Hello lovelies!

How are you all? ♥

Hello my lovelies!

How are you all today? ♥

I've been doing some school stuff, and I got into doing another Halloween look (sneak peek on Instagram as we speak, check out @silvertigo for that). But before I talk more about that, let's see the first Halloween post - which is a pictorial for a Sugar Skull makeup, if that is something you would like to do for a Halloween party.



Finished look is somewhat like this, but let's start from the bare face, okay?



So, start off with clean (moisturized) face. I prefer wearing clothes that are comfy and can get messed up while doing this kind of costume looks. This one contains face paint, so it's better if you don't have to worry about the clothes so much. Hence, the oversized black hoodie.



I started with setting my eye brows. I used the glue method, where you take a glue stick, and glide that over your brows. Then, before the glue dries, you take loose powder and try to settle the brows as flat (and as invisible) as possible.

Then, take white face paint, or white foundation, and make your face completely white. You can, of course, do any color you desire, but I felt the white base was a good one.



Take black eyeliner, and draw a "nose hole". Set it with black eye shadow to make it less likely to smudge. (Or, be wiser than me and actually do the eyes first, haha.)

You can also take any color you like to do a little bit of contouring around the edges of your face. I used blue, but it doesn't show up too much in the pictures.



Now, choose a color to put around your eyes (mine was obviously pink), and draw a circle around each eye. You can go as big as you wish, because with this look, you can play a lot. Color the circles entirely.



Line the circles with an eye liner, or a thin brush and eye shadow. I chose a bit of a metallic bright blue for this, as I thought it gives a nice contrast to the pink.



Plan a design around the circles, like flower petals, or anything you wish. As it was my first time trying this, I went for a pretty simple design. It's the coolest when you can make the design identical on both sides, but I pretty much failed in that. But hey, practice makes perfect, right?



Next, draw the mouth. Simply take a black eye liner (pencil!) and draw the corners of your mouth way longer than they really go. That can be all the way to the jawline (especially if you like Jack Skellington), or just to your cheeks. After that, draw vertical stripes to create the teeth. You can then color the inner sides of your lips a bit darker (black) for more dimension.

Use the eyeliner - or any thin tool - to create patterns and designs all over your face. You can do as little or as lot as you like. You can also add glitter, rhinestones or any other glam to make it more dressy. I simply lined my eyes and added mascara. False eyelashes would be cool as well, but I don't get along with those too well so I let them out. (I should practice more, I know.)

Now, just add a wig, floral crown or any other fun element you want, and you're done!



Tutorial for the floral crown here.



So that's my first (ever?) Halloween tutorial for you. I wish that some day, I will have enough room for proper lights and stuff to make these into videos, but before that, I hope this is enough. More will be coming soon!

I would love to know what you think about this post and this look, so let me know in the comments below! Also, you can suggest looks you'd like to see - if I can't make them happen this Halloween, I'll keep them in mind for the future.

Now, I need to go get something to eat, and then practice for my Russian test tomorrow. I'll talk to you very, very soon with more Halloween stuff!

Have a fantastic week ♥

Hello lovelies!

How are you all? ♥

Remember how promised you a little DIY post? Well, here goes. Hopefully this is any helpful!

So today, I give my view on how to make a flower crown from fabric flowers.

You'll need:

iron wire
wire cutters
pliers (for handling wire)
scissors
florist's tape, green
silk/fabric flowers & leaves

Feel free to get as much flowers as you want, that's the part that makes your crown unique. Ready? Let's get started!



First, measure a wire that goes around your head three times. Then, before cutting the wire, wrap it around itself like in the pic, so that you'll have a "ring" that fits to your head. You should now have the wire going four times around. Use pliers to secure the ends.



Next, prep your flowers and leaves if necessary. For example, mine were from IKEA, so they had still a lot of stalk and extra things on them that weren't needed for the crown.



Then, attach the greens (if you have those) around the wire crown with the florist's tape.



It should look something like this. After this, attach the flowers the way you want: all the way around, or just on the front or whatever you like. I put mine all over the crown. You can secure the flowers with thin wire, but that's totally optional. For me, it was the best option.



The ready product looks like this. Well, at least, mine does. Yours might be totally different.



And it's like this when worn. Pretty neat, huh?

Let me know what you think about this tutorial, and let me know if there are other fashion items you'd like to see me recreate, in the comments below!

Now, this girl is off to bed as I have loads to do in the morning. Talk to you soon! ♥

Have a fantastic day!

Hello guys!

Hope you're all having a nice Friday and all. We're now at the cabin, so I wrote this post for you yesterday, so that you wouldn't be here all without posts and stuff.

So, without further ado, there's a quick pictorial:



Start off with buying a set of nice nail wraps. I used these cute palm tree ones from Born Pretty Store I ordered a while back, which I figured would be nice for the midsummer. You also need a nail file and a top coat to make the wraps last longer. You can get nail wraps pretty much everywhere nowadays, and they are mostly quite affordable.



