then how do you do nail care at home? It's not difficult at all; just use your common sense and adjust the nail care at home to your specific needs. If your nails are dirty, clean them; if they are dry, moisturize them, and so on. You should always remove old nail polish with a non-acetonic remover. Acetone will dry your nails out. The removing will be easy if you use non-shredding cotton pads. Always file the nails before you soak them in water, this will give them a better form. Never use a metal file and always file in one direction only to avoid shredding. Paper files are inexpensive but you wear them out fast. Invest in a good quality glass fiber nail file for nail care at home. It's hygienic since it can be washed and it's more gentle to your nails. The glass fiber nail file is more expensive but on the other hand you won't need to buy a new one for a long time. Don't forget your cuticles while doing nail care at home, but be careful. The cuticles are sensitive part of the hands and you don't wan to damage them. The matrix, which is the area under the cuticle at the bottom of the nail, is where your nails grow from. Don't cut the cuticles and put them back gently while doing nail care at home. It's easiest to do this when your nails are wet or when you've just applied hand lotion.
To make your hands and nails soft before nail care at home, just put them in a bowl of warm water with some kind of oil in. Before polishing your nails though, make sure they are free from oil. This is achieved by washing the hands with water and soap. After the nail polish has dried, immediately apply hand lotion to soften your hands. A nail care at home trick to get really soft hands is to apply lots of hand lotion at night and then sleep with plastic gloves on your hands. During the night the hands will be soaked in lotion! If your nails has been discolored you can bleach them with lemon juice during nail care at home. Something everyone should use after nail care at home is a transparent base coat which makes the nails stronger. These kinds of nail coats is not expensive; around 6 dollars a bottle. It protects the nail from breaking, splitting or otherwise getting damaged and builds up the nail immediately after applying. Enriched with vitamins and minerals, it's a real kick for your nails. Apply one or two layers of polish and then one layer each third day to continue the effect.
Then how do you do nail care at home? It's not difficult at all; just use your common sense and adjust the nail care at home to your specific needs. If your nails are dirty, clean them; if they are dry, moisturize them, and so on. You should always remove old nail polish with a non-acetonic remover. Acetone will dry your nails out. The removing will be easy if you use non-shredding cotton pads. Always file the nails before you soak them in water, this will give them a better form. Never use a metal file and always file in one direction only to avoid shredding. Paper files are inexpensive but you wear them out fast. Invest in a good quality glass fiber nail file for nail care at home. It's hygienic since it can be washed and it's more gentle to your nails. The glass fiber nail file is more expensive but on the other hand you won't need to buy a new one for a long time. Don't forget your cuticles while doing nail care at home, but be careful. The cuticles are sensitive part of the hands and you don't wan to damage them. The matrix, which is the area under the cuticle at the bottom of the nail, is where your nails grow from. Don't cut the cuticles and put them back gently while doing nail care at home. It's easiest to do this when your nails are wet or when you've just applied hand lotion.
To make your hands and nails soft before nail care at home, just put them in a bowl of warm water with some kind of oil in. Before polishing your nails though, make sure they are free from oil. This is achieved by washing the hands with water and soap. After the nail polish has dried, immediately apply hand lotion to soften your hands. A nail care at home trick to get really soft hands is to apply lots of hand lotion at night and then sleep with plastic gloves on your hands. During the night the hands will be soaked in lotion! If your nails has been discolored you can bleach them with lemon juice during nail care at home. Something everyone should use after nail care at home is a transparent base coat which makes the nails stronger. These kinds of nail coats is not expensive; around 6 dollars a bottle. It protects the nail from breaking, splitting or otherwise getting damaged and builds up the nail immediately after applying. Enriched with vitamins and minerals, it's a real kick for your nails. Apply one or two layers of polish and then one layer each third day to continue the effect.
söndag 15 november 2009
Nail polish for men
Nail polish for men and actually men wearing nail polish? Well, this is not as strange as it may sound at first. Nail polish for men is on the contrary something that's becoming more and more common and OK as people respond positively. Today the classic terms masculine and feminine and all the things they stand for are losing importance and a remote consequence of this is nail polish for men as well as for women. The goal for many, especially women and feminists, is to achieve judgment because of what you do and not which sex you belong to. Terms like homosexuality, metrosexuality and ubersexuality are not forbidden as they were not too long ago and this is reflecting throughout the society. A lot more men then before is interested of their looks and health of the outside of the body, not only the condition of the heart for example. Nail polish for men is gaining acceptance. Beauty products like skin care creams and face peelings are visible on many men's bathroom shelves, they appreciate best anti wrinkle cream tips and sometimes even use make-up like mascara or eye shadow and now also nail polish for men. For many men other men wearing nail polish is still something very distant and probably scary. You don't want to look like a woman or gay, right? But what if the most masculine men are those who dare to show some feminine sides, like the mean wearing nail polish? Anyway, nail polish for men is not unusual anymore.
