A Valentine’s Day Manicure

GoodThough no lady ever wants to admit it, we at some point reach an age where little shapes drawn on our nails is not as cute.

That does not mean we can’t still have some fun though, especially with holidays like Valentine’s Day.

In fact, when I stumbled across these little beauties at Victoria’s secret, I immediately got an idea…

VS_NailPolish

Thus, the Valentine’s Day manicure…

Supplies

I file my nails pretty consistently throughout the week, because I hate when they get too long and start breaking, so I don’t really do much filing for my actual manicures. Instead I focus on undoing the damage I do to my cuticles and such during the course of the work week.

I’ll usually do a manicure right when I get out of the shower so my cuticles are soft, then I push them back off my nails and clip off any rogue stray bits with cuticle clippers.

I usually do a quick swipe of nail polish remover to get off any old stubborn old polish and oils, wash my hands and then turn to my base coat for one quick coat that will serve as the foundation on my nails.

For this Valentine’s Day inspired polish look, I started with two coats of this beautiful rose gold color, which is basically just fine rose gold sparkle flecks in a clear polish – so pretty!

GoldPolishHold1Once I finished one hand, I immediately grabbed the ruby red polish and carefully, but still with some fallout on my skin as you can see, swiped the polish in a slight arch down across one end of my nail…

Red_Side1

Then I did the same thing on the other side of the nail…

Red_Side2

I paid more attention to the slight arches on my nails being right, which wasn’t as hard as you might think (it was quite forgiving in fact, as long as I didn’t glob on the polish), so in the end, I had a good amount of polish off my nails too.

All_painted

(*I put two coats of the red polish on as well.)

That’s okay though. That is what the little eyeshadow brush is for! I took this little makeup brush from a travel kit a long time ago and dubbed it Mr. Clean-Up, and it has been with me for years. It’s my favorite manicure tool of all!

Just dip the brush in nail polish remover, blot the excess on a paper towel, and then clean up around the edges of your nails to remove the excess polish. In the end, you have nails that look like you have the steadiest hands ever…

FinishedNails2Finally, I just finished everything off with one of my favorites, the Seche Vite topcoat, and did one final pass with Mr. Clean-Up.

I really loved this nail look because it is subtle, but just cutesy enough, where I feel like I’m indulging my girlish side. So, when people ask me about my nails, I just fold them over and say, “can’t you see the little hearts?”

HeartNails

This will definitely be something I keep in my little mental bag of manicure tricks. It’s such a lovely looking design that morphs into a fun holiday tribute. And honestly, when you’re not taking pictures of each step, it doesn’t take all that long to do.

Are you have some fun with your nails this holiday?

Recommended Articles