Take out a wrap that matches the size of your nail, and be careful when handling it, so that it doesn't get damaged. You don't usually need tools for that. Place the wrap on the nail, and try to align it nicely along your nail. Take your time with removing the bumps and bubbles as you go. You can use tools like orange wood stick to get the wraps sit better to the nail beds. I didn't do that this time.



When happy with the placement, turn the rest of the wrap over your nail like in the picture.



Take your nail file, and carefully file out the excess. It should come out pretty easily.



Add a coat of top coat for more lasting results.



And that's it, now you're ready to rock out those nails!

I think these nail wraps are such a cool thing for the weeks when you need to give your nails a rest from the polish - like you should do every now and then. And they also serve those who don't have the time or interest to learn out all the techniques, so they can just wrap their nails and that's good. These don't damage your nails as much as polishes, so they are a good option for the young ones who want to have color on their nails too.

Let me know in the comments if you want more pictorials like this, or if you have anything to ask about nail wraps. I'll do my best to answer you!

I hope you're all having a fun day, and that this pictorial was any helpful at all. You can also find a ton of great videos about these on YouTube, so if you need more thorough instructions, head there. ;)

Have a fabulous day everyone ♥

Hey lovelies!

How are you all? ♥

Sorry for not blogging for a few days, but I've been busy with work, exercise and trying to get over my flu. (I know, one should stay home and rest but I figured this way I either get properly sick or the disease goes away completely.) But today, I have a post for you that I have been planning for weeks now, and yesterday, I finally found the time to take pics for it. So, here we go:

Nail Art 101: Basics

I get rather often questions related to my nails, how I care for them, how I do my manicures, what products I use and so on. So, I figured it would be fun to tell you about those things in detail in few posts. And, in addition, I will try and teach you how to create different manicures at home by yourself. Later on, when we get to more complicated ones, I will try to either film videos to guide you, or I will link great ones from YouTube.

But, let's get started, shall we?

Take care of your nails (moisturizing, nutrition, filing, etc.)

The first and foremost with nail art is to have a healthy base. That means taking care of your nails, and that includes few steps. First of all, like with any beauty things, it starts with the nutrition. Make sure your diet has enough vitamins and that you consume enough water on daily basis. When you're healthy, your nails will be, too. If you're a smoker, I strongly recommend quitting, as smoking is absolutely horrible for your nails - not to mention for the rest of the body.

Now, when you're diet is in order, focus on the moisturizing. Your nails will chip, crack, and fall apart into small pieces from the tips if there isn't enough moisture. The best thing is to soak the nails and cuticles in olive oil 1-4 times per month, depending on the condition of your nails, and the frequency of using the nail polish remover (because that dries up the cuticles a lot), but a normal body moisturizer or a lip balm will do too. Also, you can invest on a cuticle oil, but seriously, you'd only need olive oil. (Which actually is more useful around the house.)

Another thing that keeps your nails in shape is filing them once a week. This doesn't mean you need to make them short, but it helps you to take off the most worn parts of the tips, and that way your nails won't chip as much. Also, it's better to file than cut the nails, because you have better control over the tool, and filing doesn't break the nails like cutting does. Some also recommend buffing the nails, but that is something you should only do like once a month or so, otherwise it'll wear your nail into bad shape. But every once in a while, it's a nice thing to do to add some shine.

The last thing to mention here is that if your nails have gotten a bit yellow (or stained) you can try to salvage them with a whitening tooth paste, or a nail whitening polish. Both tricks work pretty nicely.

Use a base coat. Always.

Now that your nails are nice, healthy and clean, it's time to get painting. But first, we better prepare the base a bit more. This is actually an issue I can't pressure enough, if you love painting your nails you will need a base coat. It's totally up to you which one to use - my pick is Essie All In One Base - but the important thing is to always use one. Base coat protects your nail from staining, and some of them at least claim to strengthen and treat your nails. Some base coats also help with removing your (glitter) polish. Those ones are called peel off polishes, and I've seen lots of good reviews about them, but haven't gotten the chance to try one out yet.

And I know there are people thinking that the nails get all chunky and thick if you use base coat, few layers of polish and top coat, but that just isn't true. For the sake of your nails, and the nail art, take the time to apply a base coat first.

Tools for beginners

While your base coat is drying, take a minute to learn a little about the tools. I picked some items below that I find useful for beginners at nail art (of course you will also need these later on, but these are great ones to start with.):



Nail File. There are many, many options, and even if ceramic and glass ones are recommended, I prefer the classic one (the sand paper kind). The best is if you can find one with different roughness on either side, because that makes styling your nail easier.

Cleaning brush. For cleaning up the cuticle area after you've painted your nails. This should be quite thin angled brush, or at least a thin brush. You dip it gently in remover, sweep the excess off, and gently brush along the cuticle to clean up the mani. I will make a pictorial for the next post of this series.

Dotting tools. You usually get these in packs of five, which gives you quite nice variety of sizes. Dotting tools can be used to create many different patterns and designs, and they are relatively easy to use. You can make flowers, leopard print, dots of all sizes, and all sorts of cool things with them.

Sponges. These help you create cool effects, like ombre and gradient, and they are so, so easy to use. You can buy just regular makeup sponges, they work the best. More about painting with sponges will follow in the future posts.

