The Monday Manicure #15

There are few holidays that I don't get that excited for, and Valentine's Day definitely is one of them. Where Christmas and New Years get me incredibly hyped up and ready to celebrate, the day in mid-february just doesn't do it for me. It has nothing to do with wether I am in a relationship or not, I just feel like it's overhyped and commercial.

However, I do like all the cute nail art designs that come out during this time of the year, so I wanted to bust out some of my dotting tools and create a little special nail art for this week. I couldn't stay away from the shade I've been rocking for the last two weeks, Essie Master Plan. So many people compliment me when I wear this shade, it's a positivity magnet.

Wanting to keep it simple I only added a few hearts in pink and white and placed some dots in random spots.It's relatively easy, but to add a little something extra to this post I did a step by step tutorial on how to achieve to create the hearts for yourself. It's open to personal interpretation, and you can experiment with colors! I think it would look great with white and red as well.


1. Gather your polishes, I used Essie's Blanc and Master Plan and the Ciaté color Candy Floss 2. The tools you'll need are several different sizes of dotting tools. These are really easy and cheap on eBay. 3. Paint all nails except your ring finger in the base shade Master Plan 4. Paint the ring finger with the accent shade Candy Floss 5. Load up your dotting tool with the white polish 6. Place two dots a little apart on your nail  7. Take a smaller dotting tool with the same white polish and drag a line at angle from both dots, creating the outline of the heart. Fill in any gaps with more white polish.  8. Your result! Repeat this in other colors on as many nails as you wish, keeping the ring finger free 9. Place random sized dots on your ring finger nail and you're done!

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The Messy Sixties Ponytail

 

Since I decided that my hair now has the perfect length I've been doing more things with it. Besides the occasional curl and twirl of my recently dyed locks, I've also been changing the way I put it up. My favorite way of putting it up is the messy sixties ponytail. The small beehive works perfectly with my bangs when they are swept to the side.

This hairstyle is super easy, once you get the hang of it. Before I knew how to do it I followed the steps explained perfectly and beautifully by the lovely Yara from This Chick's Got Style, I recreated her lovely tutorial below. Her simple steps are easy to follow and leave you with a super cute interesting hairstyle that is sure to receive a compliment or two,

  

 1. Add texture to your hair with your favorite product. This can be a powder, a spray or a dry shampoo. The product I used is Lee Stafford's Sea Salt Spray.

2.  Run your fingers through your hair to create volume.

3. Part your hair to the side. A sixties ponytail definitely requires a side part.

4. Seperate the top quarter part of your hair and tease, tease, tease. Smooth over the top after you have teased enough. You don't want a huge mess of frizz on top of your head. 

5. Secure the teased part with bobby pins. 

6. Spray with hairspray to make sure the style stays. I use L'Oreal Elnett Hairspray.

7. Curl the ends of your hair. This makes the pony more voluminous and chic.

8. Gather your hair the at the nape of your neck and secure it with a hair tie. Tug at the ends to lift the pony tail to your desired heigth.

9. Grab a small section of hair from the base of your pony tail and wrap it around the hair tie, effectively hiding it and providing a nice finishing touch. Finish with a light spritz of hairspray et voila! A messy sixties ponytail. 

And always remember...

Embrace messy hair.

How to: Fishtail Braid

Want to know how to do this super easy yet stylish fishtail braid? It's one of my go to hairstyles. It looks so chic and put together, without any effort at all. I explain the technique in my first ever hair tutorial video up top. This hairstyle is easiest to do with hair that is passed shoulder length and has little to no layers. If you want to make your hair easier to work with, spray a little texturizing spray into your locks before you braid. This will make sure that your braid has less 'slip' and will hold better.

Thanks for watching and if you like these videos, please let me know. Maybe I'll do more of them. : )

A Pink Gradient [+ a how to achieve this look]

I was in the mood for something nice and girly today. I had been rocking midnight colored nails for the last three days and it just wasn't spring enough. And if I can't bring the spring outside (the weather has been horrid. I want my pretty sunny days!) I'll just bring it to my nails.

It's the first time I tried a gradient design like this, and I think it came out quite nice. Although my technique definitely requires some practice. But practice makes perfect and that's what I strive for!

Step 1: Paint your nails a solid white color. I used two coats of Catrice's Snow Motion, but any white polish will do. I suggest you use whatever you have lying around.

Step 2: Grab a cosmetic spong and paint three different pink nail polishes in one stripe on the sponge. Make sure this isn't too big. Roughly the size of your nail should do.

3. Press the sponge onto your nail a few times to create the gradient effect.

4. It should look something like this, depending on the colors you used. Just take a q-tip dipped in polish remover to clean up around your nail and your new manicure design is done! Just add your top coat of choice et voila!

polishes used

Catrice Snow Motion

ANNY Summer Dream

OPI Short's Story

Catrice Pinky And The Brain

Galaxy Nails: NOTD + STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL

Galaxies. I love them, they hold a certain mystery and magic that makes me want to know everything about them. But that is impossible, so I painted them on my nails. And yes, my nails are back, strong and healthier than ever. I want them to be straight, so that's why they are filed a little wonky now. But in time, my nails will be gorgeous.

At the bottom of this post there is a step by step tutorial on how to achieve this super simple yet amazing look. This was even my first attempt ever at galaxy nails! All you need is a bunch of colors/effects and a cosmetic sponge and you're good to go!

A close up shot of the nail design

An incredibly out of focus shot to show the effect the flakie top coat gives to this design

The products I used are in brackets behind the instruction

1. Paint your nails an opaque black color (GOSH 'Nero')

2. Take a cosmetic sponge, or a piece of it, and a navy nail polish and sponge on some random areas (OPI 'Russian Navy')

3. Take a light blue color and a clean piece of sponge and sponge that in some areas, blending it in with the navy color (Essence 'Absolutely Blue')

4. Do the same with a white color and a light pink (Catrice 'Snow Motion!' & OPI 'Shorts' Story)

5. Apply a flaky top coat over the design to give it more dimension and a 'star' like effect. (Essence 'Night in Vegas')

6. Lastly, apply a few pieces of round glitter polish with a sponge to give it even more dimension. (Paris Memories '253')

I hope this is helpful. And if you decide to do this tutorial, please send me a picture any way you can. Email me secondhandspring@hotmail.com or tweet me your result @kellynoelle_ I'm looking forward to seeing some results!

Ombre, because all the cool people do it

This trend is everywhere. In clothes, in hair and now... in makeup as well. I'm a sucker for ombre anything, I still really want to dye the tips of my hair blonde, or something pastel. But bleaching my already fragile ends maybe not such a good idea.

I woke up, slightly hungover, yesterday morning and I knew I was going to experiment with ombre. I whipped out my basket of lip products and started painting away. I liked the result and even made a little tutorial explaining how to achieve certain looks. I hope you check it out.

Kim Kardashian makeup tutorial

New Year's Eve Budget Make-Up Tutorial

A relatively simple and budget proof make-up tutorial for a New Year's Eve look. Mostly using ELF products or products that are available at a lot of drugstores. An article on the ELF 100 eyeshadow palette will be online soon. I swatched every single one of the colors this afternoon. I have a trashcan full of babywipes to prove it.

Anyway, let me know what you think about the look and if you'll be wearing special make-up for New Year's eve. I'm going to a party in a club with my boyfriend, best friend and a few other friends. I'm so excited for NYE!