Skin

Hello there. Since we are talking about skin care now that we are done with nails, I would like to tell you about my skin, how much I struggled with it for years, and what products help. Break outs started on my face at about eleven years old. Of course, no matter what anyone said, I would squeeze the pimples until there was blood, then two days later peel of the scab. I am sure every pimple I had during that period left behind a scab. Now that I am taking more care of my face, I keep looking for products that get rid of acne scars and can't find any. There are thousands of products out there to prevent breakouts. I still use those because I know that if I don't prevent them I will keep popping the pimples and leaving behind more scars. All of those products work well; I have tried about five and they all did the job. However, products that get rid of previous acne marks  are very little and the ones that are there cost a fortune. I have seen face washes that were have acne marks as an option but all those have done is widening my pores and prevent breakouts. I am still looking for the products that will do what I need it to without paying sixtee dollars but it has been a challenge. If you don't want to buy any product to get rid or your pimples, lemon is your best friend. It stings a little but works wonders.

Natural Face mask videos

Fake nails

Hi, today we are talking about the pros and cons of fake nails. Personally, I dislike them. My reasoning is that people wear them because their long, perfect and need less taking care of. I think natural nails can look better or just as good if people stopped using fake nails. The glue damages the nails at removal and weakens it. Now, I'm not here to tell you what to do with your nails but to give you advice. So,whether I like them or not, here is my tip for fake nails.

 When I have an important event and a broken nail, I have no choice but to put on a fake nail because my manicure is a big part of my self confidence. Overtime, looking at my hand has become a habit and I feel like other people also look at them that much. I know it might sound stupid but it's the impression I have. Anyways, when it is time to put on a fake nail, I use a simple trick I have never seen anyone else use. I put on a base coat (usually nail strengthener) and let it dry before applying the glue and nail. I do it so that the glue doesn't touch my actual nail. Therefore, no real damage is done. When I want to remove the fake nail, the glue usually gets off at the same time as the coat of clear polish. That coat could have been a layer of your actual nail so for my campaign to dissuade you from using fake nails, here is a video.

Nail Care

Hi! My first few posts were on nail stamping but after reflection, I realized that I skipped the foundation of all nail design: The nail itself.  How do you grow strong, unbreakable, beautiful nails? My peers are always surprised when they look at the length of my nails. They always ask me how I don't break them. The answer is very simple: Nail strengthener. You can probably guess by the name that it strengthens the nail and therefore makes it harder to break. The key is to put on nail strengthener every two days if you don't have nail polish on or before every manicure. They are usually clear so that they can be used as base and top coats. Personally, I don't see the point of using it as a top coat because it doesn't touch the nail directly and therefore doesn't do much strengthening. However, some people believe it works better as a base and top coat so it's all opinion based. Here is my personal nail care routine; consider the fact that I paint my nails on average every four days.
-Take off old chipped nail polish using remover
- Cut and file my nails
- Wash my hands to get rid of any oil and powder leftover so that I start off with fresh nails
- Get rid of my cuticles
- Paint on a coat of nail strengthener (preferably with no acetone)
- Paint on one to two coats of my colored nail polish, do my designs
- Paint on my top coat
-Let my nails dry
Keep in mind that this is my personal routine and it works very well. However, you can always add or eliminate a few steps. For example, I don't cut and file my nails every time; I also don't always get rid of my cuticles because I don't need to. The nail polish removal, nail strengthener and top coat are musts for a good looking manicure and healthy nails. Those steps only take an extra two minutes but make a great difference. About the strengthener, I don't use any suggestion; I keep changing them because I haven't found the perfect one.

Nail stamping helpful videos

Here are nail stamping videos that helped me!

Nail stamping

Most people know about wearing nail polish and putting on fake nails but there is one form of nail art that is beautiful yet underrated: nail stamping. All you need are nail stamping plates, a stamper, a scraper and stamping nail polish( you could also use a normal polish but make sure it is thick). I got into nail stamping last year so I am still pretty new to the trend. Just like anything else, stamping takes practice; then you could do reverse stamping, color stamping and even marble stamping. The range is so wide that  explaining every type of stamping  would take ages so I will stick to the basics. Buy your nail stamping kits online; I recommend the brand bundle monster. There are different kinds of stampers( squishy, marshmallow, hard, sticky etc) and different kinds of plates ( jumbo, XL, round...) so you might want to do a little bit of research and watch multiple reviews before you make your purchase. Here is what to do when you have your kit:
-Once you have your kit, you will notice that each stamping plate has a plastic blue film on it, peel it off.
-paint your chosen base color on your nails
-Then, use nail polish remover to clean the plates in case there is any plastic residue on them.
-Grab your nail polish and put a small amount on the design you want.
-Scrape, make sure the polish is inside the entire engraved design
- Quickly put your stamper on the plate so that the nail polish transfers from the plate to the stamper
-Finally, press the stamper on you nail and Voila! You have a fancy design on, perfectly done in 15 seconds.

Now, it sounds easy but there are a few things every beginner does wrong. Let me warn you about them so that you don't have to learn from your mistakes like the rest of us:

-use a lighter color for a base so that the stamping color pops out
-when putting on a top coat, leave a lot of polish on the paintbrush or you might smudge your design
-Scrapers don't work as well as old credit cards or gift cards
-instead of using nail polish to clean the stamper after every use, use the sticky roll-on (usually meant for clothes)to make the extra polish stick on. You will be left with a clean stamper
-Clean your stamping plate after each stamping using nail polish remover
-use clothes pin to grab the cotton balls drenched in nail polish that you use to clean your plates so that you don't ruin your manicure
- buy peel off liquid latex and put it around your nails before you stamp so that if you stamp a little outside the skin, you can just peel it off.

Now, you know all that there is to know about basic nail stamping,
You're welcome!

Blogger Presentation

Hello and welcome to my blog. So let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Aude-Marie and I am from the Ivory Coast. When I was younger, my mom didn't let me use any beauty products. She used the excuse that I was too young. She believed that by letting me use these products, I would grow up too fast, start worrying about my appearance at a young age and rely on it too much. My stubborn ten year old self obviously disagreed so the second I was sent away from my family, to Canada, I started wearing nail polish. When I returned home for the summer, my mother saw my little bag of polishes and yelled at me. The year after, I bought about twenty more nail polishes and added a  makeup bag to my collection. My mom was mad for a little but realized I wasn't about to give up. I rarely wear makeup but love to put it on other people so she let me have it. Now every summer, I give her her weekly manicures and help her pick what to wear, what products are good for the skin etc. So I figured it would be easy for me to write a beauty blog and help people other than my close family and friends, they already benefited too much.
You should know that because the beauty department is so big, (Hair, makeup, sport etc...) we will talk about a different part of it every week and a new subject will be introduced every Thursday.  For example, our first week will be about nails but the week after, we will be talking about skin care. The goal is to vary to learn new beauty hack weekly and turn all that you read here into habits. Most of the content will be things I do myself so I hope you find this blog helpful!