Find the right remover for you

We're almost ready to get to the nail designs, but before that I wanna remind you of the importance of finding the right remover for you. They are different, no matter what you'd think, and the most expensive one isn't always the best. I use ones I get from a supermarket (should I call these drugstore products?), like Mavala and Sally Hansen, and they work fine for me. You might actually need to have two, if you're like me, as I have the one pictured below (Sally Hansen Moisturising Polish Remover) for removing polish from the whole nail, and a regular Mavala remover for cleanup and cleaning my tools. I feel the Sally Hansen doesn't quite clean the brushes as well as Mavala does, but of course the best thing is if you find one that works for you all over.

Simple manicures and how to do them

Okay, now we can finally get into the nail art. I believe everyone reading this already knows how to apply your nail polish. I will, however, provide some tips and tricks for that later on.



Now, I have five different designs for you that are easy to create and can be done with very little tools.

French mani

A classic that fits every occasion, it's easy to do even without tools, but for the best results, I recommend using tape, or a tip guide.



How to: Paint your nails with base color. Let dry. Apply more coats if needed, and let every layer dry in between. Add a tip guide to define the tip that you wanna paint with accent color. Take the other color, and paint the tip. Remove the tape right away after applying the polish. Seal the design with top coat.

Half Moon

Another classic that is often used on runway manis, so this one is super chic.



How to: Apply the color of the half moon on the top part of your nail (or whole nail, but that's kinda waste of polish). Let dry. Repeat the steps as many times as needed for coverage. Take a reinforcement sticker (or any round sticker, you can even cut one out of scotch tape), and place it where the half moon will be. Paint the nail with the other color. Seal the design with top coat.

Reverse half moon/Ruffian

No matter what you call this one, it's guaranteed to look amazing.



How to: 1) Paint the top half of the nail with the accent color. Let dry. With free hand, use the other color to paint the nail, leaving a little part of the accent color showing. Seal with top coat.

OR

2) Paint the nail with main color. Let dry. Take a round sticker, place it a little bit away from the cuticle. Paint the narrow area near cuticle with the accent color. Seal with top coat.

Glitter gradient

Little more modern maybe, but classic nonetheless. You need no tools for this baby.



How to: Paint the nail with base color. Let dry. Take out your glitter polish, and apply carefully from cuticle towards the tip, trying to only get a pretty thin coat, that doesn't still reach the tip of the nail, but rather the center. (mainly glitter, not so much the polish itself) Add another coat of glitter, but don't take it as far as the previous coat. Repeat until you're happy with the glitter, but be careful not to make it too thick. Seal with top coat.

One stripe

No painting skills needed for this one, but it still is super fun!



How to: Paint your nails with base color. Let dry. Take a striping tape, and apply a piece across the nail. Seal with top coat. You can also do this with striping brush/tool or with the help of tape (still using polish).

So, here you have some fun designs that don't require that much skill, and are good for practicing nail art.

Please let me know what you think about this series, and what kind of tips, tricks and tutorials you would like to see here! I will post this also in Finnish on MyCosmo site later on, so Finnish lovelies, stay tuned there.

Now, I need to get on with my workout and lunch before heading to work. See you soon!

Have a fabulous day! ♥

First, choose your desired color scheme. I went for purple this time, with a little hint of blue. The pic above was the inspiration, and then it was time to take out the colors.



I chose a range of purple, pink and blue, and reserved a white polish and glitter for detailing. Note! You'll also need a thin brush, sponge, dotting tool and nail polish remover.



Start off with painting the base for your art, using the base coat (not pictured). Then, paint your nails with the desired base color. I needed a dark plum base, but as I don't have a polish of that color, I made a shade myself, using Essie - Licorice and Ciaté Mini - Cabaret.



So, this is the shade I had as the base.



Next, take the sponge, and your white polish. I used Essie - Blanc.



Sponge out random shapes to each nail. This will help the lighter colors to show on top of the dark base.



Take out the bright pink. I used two different ones, Gosh - Pink Lady (in the pictures), and China Glaze - Escaping Reality.



So, use the darker pink first, and sponge it on the edge of the white shapes.



Next, take the lighter pink, and sponge it in the middle of the white shapes, starting from the edge of the other pink. Don't worry about covering all the white, it gives the art more dimension if the white shows somewhere.



Now, take your blue polish. I used China Glaze - Splish Splash.



Sponge the blue to the edge that is still left white. You should now have somewhat gradient finish on your nails, in various shapes.

Then take out the white again, and with a small dotting tool, create "stars" (dots) randomly around the nails. Then, using the thin brush, paint few more cross-like stars.



Finish off with a glitter polish or two. I used Rimmel London - Disco Ball and China Glaze - Fairy Dust. Add the glitter wherever you think your design should have more stars.



Add a top coat to protect your design, and clean up the cuticles with nail polish remover. And, you're done!



So, what do you all think? Cool or not? And, should I do more of these tutorials for you? ♥

If you have tried this, or will try it after this, it would be fun to get some links to see your creations :)

I'll be posting something again as soon as I can, but until then:

Have a lovely week, everyone! ♥

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna