While we're all considering hair...

I've sported my angled bob a couple years now. Really would like a change, and have been hemming and hawing about what to do for a good while. It's really tough to find good curly hair inspiration that isn't "that curly cut that everyone has", is actually curly vs. straight hair that's been curled, AND that will work with with my fine&thin hair (all the best cuts need THICK hair!). I'd been working towards the round 70s style in #1/2 since December; I've got a variation of it currently, still with a slight angle. But now I'm really digging the bordering-80s style in #3/4.

So I'm thinking keep the volume up at eye level (which I always do anyway), then rounded shape around my head to the chin with wispier curly bits that hang long underneath. Kind of uneven. Haven't had actual bangs since I was a kid probably, not sure my hair will behave as nicely plus my forehead is quite small so it may not be possible. It'd take a while to get the length in #3/4, the final shape would probably happen near the end of summer. What do you ladies think?

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Style direction thoughts (AKA: Thanks, ROG!)

After playing quite a bit with the nifty Random Outfit Generator (ROG) today, I've discovered some interesting things about my wardrobe and the direction my style, apparently, should be headed next. It's not news to me that I'm headed on a (slightly) new path; I'd already jotted down lots of notes about what I had been thinking that direction was, and I've actually been ruminating on this for almost a year now (and taking little baby steps in that direction). It's more a surprise to find that I might not have been quite right about it!

I use my Finds to collect anything that I'm drawn to, things that I'd probably get if funding and fit and space weren't an issue. Using the ROG to generate actual outfits was quite illuminating, in a totally different way than simply browsing through the Finds. What I found was that comparing the ROG with my wardrobe items versus with my collection items revealed a much larger disconnect in style than I'd expected (handy pretend-to-be-Aida links included, if you're so inclined). Of course, my wardrobe section is very incomplete compared to what's available in my entire closet -- in particular it veers spring/summer and active casual because that's what I focused on heavily last year -- but also because I did most of my wardrobe building pre-Finds. And there's definitely more cohesion to Collection ROG Aida which is probably due in part to the much larger number of items to work with and her unlimited funding. But even so, it's quite a useful thing for comparison.

Collection ROG Aida wears:

  • More textural rich pieces
  • A bit more Urban, and bit Funkier/Quirky
  • Far more drape, both top and bottom
  • More cardigans
  • More tees and blouses (less shirts and sweaters)
  • More prints than expected
  • Less neutrals
  • Longer lines
  • Greater variety in bags/footwear

We both wear:

  • A lot of white
  • A lot of plaid
  • Primarily 3-season pieces
  • The same few jacket styles
  • Mostly pants/almost no skirts
  • A pretty soft overall feel

Now in reality I'm not sooo far off of Collection ROG Aida, but there were a ton of generated outfits that I quite liked which I wouldn't be able to emulate using pieces I already have. There were also a couple of pieces I own (toppers in particular) that just didn't seem to go with any of the outfits generated, and while that may be due to the small sample size, in reality I do find it to be the case within my actual working wardrobe as well. And of course, wearing less sweaters isn't practical for my (very wet and mild) climate but I think perhaps it's time to update my blouses.

More interestingly, there were a few things about Collection ROG Aida that I had already figured out on my own that I need to start working towards (texture, more urban, better variety in pieces overall) BUT many of her qualities were actually a bit of a surprise. Two in particular:

  1. Drape. I'd been itching for more tailoring since last spring, yet there in my Finds it's all full of drape. Right now a lot of my drape is manifesting as oversized, which is not really the case in my Finds.
  2. Less neutrals. I'm pretty much a neutrals gal at heart, but clearly I'm hankering for even more color (and print).

There was also one additional thing that was a big surprise: Not nearly as sporty-luxe as expected. I'd planned on adding more of those pieces this season; in fact I'd made it one of my goals at the start of the year. I'm not sure whether Collection ROG Aida just isn't that sporty or if  haven't been seeing sporty things that appeal to me, but either way I think I will now prioritize this a bit less.

So! Thanks to the ROG I've got a MUCH better idea about what I need to do moving forward style-wise. And while I don't have the unlimited funds of Collection ROG Aida, I'm hoping that a few smart purchases will get me closer to her. Now to reconfigure my shopping list to reflect what I've found... Then go shopping ^^

(And as a final note: I'm certainly not going to use this as THE hard-and-fast indicator of where I should be headed because the Finds are contingent on what's available online that can be collected by YLF; there's always a good list of things that I'm on the hunt for which never materializes at retail, plenty of pretty things that can't be collected, and some pieces that I collected in prior seasons that I might not collect again now. But absolutely a useful tool to help visualize! And far too much fun to play with.)

As always, comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

EDIT: Further clarifying thoughts, taken from below:
I've continued mulling over the ideas here and have come to some clarification on the issue of drape. Nearly everyone mentioned/questioned it, which is good. What I was looking at as "drape" should, I think, actually be expanded to a collective of drape, fluidity, and motion. That's what I am looking to add more of, and the key there is add -- I don't want a whole closet full of D/F/M, just want to supplement with more pieces of it.

21 comments

For Angie: Dark cropped pants with light footwear

Ok so after reviewing my last year or two's summery outfits, I actually do the white with dark cropped pants less than I thought I did (probably helps that I don't wear cropped pants all that often, and also that a hard drive crash last spring cost me a chunk of my photos so my records are incomplete). Here's most of what I found, with longest pants at the start. #1 is the only one from this season, I wore it earlier this week actually (aside: suuuuuuper high happiness, holy cats!); I suppose those pants are closer to full-length than cropped but I included them anyway. #8-10 start to kinda employ those tips so they also probably don't count, but they are light footwear when probably dark would work "better".

I'm noticing that oftentimes the white footwear is "bookending" a white top, or at the very least a lot of exposed skin (which on me may as well be white), so that's probably a big factor to why I feel like they work well. I think as long as I include enough skin or lightness elsewhere in the outfit, I'm personally just more comfortable with lighter footwear than with black. No need to answer (rest those wrists!), just wanted to share :)

(Of course, feel free to comment ladies! Work continues to be super busy, but I'm hoping I can get some outfits posted up soooooon <3)

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some belated thoughts on silhouette variety

Along with Angie's post on outfit variety last month and Una's (and others') posts on her silhouette challenge (1 | 2, WIWs: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7), I've also had some thoughts on variety. The idea of silhouette variation has driven my outfits for several years now, but it's not something I've fully hashed out. So I'm glad to finally get some motivation to write it all out and have it in one place.

When I think about where I get my variety, quite a lot of things come to mind -- style, color, print, structure, fit, silhouette, proportion, dressiness, juxtaposition, layers... However, if I really bear down on what's most important to keep me from feeling bored/rutted, it's silhouette and proportion. I could keep other elements constant and change just silhouette/proportions and feel fairly content; but changing just colors/patterns in the same basic uniform? I'd be bored in a hurry. Of course once the weather officially turns for worse there's an extra handicap there to consider, and that's a whole challenge in and of itself!

I didn't actively participate in Una's challenge, because I vary silhouette quite a lot during a given week already. But as always, seeing everyone's WIWs and reading their thoughts was super insightful! What this all did make me realize is that, for me, "silhouette" is less about an encapsulating silhouette formula (like, say, tunic+skinnies+boots) and more about just the bottom half.

And that a dozen new tops doesn't come anywhere near as wardrobe refreshing as one new type of pant! I suspect that part of this is due to the fact I tend to be drawn to the same styles of tops, which I've tried hard to improve over the past two years (some interesting posts on the subject by Angie, exactly one year apart: 1 | 2). That's not to say that my tops are necessarily basic or plain, they just tend to be of smaller silhouette variety.

These days my bottoms include: skinnies (normal, roomy, slouchy), relaxed, slouchy tapered, BFs (full length, cropped), flares, wide legs, cropped, culottes, various lengths of baggy shorts... And I'd be happy to add a few additional styles (upscale track pants are top of the list). And and that's not even getting into skirts, which I don't love nearly as much as pants/shorts and yet still manage to have a good variety.

The shoes are a lesser part of the variety, but since I'm a shoe gal you know there's variety there anyway. The main shoe variety seems to come from shaft height (tall boots, mid-calf boots, booties, shoes, sandals) and heel height. Because of that there ends up being some overlap on what feels "different" day-to-day. E.g. A heeled bootie is about the same variety as a pair of pumps, flat booties are often the same as a pair of flats, all tall boots are the same, etc.

More importantly, when reflecting on what I have been wearing the past year, I was thinking that my bottoms-to-tops ratio must be fairly evenly matched. I had expected it to be something like 1:1.5, but when I actually looked at the numbers much to my surprise I found that in reality it's closer to 1:2.25. This solidifies another hunch I've had: I generally have good tabs on what's in my wardrobe and what I wear, but if I was that off in my ratio thinking then I need to get some serious culling going with my tops -- clearly there must be a fair number I'm just not wearing any more. This will be my goal through the end of the month: to really get in there and get serious about each top I have in my closet.

