The Budget Fashionista

Ever since our post on neon nails, I’ve thought about experimenting with color. Red is my favorite color for nail polish (and basically everything else), but I want to go crazy. I’ve started tentatively wearing different colors—right now I have on an orangey/hot pink color.

So I’ve come to my fellow fashionistas for opinions—would you go as bold as yellow or blue or orange, or are you stick to purples and pinks this season full of bright colors?

I can’t do the yellow or orange, I don’t think, with my olive skin (makes me look sallow), but I do like blue (though admittedly of hues leaning towards the purplish variety . . . ). I tend to go more with color on my toes than fingers, however, which is my two cents on the topic . . . if fashionistas want to have fun with all the funky nail colors out there (and why not?) but are not quite ready to do it full-on, sprucing up your pedicure with bold hues is much less of a beauty risk . . .

I prefer sheer colors on my fingers, but ever since I started giving myself pedicures at home, I’ve really enjoyed fun colors on my toes.

In March (approximately), we Jews celebrate the holiday of Purim, and one of the holiday traditions is to wear fun costumes. A couple of times, I’ve painted my fingernails green for that holiday, and I loved it.

nail polish aways chips, so I try to stay sheer on my nails.. On my toes I like to go crazy and I’ve worn blue and black.. bothof which looked totally cool

I’ve only had a few professional manicures, and one of them was on my wedding day. I wish I could find that polish that I wore. It was a gorgeous light peach. And I don’t know what kind of basecoat and topcoat were used, but the polish didn’t chip at all for almost a week. One of these days, I need to go back to that place and find out.

I use light nudes, clear or sheers on my fingernails, the chips don’t show as easily and darker tones on my toes.

I find the solid colours, no shimmery bits or pearlizers tend to last a bit longer and adding a coat of colour or topcoat helps keep the polish flexible and chip free.

But that said, it also means using rubber gloves for any cleaning or any jobs where the hands contact water or cleaning chemicals. Or gardening (use cotton gloves for dry tasks) and never use nails as tools to scratch stuff off, or substitute for screwdrivers or letter openers.

I go for the full out manicure on Saturdays letting each coat dry about an hour before the next coat goes on for a total of 3—base coat and 2 colour coats. It looks good for Sunday church.

If I’m really trying to keep it nice I protect my nails, but also add a top coat or colour coat every evening before bed.

after 5 to 6 layers things get thick and gummy and start to peel so it’s time to redo.

It’s nicer for the nail bed to have a few days off before the process begins again.

Sally Hansen 4 in 1 clear undercoat/topcoat is really worth it, lasts way longer and doesn’t damage my nails but Revlons sheer polishes make my nails flake and break which is too bad because I love them. It happens even though I use the base coat all the time (prevents staining).

I use a Sally Hansen gentle remover which seems a bit of an oxymoron since I doubt any remover is gentle really if it can strip polish off.

I think that the best polish for the nails is by Essece and its called Ballerina Slippers. It’s so clean looking and light for the summer. On the toes I say any type of red or pink goes for the summer or even a really lite purple (OPI makes a great one). I think the fall and winter seasons are when you can experiment with dark color as in brown and dark maroon.