The world of rock is the place where you're most likely to find men wearing nail polish. It's one of the distinguishing features along with long hair, black eyeliner and leather clothes. Other man artists may as well wear nail polish but musicians working with rock or rock related music are the often the men wearing nail polish. Nail polish for men is often in dark shades. You find colors like gunmetal gray, stormy dark blue, dark olive green, and of course the most common; black. The color field with brighter shades and pastels is still not very well explored by men wearing nail polish, but as time goes by and social changes continue we will probably not have to wait for long before nail polish for men is more colorful. Just as with everything else; when a famous person is seen with, for example a specific nail polish, it gets very popular. David Beckham was seen with his wife Victoria Beckham in a fashion photo where he wore black nail polish for men. This instantly spread through the world. Some men wearing nail polish do it only on the toe nails and show it only to their partners in private and avoid to be seen in public. Other men wearing nail polish chose the transparent ones and manicure and pedicure (though without color nail polish) for men is common today. A conclusion: Nail polish for men is spreading over the world. I think this is something good and fun.
The world of rock is the place where you're most likely to find men wearing nail polish. It's one of the distinguishing features along with long hair, black eyeliner and leather clothes. Other man artists may as well wear nail polish but musicians working with rock or rock related music are the often the men wearing nail polish. Nail polish for men is often in dark shades. You find colors like gunmetal gray, stormy dark blue, dark olive green, and of course the most common; black. The color field with brighter shades and pastels is still not very well explored by men wearing nail polish, but as time goes by and social changes continue we will probably not have to wait for long before nail polish for men is more colorful. Just as with everything else; when a famous person is seen with, for example a specific nail polish, it gets very popular. David Beckham was seen with his wife Victoria Beckham in a fashion photo where he wore black nail polish for men. This instantly spread through the world. Some men wearing nail polish do it only on the toe nails and show it only to their partners in private and avoid to be seen in public. Other men wearing nail polish chose the transparent ones and manicure and pedicure (though without color nail polish) for men is common today. A conclusion: Nail polish for men is spreading over the world. I think this is something good and fun.
torsdag 12 november 2009
French manicure at home
Here comes a description on how to do a French manicure at home. It's not all all as difficult as you maybe think to do a French manicure at home. At most drugstores you can by rather inexpensive (if compared to a French manicure made at a salon!) French manicure at home sets. They come complete in pouches or packages and often has instructions. You can just try them out and then pick your favorite, there are a lot of brands! You can also buy refills of peel off stickers and other useful manicure things. Put all the things you will need for doing a French manicure at home on a table. You will need a towel, nail care tools and a French manicure nail polishing set.
Start with cleaning your nails. Clean the area under the nails (the little gap between the skin of the finger and the nail is easily filled with dirt and bacterias) using a sharp manicure tool or a wooden orange pen. Before beginning the French manicure at home, form your nails to the form you wish to have with a nail file. Some prefer sharper edges and a kind of square form while others want a rounder form on their nails. Use a nail file you like; a glass fiber nail is a good recommendation. Before starting the French manicure at home nail polishing, cut off dead skin parts around the nail with a nail cutter or nail scissors. Brush your nails under pouring warm water for a minute or so using a nail brush with which you gently scrub the nails and the cuticles. Use a liquid cuticles remover on the nail and the cuticles. This is a kind of gentle scrub which will remove dead skin cells and make the nails and the cuticles soft. Wait for five minutes while the cuticles remover is acting, brush your nails with the nail brush without water, and then again, this second time under pouring water. Now the nails and the cuticles are soft after all the scrubbing and brushing. You can easily put down the cuticles. Apply and massage in some nail oil. Don't use too much oil if you're about to polish your nails or do a French manicure at home because the oil will prevent the polish layers from getting firmly attached to the nails.
A simple tutorial: French manicure at home
(Read through all of the steps before starting!)
1. Clean your nails and cuticles. Follow some or all of the simple tips described above before doing a French manicure at home.