For fun, I'm including my last four week's work outfits. The first week had no weather handicap (rare and awesome!), week two had mild rain, week three had snow, and week four had heavy rain. I tend to default to skinnies+tall boots in the rain, but there are certainly other options. Thankfully I now have a good assortment of booties, along with some varying types of bottoms that work with them. I just need to remind myself so I don't get stuck all winter!

All in all, I have really enjoyed seeing and reading about everyone's experience with this, particularly as someone who makes doing this a key stylistic priority. And even though I have confirmed to myself that bottoms variety is my most important tool to keeping from feeling rutted, I have no plans to stop all those other varieties that I enjoy ;)

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! As always, comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome ^^

EDIT: Ok well I did a little number crunching and thought I'd share. Across the four weeks, I wore 62 different pieces across clothing, shoes, necessary accessories (hats, tights, giant scarves..). 13 different bottoms (5 repeated). 13 different footwear (5 repeated). 27 covers both tops (18) and toppers (9), almost as much as bottoms+footwear!

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Scarf how-to: Jumbled Knot

Here's another (extra crazy) scarf tie, which I'm calling a "Jumbled Knot". As seen in action here.

1- Final look.

2- Start with a long rectangle scarf. It doesn't have to be quite as big as the one I've got here, but the bigger the scarf the more dramatic the end result.

3- Hold up one corner and let the scarf drape down. This nets you some extra length, as well as pointed ends versus flat ends if the scarf is just folded.

4- Loosely grab the scarf across the middle and hold horizontally.

5- Now we're just going to do a simple loop. So start by lengthening one side...

6- ...And loop the other around the neck. You can either adjust the ends to be the same length, or leave uneven for a different effect. Changing the size of the looped part will also change the final effect.

7- Take one dangled end and loosely pull about half of it through the scarf going underneath the loop;...

8- ...; the other half should be visible beneath the loop. Take the other dangled end and to the same...

9- ...Taking about half...

10- ...But this time loosely pull it through the scarf going over the loop; again, the other half should be visible beneath the loop.

11- You'll likely need to fiddle and adjust all the different loop points just how you want them. In step 10, that's without any adjusting; in step 11 I've pulled the top halves of the ends flat so they fill more space, as well as twisted the tucked ends to show more of the fringe.

I do realize that plaid-on-plaid was perhaps not the best choice (that's just what I was wearing this morning), so hopefully it's not too difficult to understand.

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

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Scarf how-to: Split Muffler

I recently wore an outfit that featured an interesting looking scarf tie, which I'm calling a "Split Muffler" because it's based on the Muffler tie technique. Here's the how-to to do it :)

1- Final look.  

2- Start with a long rectangle scarf. It doesn't have to be quite as big as the one I've got here, but the bigger the scarf the more dramatic the end result.

3- Fold in half lengthwise.

4- Take one top corner in one hand and the opposing corner in the other, and let the scarf fold itself in half (which would be along the dotted line in the photo).

5- You should end up with a notched triangle. The ends I'm holding would still be pointy, my hallway just wasn't wide enough for me to stretch the scarf all the way out.

6- Roughly center the front and pull the ends around the neck...

7- ...And back to the front.

8- Center and adjust each half as you like it. From here you can either tuck the ends underneath if the scarf isn't too slippery, or tie the ends in a small knot and then tuck that underneath.

I do realize that plaid-on-plaid was perhaps not the best choice (that's just what I was wearing this morning), so hopefully it's not too difficult to understand.

Comments and questions welcome!

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As threatened/promised: thoughts and plans for Extra Casual Weekend Wear (XXL)

Over the past few summers, I've been fretting my weekend wear. Not because it's hot -- we have very mild and pleasant summers -- but because I was struggling with wearing appropriately casual outfits. I'd previously been attributing it to feeling rushed while getting dressed, so last summer I pared waaaay down on my summer style and dressed much more simply (and quickly). While it did help a little, I was still struggling. Coincidentally, I was also on a shopping break during that time which helped/forced me to really hunker down and figure out exactly what was going on.

What I realized was that, like many people, I had a totally incorrect perception of how my time was spent. I found that my normal clothes (what I call my "work" clothes, even though they're rather casual) generally get me through only 3-4 days a week, not 4-6 as I'd been thinking. The other 2-3 are weekend casual days; some of the work stuff crosses over, getting dressed down with BF jeans and flats, which is what made me think I was getting more wear out of the work stuff. But much more of that time was spent in far more casual settings than I'd thought, particularly "in the summer" where I needed things I could go romp outside in which still looked presentable. I put that in quotes because when I actually looked at it, I was surprised to find that it's actually the time period from March through October! That is a ridiculously large amount of time to be missing clothing for!

Now, I'm specifically referring to extra casual activities that require casual-bordering-gear clothing, for our typical weekend activities such as: hiking, short 2-up motorcycle rides, dirt biking, various casual meals, visiting farms, day trips in the car or on the bike, impromptu visits with friends, picnics, beach strolls, camping, BBQs/fire pit hangouts, baseball games, hitting the driving range, city sightseeing, shopping, etc. We might do one of these things or several of these things, and often we haven't decided ahead of time what it is we're doing. This, you see, is my dilemma with these weekend outfits! And the motorcycle activities present extra challenges, particularly dirt biking, but I won't go into those here.

Day-to-day, my husband usually wears nice jeans, high quality leather boots, and a perfectly fitting button-up shirt (his are all bespoke). He could wear his formula to all of the above activities, along with work and even dressier activities, and be perfectly appropriate. I feel like there is no such single outfit that can achieve such a wide range of activities/dressiness levels for me as it does my husband, which is a whole other topic of discussion. But I thought perhaps I could manage my husband's approach for the weekend, because at the very least, on weekends the activity range is more limited. What I want most is for whatever I'm wearing to NOT hinder whatever it is we decide to do, while still feeling fab and me (tall order).

So I decided the first step was that I needed to allow/force myself to purchase these missing, less fashion-fun clothing items. Then to come to terms with actually, you know, dressing truly casually. I definitely bat for Team Dressy even in my casual clothing, but particularly in shoes. My style has almost no sportiness and I'm inherently drawn to pretty, refined footwear which makes shoes the toughest part for me. Plus I've never really liked sneakers, even when I used to actually do athletic things which required them. However, the more I looked at this capsule and the activities it needed to accommodate, the more it made sense that sneakers would be an integral part. It also made sense to seek out breathable fabrications because some of the activities would be somewhat athletic, and the motorcycle activities would require adding gear over the top. My basic outfit formula idea is to wear sneakers of some sort with weather-appropriate bottoms and a lightweight casual top with breathable fabrication.

With those ideas in mind, I came up with the following capsule:

FOOTWEAR:
- rubber boots (for farms, muddy stuff)
- short boho boots (for non-muddy rompin')
- lace-up sneaks/slip-on sneaks (for misc casual things)
- flats (for city stuff)
- flat waterproof sandals (for beachy stuff)

TOPS:
- several cotton breezy tees
- a few elbow/LS tees
- a few breezy tanks
- a couple summer sweaters (for cooler days)
- a couple button-up shirts

BOTTOMS:
- boyfriend jeans/pants (for heavy duty stuff)
- faded skinny jeans (for city stuff)
- baggy shorts (for hot days, beachy stuff)
- long walk shorts/cropped pants (for warm days outside)
- breezy long skirt (beach ok)

DRESSES:
- casual day dress

TOPPERS:
- hoodie
- denim jacket
- a couple long soft cardigans
- anorak/utility jacket
- leather jacket

OTHERS:
- a few colorful/printed scarves (for extra polish)
- slouchy hats/pretty headbands (after bike outings)
- medium cross body bag

I was surprised to find that I actually did have a lot of the components already... and then less surprised to find that the shoes were primarily what was missing. Some missing pieces I've added in the past couple weeks, some existing less-than-fab pieces have been upgraded, and a few others I'm still working on finding. It may seem like a lot but as I said at the start, this capsule spans 8 months! I also made a supplemental list of "Good Alternates", items that fit the categories which are part of my dressier work wear, for days that are less than ultra-casual.

So now I've just got to start putting it into practice! I had a test run this past weekend which worked pretty well, and I'm feeling encouraged to continue moving forward with this. I may not stick to the capsule 100% (probably won't) but it was incredibly useful in figuring out exactly what the holes were. Of course, in practice the capsule elements are subject to change since this is all still speculation. Educated speculation, but speculation nonetheless. Also, it'll be interesting to see which things feel fab enough and which don't.

