Do-it-Yourself Spring Manicure Ideas #CBias

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Looking around on other blogs, I see that people have been getting an early start with organizing their homes. Clearing the clutter, doing major overhauls, and getting the house back in working order after the busy holiday season all take a tole on one’s nails. Even if those things haven’t been on your to-do list this year, dry winter weather has surely been noticed by your nails and hands! It’s March, and I’m ready for spring — and spring-looking nails.

I’m all about seasonal looks for my home, wardrobe and makeup, including my nails. I have certain colours that I like to paint my nails for each season, but I also like to mix things up to add in some new trending colours for nail polish. This year, everyone seems to be looking forward to the movie Oz: The Great and Powerful, so I am seeing a lot of darker jewel-tones for nail polish. OPI has a line of Oz nail polishes, which I am so looking forward to trying out some time!

While I do love treating myself to little things like massages and manicures, when I have some extra money, I prefer to treat myself to new nail polish and give myself a manicure instead. I decided to do just that this weekend. It’s been rainy outside, but a lot of the spring flowers are already popping up, so I definitely feel like it’s a good time to start celebrating spring. I’m so over winter, aren’t you?

I decided to purchase A Pinker Shade of Pale from Nicole by OPI and Plume from Sally Hansen.

I stopped by one of my local Shopper’s Drug Mart stores just off Marine Drive in North Vancouver and picked up a few things for my spring manicure. I was on my way home after work, and stopped by the little shopping strip on the way. One of the grocery stores I go to is located there, as is the Shopper’s Drug Mart that I went in to to get my nail polish. This location is my favourite of the ones nearby, as it is bright and the aisles are really wide. It isn’t as busy as the location on Esplanade, near Lonsdale, which is in downtown North Vancouver. I actually go in to Shopper’s Drug Mart (@shopprsdrugmart), just to look around and see what’s new.

The Beauty Boutique is where  you enter in this store, which is where all the gorgeous displays of perfume, makeup and beauty products are. The men and women who work in that department end up greeting everyone who walks in the store and asking them if they can help in any way. I like this as I always feel warmly welcomed. The nail polish section where brands like OPI and Sally Hansen are on display is around the corner from the Beauty Boutique. As well as the wall displays of different Sally Hansen nail-prep products, and some OPI colours, there are aisle displays which hold the very newest shades. I looked around for probably 45 minutes before deciding on the above mentioned nail polish colours, both of which is brand-new shades.

I couldn’t decide between these, so I asked one of the customer service people for help. We both decided that the A Pinker Shade of Pale from Nicole by OPI was a great colour choice.

Take a look at my Google + post for the full range of pictures and more of the back-story and my shopping experience.

Prep your nails

Like many other things, it’s best to start a home manicure with a good nail base. What I mean is, make sure you push back the cuticles on your nails, give your nails a good trim and apply a base coat prior to starting to paint your nails. I regularly use the Nail Nutrition Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener from Sally Hansen to make sure my nails are nice and strong.

Set up your space

To make sure my nails are going to get dry before being bumped or nicked, I set up a space on my dining table with nothing else around. I also set up my iPad to watch a show so that I won’t be tempted to touch anything or get up before my nails are dry. I have a special tray that I use to put everything I need on, in case anything spills on my dining table.

Getting the new spring look

I chose a pastel-y shade from OPI, called A Pinker Shade of Pale, which looks like lavender. I wanted something that without-a-doubt screamed SPRING! I started with this colour on my nails, after applying a base coat protector. I haven’t had a new shade from OPI in a long time and loved how well the nail polish went on. You can use between 2 and 3 coats of this colour — I used 2, as I knew I was going to add another colour on top of it.

I wanted to add a bit of shimmer to my pastel nails, so layered a coat of Plume by Sally Hansen on top. I put a coat on just the tip of my index finger for an accent. I really like the accent look, but also like the variety of just adding a bit of the polish to my nails.

It’s hard to see the subtle effect of the ‘after’ because the metallic colour is just lightly brushed on top, and my nails are pretty shiny. I hope you get the idea about how it looks though! It’s a light lavender with a subtle hint of metallic colour brushed gently on top. It looks really good in person, trust me.

Do you enjoy giving yourself manicures? What did you think of my spring manicure ideas?

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric