Chic Updated French Manicure

There's something perfectly polished about a french manicure (pardon the pun!). But the classic light pink/ white color combo can often seem a bit old. I tried experimenting with different color combinations to spice up a basic french manicure giving it a new fresh twist. Try experimenting with different color combinations. I feel this taupe and black combination is both chic and understated enough for work. 

Holiday Nails

With nail art being the new beauty trend and the holidays near, here is a fun way to combine the two! The end result is a fun manicure that can add sparkle to any holiday ensemble whether it be Christmas, Hanukah, or New Years!

You'll Need:
One solid, regular nail polish of your choosing
One glitter, more translucent nail polish
Paper plate
Make up sponge

Helpful Hints:
If your going for a Hanukah-themed manicure, try using dark navy as the base and a silver glitter polish
For a Christmas-themed mani, I suggest a cherry red base with gold sparkles
For New Years, keep it fun with metallic nails, such as gold nails with silver sparkles

How to:

Paint your nails as usual, using your solid nail polish as your base. I suggest doing 2 coats. Wait until your nails are basically dry. This is very important! If they're still wet, you risk smudging the base polish. Pour some of your glitter nail polish onto a paper plate to use as your palette for your make up sponge. Next, dip your make up sponge in the glitter nail polish and lightly dab along the top of your nails. I suggest dabbing along the top 1/2 or 1/3 of your nail. Make sure your dabs get lighter as you put glitter further down your nail. The glitter should be fullest at the top of your nail, lightest in the middle. Let the glitter polish dry for a minute or two before applying a top coat.

For some fun mistle-toes this season, try this technique on your next pedicure! Happy Holidays!

Berry Nice Lips

Everyone knows that come fall, dark colors overtake the pastels and whites in our wardrobe. But this fall a new trend was seen on the runway, dark romantic makeup, specifically lips. Dark fall colors like berry and plum made an impact at New York's MET Gala and all over the runway sparking a trend throughout the beauty obsessed.

The key with dark lips is to keep the rest of your makeup understated. Clean skin with minimal eye make-up really allows your lips to take center stage. If the idea of wearing dark lips this season makes you nervous, try experimenting with different shades and blotting. Dark lips is flattering on all skin tones and is a great night look.

Try: 

Victoria Secret Makeup Perfect Lipstick in Vixen $12 at Victoria Secret

Nars Lipstick in Scarlet Empress

Velvet Nails

At school doing my nails every week seems to be some of the rare "me time" I get during the week. I've developed an impressive collection over the years and would often lend out colors to friends in my sorority for us to do our nails before a night of going out. With fall approaching rapidly, I've had to part with my corals, baby pinks, and lilacs and instead have made the shift to more dark, fall worthy shades.

A new up and coming fall nail trend is the new "velvet manicure". Last season it was the matte manicure that caught everyone's attention, but now velvet takes the stage. Ciaté's new Velvet Manicure kit comes in 3 different shades: Berry Poncho, 3am Girl, and Cream Soda.

The special ingredient in this manicure kit is the crushed velvet powder that you apply to your nails after painting them with the matching accompanying color. What your left with is an avant-garde nail style just like those seen on the catwalks this season!

 Buy here: ciate velvet nail kit from Sephora

                                                                       video tutorial how to: velvet nail tutorial

DIY hair mask

Being back at school my hair takes a bigger beating than normal with all the blow drying and styling. Since I'm not a fan of split ends I've been researching some DIY hair masks to keep my hair healthy and shiny. What I loved about this hair mask was that all the ingredients are made up of common foods that most people keep in their kitchen! This mask is great for hair growth increasing shine and softness.

You'll need:
2 egg yolks
2 tblsp olive oil
1 cup water

How to:
Mix the egg yolks and olive oil together and add the water to dilute it. Massage the mixture into your scalp and hair. Leave the mask in for 15-20 minutes so all the nutrients get absorbed and then rinse it out.

DIY Sugar Scrub

Summer is known for its short jean cutoffs, cute summery dresses, and adorable rompers. What all these outfits have in common is that your legs take center stage. Chlorine and sunscreen have dried my legs out over the summer and they are in dire need of some tlc before school starts. I decided to whip myself up an at home-remedy by making my own exfoliant. What I like about using sugar versus salt as the base in an exfoliator is that sugar is gentler on your skin than salt and helps your skin retain moisture better. Also sugar is a natural source of glycolic acid which thickens the layers of your skin, helping boost firmness.

You'll need:
brown sugar
white sugar
olive oil
vanilla extract (makes your scrub smell yummy!)

How to:
You'll want equal parts brown sugar to white sugar and mix them together. Next add your olive oil and let it trickle down to the bottom before pouring in a little more. After adding your oil, mix the sugar and oil together. To make your scrub delicious add a few drops of vanilla extract for a delicious smelling scrub!

This scrub makes an excellent gift for friends. Put the scrub into cute mason or jam jars and wrap with ribbon and your good to go!