Whew! If you've made it all the way though, thanks for reading! As always I'd love to hear any of your thoughts or experiences :)

30 comments

Nail Tips and Tools pt3: Tools, Household and Specialized

I've gotten lots of questions about nails so I thought I'd put together a little series of posts about some of my favorite basic products and tools, along with some tips on how I get the most from my mani. There are loads of nail blogs out there with far more detailed information as well as step-by-step instructions ranging from simple to the complex, and of course tons of nail art on Pinterest. One of my favorite nail art blogs is Chalkboard Nails, you can get to lots of others from there. A very comprehensive Pinterest collection can be found here, with a HUGE nail art board specifically found here.

Household Tools

There is a surprisingly large amount of nail art that can be done just using things you probably already have (photo #1).

Bobby pins and toothpicks are both excellent dotters, and you can somewhat control the dotting size on a toothpick by cutting it and flattening the end. Toothpicks can also be used for interesting drag marbling, where you blob on two colors of polish and then use the toothpick to swirl where they meet. Both of these can also be used when polish is a bit tacky to leave indentations.

For tape manicures (where you tape off sections to paint different blocks of colors), nothing beats electrical tape; since it's flexible it will follow your nail curve perfectly, and turns out nice clean lines all the while leaving the underlying polish in good shape. This is one instance where it's highly beneficial to use quick dry oil over the base layer and wait a few minutes to tape. For any taped layer, I will tape all fingers first and then paint and slowly remove the tape one nail at a time while the polish is still wet.

Makeup sponges are usually cut into littler pieces, and can be used for gradients, layering, or soft-edge effects like those you see in galaxy manicures. The polish can be either applied directly to the sponge or on a bit of wax paper in which the sponge is then dipped.

More Specialized Tools

And there also are, of course, plenty of specialized nail art tools out there. I'm only going to mention a couple of the most common and useful ones here (photo #2).

If you want more options than bobby pins and toothpicks provide for dots, or perhaps a bigger hand hold area, proper dotting tools come in many dot sizes. The smallest sizes can be used like a fine paint brush as well.

Extra-thin striping tape, most commonly found in gold and silver, is great for very fine striping work and can also be left on as part of the manicure. I get mine at Sally's Beauty Supply, and would guess most beauty supply stores carry some. It's somewhat specialized so you may need to order online otherwise.

Getting into the more advanced tools, a very fine and long thin brush called a striping brush (which I don't have, but you saw something similar in part two) is great for fine freehand painting.

And a stamping set is another fun option, though they take practice to get working well; there are so many cool plates available for stamping! I use an inexpensive one by Essence (you can find them at ULTA), but disliked the scraper that it came with and instead use an old credit card. I haven't done much stamping yet, but the most useful tip I can share is that you don't have to keep what you've picked up on the stamper: if you didn't get a good pickup, simply wipe it off and do it again. A great tutorial with some additional resources can be found here.

I'm happy to answer any questions, and would love to hear your own tips!

[Part one: The Essential Stuff You Don't See]
[Part two: Painting Technique and Effects Polishes]
[Part three: Tools, Household and Specialized]

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Nail Tips and Tools pt2: Painting Technique and Effects Polishes

I've gotten lots of questions about nails so I thought I'd put together a little series of posts about some of my favorite basic products and tools, along with some tips on how I get the most from my mani. There are loads of nail blogs out there with far more detailed information as well as step-by-step instructions ranging from simple to the complex, and of course tons of nail art on Pinterest. One of my favorite nail art blogs is Chalkboard Nails, you can get to lots of others from there. A very comprehensive Pinterest collection can be found here, with a HUGE nail art board specifically found here.

Painting Technique

My favorite is the 3-stroke technique, a great visual and explanation can be found here. All of the tips listed in that post are excellent as well, especially starting with your non-dominant hand; she's also got a great little tutorial about nail cleanup linked at the bottom, though I usually just gently peel off anything that strayed onto my skin in the shower. I've found that the key to keeping the lines clean, off your skin, and out of your cuticles is don't be afraid to go slowly. I find it especially helpful as my hands are a bit shaky, so taking that extra time helps stabilize the lines.

