DIY Gel Nails

I have always loved loved loved Acrylic / Gel and Gel nails but hated spending so much money and time at the salon each month. A little over two years ago I decided to get all the stuff I needed to do my own nails. (Fun fact-I even did other peoples nails for a few months, until it got way to time consuming with my full-time job.) Yes, I still go get a pedicure from time to time, but I do my nails pretty much every time myself now. I did not go to school to learn how to do nails, I just taught myself. A step may be 'wrong' in a professional opinion, this is just works for me and what I prefer. Acrylic is a little bit harder to do, and more time consuming so for today I am going to just go over gel nails from start to finish! (Let me know in the comments below if you want an acrylic tutorial and I can post a blog/vlog on it for you later.)

Lets start with the supplies I use... (And yes, as you'll see I purchase 99.5% of all my nail stuff on Amazon. It is the cheapest place to get everything. You can get a 1.5 oz polish for $6-10 online, and in store they want $15 for the same brand/color in a .5 oz. So lame, so seriously avoid your beauty stores overpriced product!)

Salon Edge UV Light $28 Amazon

(comes in white, black, silver, light pink, hot pink)

Replacement Bulbs $6-$10 Amazon
(They go out every 500-700 uses so you'll want to keep them on hand)

Gelish Foundation + Regular Top Coat $25 Amazon

Gelish Matte Top Coat $9 Amazon
(This one looks good sometimes, I don't prefer it on my nails usually.)

OPI PH Bond 

.5 oz $7 Amazon

1 oz $15 Amazon

A high grit Buffer / File - Cheapest at my local beauty supply store

Wooden Sticks - 100 count - $2 Amazon

Lint Free Finger Wipes - 200 count - $2 Amazon

Nail Preparation

Push back the cuticles with your wooden stick

Clip off any excess cuticle as needed

Shape your natural nails

Gently remove the shine on the natural nail with a high grit buffer

Wash your hands with soap and dry fully

Painting

Apply the PH bond to the nails and let dry

Apply a thin code of the foundation to the nail, make sure you get all of the edges to seal it

Cure the bond and foundation

Use a wooden stick to remove up and excess polish from around the cuticle or the nail (before you cure it)

Apply thin layers of the polish, again make sure you get all of the edges to seal it

(NOTE: too thick of coats will cause it to not cure properly)

Apply as many coats as needed to get desired look

Apply a thin coat of the top coat, making sure you seal this one really well

Cure the top coat

Your nails will be sticky still at this point. Use non acetone nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol on a lint-free pad to wipe off the stickiness (do not use cotton pads or cotton balls – try using paper towel squares or lint-free pads like shown above)

(NOTE: If the color comes off when removing the tacky surface than the nail did not  cure properly at some point during the process. If that happens, remove that whole nail and start over)

Apply cuticle oil to the skin surrounding the nail

DONE, wahoo! (:

Now let me give you a few tips on the polish I use. I have tried many brands and my favorite seem to be the IBD with Gelish in second place. Here is my review for some other brands...

IBD - $5-10 - Thick (1-2 coats)

Gelish - $10-15 - Thick (2-3 coats)

OPI - $16-30 - Runny (4-6 coats) 

Finger Paints - $12-17 - Medium (2-4 coats)

Gelaze - $8-12 - Medium (2-4 coats)

If you try doing your nails for yourself, tag @addie_robertson and hashtag #MakeItLively in the picture!

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DIY Blonde/Silver Hair Toner

Ok guys, this is something I have been trying to get written out to post for about two weeks now. 

Let me just start by saying that I am NOT a professional, I have no hair-school training, and what I did may be completely wrong, but hey it worked for me! (:

Lately I have been getting frustrated that my hair has had so many Yellow Tones in it. I have always liked having really (white ish) blonde hair, so the yellow completely drives me nuts. I don't like highlighting my hair unless its been like three - four months (I don't mind a little grow out. Haha!) so getting it done again wasn't an option for me as it hasn't been more than two months. I upped using my purple shampoo to every other wash, rather than every 3 washes, which still didn't give me the results I wanted. 

