Hello!

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post on my very own shiny new blog!  And I have to say I'm pretty excited!  It might take a little while to get everything looking right, but that's ok :)

To start things off, i'm going to post everything about my little workspace and how I take care of my nails, so here goes!

First we have my humble little work table.  It's just a table in my basement covered in newspaper, and its pretty much always as messy as the picture haha

Next i figure we'll talk stamping.  I have a Konad stamper and scraper, both metal and plastic.

The plates I use vary.  I have a couple Konad plates, then I have the plates that come in the Salon Express kit you can find at Sally's or Rite Aid, and the bulk of my collection is Cheeky plates from amazon.  To store them, i had a little help from my boyfriend.  He and his friends collect Yu-gi-oh cards, and the books used for storing them happen to be perfect for stamping plates!  So he let me have one of their books, and let me tell you, it is FABULOUS.

I also cut up some of that grip stuff for silverware drawers and put it in each slot to prevent the plates from falling out.

I do not have any Konad special polish, I refuse to give in to buying it!  so instead, i use sally hansen and wet n' wild for black and white, and i also use all the metallics from China Glaze's Romantique collection.

Here is a peek inside the little cosmetic bag i got from transdesign.com that I use to store all the things that go along with fabulous nails.

First up we have cuticle care.  I use sally hansen cuticle gel to soften my cuticles enough to push them back with the metal cuticle pusher.  And although this can be a touchy subject, i do trim my cuticles.  I have a lot of cuticle, and it bothers me! so when i'm done pushing the cuticles back, if there is a big old dead skin flap just hanging there, i cut it off. and of course i'm very careful so don't worry :) I also use the little pointy side of the pusher tool to clean under my nails. It's very satisfying to not have any gunk or dead skin under there

My nails grow slightly square, so to help them out i use a crystal nail file i found at Sally's to shape them.

before i paint my nails, i always rub Hoofer's Choice on them. it's a nail hardener, and i can use all the help i can get keeping my nails strong while working at a hospital.  I found this at Sally's, but i've heard you can get a similar product called hard as a hoof at some Walmarts.

while painting my nails, i use birchwood sticks to clean polish that gets on my skin.  i also use pointed q-tips and polish remover to clean up after.  the cotton pads are lint free, and are wonderful when working with the stamping plates.  all these can be found at sally's.

i also love me some bling, so i  have different colored rhinestones.  I use tweezers as opposed to an orange stick because i think they're more precise.  and i just like them.

now onto storage.  i have two polish racks, and as you can see i am partial to China Glaze.  i love their formula, and I think they have better colors than OPI.  More fun and bright, which suits me.  I have started branching out a bit with the Brazilian hits and British A-England.  I have also recently purchased some indie polishes and am eagerly awaiting their arrivals.  but i will always be a China Glaze Fangirl 

Phew. that was a long first post! Sorry if it was a little boring, but you have to start somewhere, right?  

Next up will be my current manicure and some thoughts on Hits and holographic polishes.  See you!