The other thing that will help your manicure last longer, especially with longer nails, is to wrap the tips (photo #1). By this I mean to swipe a bit of polish along the tip of your nail so that the polish is wrapped around your nail, from above to below; use another finger to gently pull the skin away from the nail. I usually paint the nail and then wrap the tip, but I don't think the order matters. If you wear your nails short, it's difficult to do this without smearing polish all over your skin, so I skip this step when my nails are short and just make sure that I extend the polish all the way to the tips. Hopefully my photo helps make sense of wrapping for you, it was tough getting a picture of both hands by myself ;) After using Seche Vite as a topcoat, this is the second most important tip I can share!!

Specialized Effects Polishes

I'm not going into much detail about the myriad effect top coat options out there, just a couple of the most unique and helpful (photo #2).

The first is a matte top coat, many of which are available out there. I use an inexpensive one from Essence, you can find them at ULTA. While there are some matte finish polishes out there, using the top coat will transform any polish into a matte version of itself. When using this, I'll do the manicure as usual including the Seche Vite top coat and then follow that with the matte top coat last. The matte effect will wear off as the days go by, so I'll sometimes pop another coat on to refresh the matte look a couple days in.

There are also many types of nail stripers out there, most often in crème or glitter finishes. These come with a long, thin brush which allow for finer detail work, the most common of which is, as the name implies, striping.

And  though not a topcoat, one other really fun polish I showed dries to a matte sandy finish; I'm especially fond of the ones with sparklies in them. When worn alongside normal polishes you can get some really interesting effects. No top coat used on these, so you definitely have to let them dry a good while. I like to do 2-3 VERY thin coats with these as opposed to fewer thicker layers, which speeds the drying time up a bit as well.

Beyond these, some of the other common effect-type polishes you'll find are: glitters (in all shades, shapes, sizes, and densities), flakies (color shifting transluscent shards, found in silver/clear, yellow, red, green, and blue), duochrome polishes (both standalone and topcoats) that shift colors depending on the angle, and shattered top coats.

I'm happy to answer any questions, and would love to hear your own tips!

[Part one: The Essential Stuff You Don't See]
[Part two: Painting Technique and Effects Polishes]
[Part three: Tools, Household and Specialized]

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17 comments

Nail Tips and Tools pt1: The Essential Stuff You Don't See

I've gotten lots of questions about nails so I thought I'd put together a little series of posts about some of my favorite basic products and tools, along with some tips on how I get the most from my mani. There are loads of nail blogs out there with far more detailed information as well as step-by-step instructions ranging from simple to the complex, and of course tons of nail art on Pinterest. One of my favorite nail art blogs is Chalkboard Nails, you can get to lots of others from there. A very comprehensive Pinterest collection can be found here, with a HUGE nail art board specifically found here.

The Essential Stuff You Don't See

As with everything, a good foundation is essential. While the quality of polishes ranges widely, you're definitely not required to go high end to make your manicure last. Having a good topcoat is they key, and I HIGHLY suggest using Seche Vite. It is magical. If you take away only one thing from this series, let this be it! This stuff not only toughens up your manicure so it can withstand more wear and extends its life, it also makes dry time EXTRA fast. You can usually wait 5-10 minutes then go on with your business, though I'm overly careful and use it as an excuse to relax for 30 minutes or I'll just paint my nails before bed. Put it on thicker, and minimize the number of strokes to avoid bubbles; no need to wait until the polish below is dry, and actually you'll get better results if it's a bit tacky. Just use a light touch. I get mine from Sally's Beauty Supply, but it's also available at Target, ULTA, and of course online.

A base coat will help even out nail ridges, protect the top layers of your nail, and aid in nail stain prevention (especially with blues and greens). I've been using OPI's Natural Nail Base Coat for years and like it for its fast dry time, though it's very thin and provides only minimal protection/smoothing; if you need nail treatment, hardeners or have thin/grooved nails then a more specialized base coat would be a better option for you.

Another incredibly useful behind the scenes tool is quick dry oil which you can use to speed up in-between coats drying times, and is especially helpful in tape manicures or those with freehand painting; it can leave behind a powdery white residue which disappears under top coat and after washing. I like Sinful Colors Quick Dry Oil because it's inexpensive and fairly accessible (I get mine at Walgreens).

My last essential is a cuticle cream. While nail polish can be tough on nails, it's actually the remover that's the toughest, especially if you use acetone-based removers like I do. I swear by Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream; I rub a little on at night before bed to keep my nails healthy and help prevent splitting, both with or without polish on my nails.

I'm happy to answer any questions, and would love to hear your own tips!

[Part one: The Essential Stuff You Don't See]
[Part two: Painting Technique and Effects Polishes]
[Part three: Tools, Household and Specialized]

32 comments