2. You start your French manicure at home by applying a good transparent base coat and let it dry for about 5 minutes. A bonder is a kind of top coat which first sticks to the fingernails and then to the next coming layers. You don't have to be too careful to get it exactly onto the nail area; if you do the French manicure at home in the evening you can peel the over left polish off after showering since the water and shampoo will loosen it up. This way the whole nail area will be covered in coat. If you're too careful not to get any coat on your fingers outside the nails, maybe you'll miss some small part of the nail. A full covering base coat is important, it's the foundation of the finished nail polish and in this case, the French manicure.
3. The next step of the French manicure at home is to apply the white tip coat on all finger nails. This is the tricky part; you want to create a regular arc following the natural white part of your nail. You can try to hold back the tip of the finger from the nail and then rotate both the finger and the brush (with not too much paint on it) to create a good line of white. If you have long nails, the white area will be wider but if your nails are short you may want to pant the white line a little bit below your natural one. If one barely can see the white line, nobody will really know that you've made a French manicure at home! Polish two layers of white tip coat to get a full cover of white but try at the same time to get is as thin as possible. The tip of the nail is an exposed area and if this is thick it will more easily crack and shed. If one swipe doesn't fill it all in, just fill in the gaps before the color dyes so you get a smooth finish.
In order to get a curve; start thicker at the corner, ease up the pressure from the brush at the center and then make it firmer again. If you're right handed the right hand will be more difficult to paint when doing the French manicure at home. Try to hold the brush more still and rotate the nail instead while painting the right hand. The opposite is of course applicable if your left-handed! If you have a friend who can do your “other” hand this is of course comfortable when doing a French manicure at home... Do the thumbs last so you can use them to clean up on the other fingers while the polish is wet. If you don't feel so secure to get a straight line and have unsteady hands, you can use peel off stickers. This is small strips to place right under where you want the painted line. Then just paint over the sticker and peel it off the nail and you have a perfect line! Let the white tip coat of the French manicure at home dry for about 10 minutes. If you don't want to use a stark white tone there are more natural or pearl like ones to choose between so you don't get that obvious painted-on and fake look.
4. Apply the pink or beige coat over the whole nail. Let this layer dry for about 3 minutes. Be careful so that you don't get too much nail polish at the bottom of the nails, this can ruin your French manicure at home. A pink coat will tone the white tip coat down a bit so don't be afraid if the white looks too bright at first. But the pink coat will still not completely wash out the white. It doesn't change that much, it just gives an all over finished look. This pink or beige coat may look streaky at first but just let it settle and it will smoothen out.
5. Finally apply the clear top coat and your French manicure at home is almost finished! Some types of top coats has the effect of sealing and fusing all the previous layers together. These kinds you would want to apply before the other layers have dried completely. But if you use a common top coat, especially the white tip lines must be dry, otherwise they might smear. You don't have to wait for the top coat to dry before you do step 6. If you skip step 6, let the top coat dry for about 10 minutes. Try to avoid touching anything with your nails within this time. That is because the top coat is thicker than the other layers, it gets indentations easier.
6. Drip two drops of “Drip Dry” (from OPI for example) and shake your hands. This step is voluntary, maybe something for the expert nail polisher but a hot French manicure tip also for the common nail polisher at home! Congratulations, now you've done a French manicure at home, I hope it all went well!
Start with cleaning your nails. Clean the area under the nails (the little gap between the skin of the finger and the nail is easily filled with dirt and bacterias) using a sharp manicure tool or a wooden orange pen. Before beginning the French manicure at home, form your nails to the form you wish to have with a nail file. Some prefer sharper edges and a kind of square form while others want a rounder form on their nails. Use a nail file you like; a glass fiber nail is a good recommendation. Before starting the French manicure at home nail polishing, cut off dead skin parts around the nail with a nail cutter or nail scissors. Brush your nails under pouring warm water for a minute or so using a nail brush with which you gently scrub the nails and the cuticles. Use a liquid cuticles remover on the nail and the cuticles. This is a kind of gentle scrub which will remove dead skin cells and make the nails and the cuticles soft. Wait for five minutes while the cuticles remover is acting, brush your nails with the nail brush without water, and then again, this second time under pouring water. Now the nails and the cuticles are soft after all the scrubbing and brushing. You can easily put down the cuticles. Apply and massage in some nail oil. Don't use too much oil if you're about to polish your nails or do a French manicure at home because the oil will prevent the polish layers from getting firmly attached to the nails.
A simple tutorial: French manicure at home
(Read through all of the steps before starting!)
1. Clean your nails and cuticles. Follow some or all of the simple tips described above before doing a French manicure at home.