I went to my local Sallys to browse for some new gel polish's for fall when I saw this Manic Panic hair toner in Virgin Snow White. I just had to try it! Since the bottle was smaller and I didn't want my hair to get dyed straight up white I looked online for things I could add to it.

After what seemed like hours...I decided to add about 1/3-1/2 a cup of cheaper conditioner (any kind would work I'm sure) and about 1/3-1/2 a cup of the Shimmer Lights purple shampoo. With the full bottle of the toner this made the perfect amount to cover my whole head evenly.

I pulled down a little section of hair, applied the mix, and continued to do this until my hair was fully covered. I did pretty small sections (about 6 total) to make sure I got it all the way up to all the roots.

Once it was all finished I pulled it up into a bun and let it sit for about 30 minutes. 

I washed my hair very thoroughly to make sure all of the mixture was out, and than I was done!

I am very happy with how it turned out. It was really white/grey ish at first, but after another wash it is the perfect color again. It even toned my grown out roots, which makes it look like its been recently done, win win! I will definitely continue this every month or so in between getting my hair done. 

A few pictures from before!

A picture the first time after washing it. You can see its really white/grey here, it really toned down quite a bit after I washed it again.

Here is what it looked like after washing it a few times.

I am so happy with the color and how easy it was to do this. Here is a run down of the cost of the supplies to do this...

Manic Panic Toner - $11

Shimmer Lights - $10-20 (depending on the size)

Conditioner - $3.29

Color Tray - $2.30

Clear Brushes - $.99 each

Gloves - $2.99

Since I have all the supplies to do it already, all I would need next time is the toner, purple shampoo (which I usually keep on hand), and a cheap conditioner. That's pretty darn cheap to keep up!

If you try this out for yourself, tag @addie_robertson and hashtag #MakeItLively in the picture!

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Best Dry Shampoo

Okay guys, if you are like me you would way rather sleep in 30 more minutes than have to get up to shower and do your hair. I absolutely hate doing my hair, unless I have an event I am going to. With that being said, I always try to extend the amount of days I can go without washing my hair with it still looking good. I hate greasy hair and think it is so nasty, so I am really picky about it being good enough to go another day or not. Typically I would wash my hair every other day, which was not only tiring - it was damaging to my already damaged hair. One day my sweet mother said to throw some baby powder in it, which helped a ton but always gave me a white/grey look in my blonde hair which I did not like. A few months later my sister introduced me and told me about dry shampoo. I was skeptical at first, but than I was totally won over. I use this on the 2nd or 3rd day and every other day until I was my hair next. With dry shampoo I can go much longer, sometimes even a week without washing my hair. Periodically I might just spot wash my front bangs by my face though, as they get a little dirtier from product and touching them a lot. Since I have not been washing my hair as much lately my hair has gotten much healthier and my breakage has gone down a ton. My hair feels so much healthier, and I feel goes better when it is 'dirty'. I have tried many brands of dry shampoo from the cheap ones to the expensive ones, so here are a few of my favorites!

My all time favorite is from Suave. It has a nice lemon smell to it, it doesn't leave white marks where I spray it, you can get it at almost any drug store, and it costs less than $5 (from Walmart in Utah). Can you beat really beat that?!

Another favorite of mine is Bed Head's Rockaholic. This one can be found at most beauty supply stores such as Sallys, Ulta, and even Nordstom Rack sometimes. This one has a slight orange/fruity smell to it, but is very minimal. This once costs anywhere from $15-22. 

You can also get tinted dry shampoo to match your specific hair color if you would like. I have heard the tinted helps hide roots, grey hairs, and still works the same as the non-tinted dry shampoo's do. From my family and friends  I have heard that the brand Batiste is the one they like the best. They have a range of colors such as Light/Blonde, Medium/Brunette, Dark/Deep Brown, etc. This brand costs anywhere from $8-12, the color you choose does not usually effect the cost either.

Here is my hair on day 5 of not washing, and even day 2 of curls. I used dry shampoo on day 3, 4, and 5 - and re-curled a couple pieces around my face that had gone funny from sleeping. Ride out that dirty hair and two/three day curls, it really makes a difference on how healthy your hair is!

Enjoy, xoxo.