2. You start your French manicure at home by applying a good transparent base coat and let it dry for about 5 minutes. A bonder is a kind of top coat which first sticks to the fingernails and then to the next coming layers. You don't have to be too careful to get it exactly onto the nail area; if you do the French manicure at home in the evening you can peel the over left polish off after showering since the water and shampoo will loosen it up. This way the whole nail area will be covered in coat. If you're too careful not to get any coat on your fingers outside the nails, maybe you'll miss some small part of the nail. A full covering base coat is important, it's the foundation of the finished nail polish and in this case, the French manicure.
3. The next step of the French manicure at home is to apply the white tip coat on all finger nails. This is the tricky part; you want to create a regular arc following the natural white part of your nail. You can try to hold back the tip of the finger from the nail and then rotate both the finger and the brush (with not too much paint on it) to create a good line of white. If you have long nails, the white area will be wider but if your nails are short you may want to pant the white line a little bit below your natural one. If one barely can see the white line, nobody will really know that you've made a French manicure at home! Polish two layers of white tip coat to get a full cover of white but try at the same time to get is as thin as possible. The tip of the nail is an exposed area and if this is thick it will more easily crack and shed. If one swipe doesn't fill it all in, just fill in the gaps before the color dyes so you get a smooth finish.
In order to get a curve; start thicker at the corner, ease up the pressure from the brush at the center and then make it firmer again. If you're right handed the right hand will be more difficult to paint when doing the French manicure at home. Try to hold the brush more still and rotate the nail instead while painting the right hand. The opposite is of course applicable if your left-handed! If you have a friend who can do your “other” hand this is of course comfortable when doing a French manicure at home... Do the thumbs last so you can use them to clean up on the other fingers while the polish is wet. If you don't feel so secure to get a straight line and have unsteady hands, you can use peel off stickers. This is small strips to place right under where you want the painted line. Then just paint over the sticker and peel it off the nail and you have a perfect line! Let the white tip coat of the French manicure at home dry for about 10 minutes. If you don't want to use a stark white tone there are more natural or pearl like ones to choose between so you don't get that obvious painted-on and fake look.
4. Apply the pink or beige coat over the whole nail. Let this layer dry for about 3 minutes. Be careful so that you don't get too much nail polish at the bottom of the nails, this can ruin your French manicure at home. A pink coat will tone the white tip coat down a bit so don't be afraid if the white looks too bright at first. But the pink coat will still not completely wash out the white. It doesn't change that much, it just gives an all over finished look. This pink or beige coat may look streaky at first but just let it settle and it will smoothen out.
5. Finally apply the clear top coat and your French manicure at home is almost finished! Some types of top coats has the effect of sealing and fusing all the previous layers together. These kinds you would want to apply before the other layers have dried completely. But if you use a common top coat, especially the white tip lines must be dry, otherwise they might smear. You don't have to wait for the top coat to dry before you do step 6. If you skip step 6, let the top coat dry for about 10 minutes. Try to avoid touching anything with your nails within this time. That is because the top coat is thicker than the other layers, it gets indentations easier.
6. Drip two drops of “Drip Dry” (from OPI for example) and shake your hands. This step is voluntary, maybe something for the expert nail polisher but a hot French manicure tip also for the common nail polisher at home! Congratulations, now you've done a French manicure at home, I hope it all went well!
tisdag 10 november 2009
Popular nail polish colors
The most striking thing about popular nail polish color today is the wide spectrum you can find them representing. There really is an almost never-ending list of nuances and slightly different variants of popular nail polish color. Some nail lacquers need a top coating to come to their best shine and brilliancy. When the rays from the sun or some other light source are reflected in the smooth surface the color will shine and accentuate your whole appearance! The popular nail polish colors are no longer simply called the name of the color. When you stroll along the shelves in your make-up store you will seldom see for example “pink nail polish” or “green nail lacquer”. The nail polish business is much more inventive in these days and the name of a popular nail polish color may not even tell you what color that's intended!
Let's look at a few examples of popular nail polish colors. The famous nail polish brand OPI have used their imagination as far as possible when they call a reddish polish “I'm Not Really a Waitress” and an orange lacquer “In My Back Pocket”. Names that were more easy to reveal are “Need Sunglasses?” (yellow) and “Green-wich Village” (green). The names of the popular nail polish colors of OPI are really funny to look through, at first you may not see the correspondence between “Koala Bear-y” and the berry-red nail polish but when you realize it you may get a good laugh or at least an “Aha-feeling”. Very entertaining! Essie's and Orly's popular nail polish color names are just as good.
The color is not enough, special effects are also accomplished by different kinds of glitter ingredients. Popular nail polish colors can have effects of glitter, glow in the dark, matte, metallic or fluorescent. You might be skeptical about wearing some of all these bright colors, they may look fun in an isolated bottle but once on your nails you have to think about how your new popular nail polish color goes with the clothes you want to wear. Strong colors like the ones I've mentioned as popular nail polish colors can with advantage be worn on your toe nails instead of your finger nails. This fact is useful especially during the summer. During the winter you will probably not show your feet that much except from at parties if you wear peep-toes. Also, during the summer you're (hopefully) more tanned and this new skin tone will make the popular nail polish color look better. Though, the most popular nail polish color during the summer months is actually the French manicure. This might be because it's easily maintained and looks very fresh and simple to your golden brown skin and sun bleached hair.
When you give your nail a French manicure, be careful to use the right top coat., this is important since the wrong one may look yellowish in the bright sunlight. The easiest way to avoid this effect is not to mix different brands but to use a complete French set. The different polishes in the French process are adjusted to each other and if you use one set and one set only at a time you will get a good result without unexpected yellow tones. During the fall you might want to use a warmer tone of popular nail polish color on your nails. Brown and maroon are not as boring as you think but comes in a varying scale with gold, copper and bronze glows which will sparkle along with the red, yellow and orange leaves of the trees. The most popular nail polish color of the winter is white in different nuances and lusters. White or pinkish Perle tones with a a transparent top coat will look great against a sky filled with snow flakes. And at Christmas the red is back of course! When spring comes, everything becomes easier and lighter. No more dark colors but shimmering pastels of pink, blue, green and yellow are popular nail polish colors that will compete with the tender and fragile buds nature is filled with during springtime. If popular nail polish colors isn't enough for you or if you want to try something new to add an extra effect to your nails, ask your manicurist to do some nail art. Tiny stones or pearls are glued to your nail in a simple row or complicated pattern. Your nails will be real works of art!
Let's look at a few examples of popular nail polish colors. The famous nail polish brand OPI have used their imagination as far as possible when they call a reddish polish “I'm Not Really a Waitress” and an orange lacquer “In My Back Pocket”. Names that were more easy to reveal are “Need Sunglasses?” (yellow) and “Green-wich Village” (green). The names of the popular nail polish colors of OPI are really funny to look through, at first you may not see the correspondence between “Koala Bear-y” and the berry-red nail polish but when you realize it you may get a good laugh or at least an “Aha-feeling”. Very entertaining! Essie's and Orly's popular nail polish color names are just as good.
The color is not enough, special effects are also accomplished by different kinds of glitter ingredients. Popular nail polish colors can have effects of glitter, glow in the dark, matte, metallic or fluorescent. You might be skeptical about wearing some of all these bright colors, they may look fun in an isolated bottle but once on your nails you have to think about how your new popular nail polish color goes with the clothes you want to wear. Strong colors like the ones I've mentioned as popular nail polish colors can with advantage be worn on your toe nails instead of your finger nails. This fact is useful especially during the summer. During the winter you will probably not show your feet that much except from at parties if you wear peep-toes. Also, during the summer you're (hopefully) more tanned and this new skin tone will make the popular nail polish color look better. Though, the most popular nail polish color during the summer months is actually the French manicure. This might be because it's easily maintained and looks very fresh and simple to your golden brown skin and sun bleached hair.
When you give your nail a French manicure, be careful to use the right top coat., this is important since the wrong one may look yellowish in the bright sunlight. The easiest way to avoid this effect is not to mix different brands but to use a complete French set. The different polishes in the French process are adjusted to each other and if you use one set and one set only at a time you will get a good result without unexpected yellow tones. During the fall you might want to use a warmer tone of popular nail polish color on your nails. Brown and maroon are not as boring as you think but comes in a varying scale with gold, copper and bronze glows which will sparkle along with the red, yellow and orange leaves of the trees. The most popular nail polish color of the winter is white in different nuances and lusters. White or pinkish Perle tones with a a transparent top coat will look great against a sky filled with snow flakes. And at Christmas the red is back of course! When spring comes, everything becomes easier and lighter. No more dark colors but shimmering pastels of pink, blue, green and yellow are popular nail polish colors that will compete with the tender and fragile buds nature is filled with during springtime. If popular nail polish colors isn't enough for you or if you want to try something new to add an extra effect to your nails, ask your manicurist to do some nail art. Tiny stones or pearls are glued to your nail in a simple row or complicated pattern. Your nails will be real works of art!
måndag 9 november 2009
Popular nail polish
What is popular nail polish? And who decides what is popular nail polish? I think that popular nail polish is like a small relative to the world of fashion. The area is much smaller but there are still similarities between popular nail polish and fashion. To polish the fingernails has always been a way to decorate the human body, ever since the era of the Egyptians. Since the nail is one of the few hard surfaces on the body, it fits well to cover in paint from a popular nail polish. Nail polish is considered to belong to the category of make-up just as mascara, eye-shadow, lipstick, rouge and powder.
When women wants to make themselves really beautiful they use different methods to decorate themselves; they put on nice clothes, use jewelry, style their hair and use make-up, a popular nail polish for example. Someimes it's more important than other times to feel beautiful and in these cases even your hands play a big part. For example, who wants bad nails on their photo wedding invitation? Or some other photo, or in real life? Nice hands with beautiful nails painted in popular nail polish will give you a whole new look! The popular nail polish has the propriety of being available in all colors you can think of and is therefore easy to match with the colors of the clothes, or to make an effective contrast. Popular nail polish is at the same time discrete and obvious; you can simply fold your hands to hide it. Then when the fingers flash by in a social gesture in a conversation, there it is! Fingernail can be polished with some kind of popular nail polish such as the ones with a metallic luster or in a traditional but still popular nail polish like the one everybody knows about; the French manicure. Nail polish is both beautiful and useful. It helps to keep the nails strong and prevents them from become wear at the tops. If you only want the protecting effect you can simply choose a transparent nail polish.
At this site you can find out all you want and need to know about popular nail polish! I've tried to select both common subjects like the popular nail polish called home French manicure and more unexplored ones, such as Nail polish for men and Dog nail polish. Some articles concern different environmental aspect. These articles are What to do with empty nail polish bottles, Organic nail polish and Formaldehyde free nail polish. You can also read about some interesting facts in the article on Nail polish history. Such as; do you know what Cleopatra used as nail polish? And what has cars got to do with popular nail polish? Other articles tells about how to do an effective and popular nail polish stain removal, because be prepared that it happens; your nail polish won't always get on your nails but sometimes also on your clothes and furniture... Even if the stains are small, they are irritating and unnecessary. But don't worry, we'll get there! As I mentioned popular nail polish is available in any thinkable color and this exciting aspect is discussed in the article Popular nail polish color. And at last, when the nail polish has started to fall off or gotten scratches, it's time to remove it. Read more about this in Removing nail polish.
When women wants to make themselves really beautiful they use different methods to decorate themselves; they put on nice clothes, use jewelry, style their hair and use make-up, a popular nail polish for example. Someimes it's more important than other times to feel beautiful and in these cases even your hands play a big part. For example, who wants bad nails on their photo wedding invitation? Or some other photo, or in real life? Nice hands with beautiful nails painted in popular nail polish will give you a whole new look! The popular nail polish has the propriety of being available in all colors you can think of and is therefore easy to match with the colors of the clothes, or to make an effective contrast. Popular nail polish is at the same time discrete and obvious; you can simply fold your hands to hide it. Then when the fingers flash by in a social gesture in a conversation, there it is! Fingernail can be polished with some kind of popular nail polish such as the ones with a metallic luster or in a traditional but still popular nail polish like the one everybody knows about; the French manicure. Nail polish is both beautiful and useful. It helps to keep the nails strong and prevents them from become wear at the tops. If you only want the protecting effect you can simply choose a transparent nail polish.
At this site you can find out all you want and need to know about popular nail polish! I've tried to select both common subjects like the popular nail polish called home French manicure and more unexplored ones, such as Nail polish for men and Dog nail polish. Some articles concern different environmental aspect. These articles are What to do with empty nail polish bottles, Organic nail polish and Formaldehyde free nail polish. You can also read about some interesting facts in the article on Nail polish history. Such as; do you know what Cleopatra used as nail polish? And what has cars got to do with popular nail polish? Other articles tells about how to do an effective and popular nail polish stain removal, because be prepared that it happens; your nail polish won't always get on your nails but sometimes also on your clothes and furniture... Even if the stains are small, they are irritating and unnecessary. But don't worry, we'll get there! As I mentioned popular nail polish is available in any thinkable color and this exciting aspect is discussed in the article Popular nail polish color. And at last, when the nail polish has started to fall off or gotten scratches, it's time to remove it. Read more about this in Removing nail polish.
Prenumerera på:
Inlägg (Atom)