Secrets to Obtaining Healthy, Strong, Beautiful Nails!

For one of my final presentations, I decided to give all of my secrets to obtaining beautiful and healthy natural nails! A true beautiful nail is one that is naturally taken care of, no acrylic powders and/or gels!

Problems:

Discolored nails?

Unusual shapes?

Dents or ridges?

There are a variety of things you can do to prevent your nails from being damaged and unhealthy. Nutrition is a major factor in how your nails look.

1. Vitamin A and Calcium are essential for preventing nails from becoming brittle and dry.
2. Vitamin C helps with painful hangnails.
3. Zinc prevents those annoying little white spots from appearing on your nail bed.
4. Vitamin B12 assists in preventing nails from becoming dry, like Vitamin A, but it also helps them from becoming dark and discolored.
5. Biotin and Iron help with nail thickness.
6. Eating foods that are rich with these vitamin can also help if you're not into taking actual pills. Lots of spinach (Vitamin B) and yogurt (Calcium and Protein) can help lengthen your nails.
7. Carrot juice contains high levels of Calcium and Phosphorus (for brittle nails).
8. Last but certainly not least, your diet should contain 50% fruits and vegetables!

Now for the Do's and Dont's of natural nail care!

1. Don't let anyone use your emery board, they carry your germs and can pick up the germs of others.
2. File and trim nails regularly. File in one direction, sawing back and forth can cause breakage and splitting.
3. Moisturize your nails daily and cuticles daily.
4. Don't go bare foot in public places, i.e. swimming pools and/or locker rooms. Those are breeding fields for germs and fungi.
5. No biting or picking at your nails or cuticles.
6. Keep your nails clean. Clean under your nails to prevent fungi from growing under them.
7. Keep nails short and oval shaped. Short, oval shaped nails are less likely to break or crack.

How to keep them nice and pretty!

Going to the salon for manicures is a good way to keep your nails healthy. BUT make sure the manicurist really knows what he/she is doing. If you don't want to pay someone each week for a manicure, you can always get funky and do them yourself! Pick up a manicure kit and outrageous nail laquers at a local drug or beauty supply store and have a girls night in with all your friends!

Smashbox 'Springs' In The New Year!

With the start of a new year, most cosmetic company are beginning to launch their Spring 2010 campaigns. I always love Smashbox's themes and story lines for their seasonal collections, and Spring 2010 - Heartbreaker is no different.....
Here's to 'Breaking Hearts' in 2010! ==> http://tinyurl.com/yhrum72

Urban Decay 24/7!

I am one of those people that when it's time to replenish any of my cosmetics I like to try a new brand just to see what's out there! This time I ran out of BOTH my liquid eyeliner and my pencil liner...I know right?! So off to Sephora I went! I marked up my entire hand with every eye liner in the store and only one of them stood out, Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide - On Eye Pencil. This is by far the BEST black eye pencil I have ever used! They really live up to their name, they glide on so smoothly and the last ALL DAY LONG! They don't smudge very easily either, I'm in love! & for $17, it doesn't get much better than that!
Urban Decay, going all night long in all different colors! ==> http://tinyurl.com/6basgc

Get French-Milled Clean!

Like most people, I use body washes when I take showers. They lather up very well and I like they way the foam caresses my body. Recently I was told by a teacher of mine that body washes are in fact very bad for your skin, they may feel good while you're in the shower but over time they will dry out your skin. A great alternative that she offered was french milled bar soaps. The process of french milling consists of a stainless steel roller that slowly smooths out the soap and further mixes it. This causes the soaps to last much longer than a regular bar of soap. These soaps are also enriched with glycerin, which when mixed with oil and water, creates a hand-lotion-in-soap effect. Thus creating a bar soap that cleans and removes oils, while soothing sensitive skin. I have been using very inexpensive ($1 & change!) french milled soaps from Whole Foods for about 3 1/2 months and I can definitely tell the difference! The soaps rid my body of dirt much better than regular soaps, they also leave my skin feeling very moisturized to the point where it's mandatory for me to put on lotion immediately after I shower. Other soaps would leave my skin very dry and peeling! I love french milled soaps, you should give them a try!

It's Christmas Time in the City!

I'm dying to get something from American Apparel! My short Christmas list for Santa Baby includes these Faux Denim High-Waist Leggings from American Apparel....and an end to world hunger! :)

Dazzling Shoes!

Hi, my name is _______ and I am a shoe addict! How many of you need to insert your name there? I'll be the first to admit that I love a mean shoe and I love them even more when there is a nice price tag attached to them! Entrepreneur and fashionista Kim Kardashian's shoe business, ShoeDazzle.com is my new favorite place for shoes! What a great system! I was a little skeptic at first, but here's how it works:
Sign up on http://www.shoedazzle.com/
Fill out a personal survey of your shoe size, what styles and color shoes you like.

At midnight on the first day of each month, based on your personal style, five different shoes will be emailed to you. You choose which ever pair you like and you only pay $39.95 (no shipping charges!) How cool is that? What makes this so great is that, say one month you can't afford to splurge on dazzling shoes, you can opt out and skip that month and you wont be charged! Or if you don't like the shoe choices that were sent to you, you can request additional selections by answering a few more questions of what you like! I've gotten two pairs from ShoeDazzle so far and I love both of them! The shoes are great quality, for a great price!

Melanie Fiona Kills Me!

I have a new favorite artist, her name is Melanie Fiona! I love her sound, it's very Motown sounding, very Diana Ross and The Supremes. Definitely different from everything else on the radio right now! I can't stop listening to it!

"Should I grab his cell
Call this chick up
Start some shhh
And then hang up
Or should I be a lady
Ooh maybe cause I wanna have his babies"

All About: Carol's Daughter

Carol's Daughter is a brand that I come to truly love! Lisa Price is, founder of the brand, is an absolute genius! Her brand is all natural, ALL natural! Who doesn't love all natural products that are paraben free, sodium lauryl sulfate free, petrolatum free? What I love most about the brand, besides the products being all natural, is that the hair products work very well with ethnic hair! Whether your hair is chemically treated or natural this line has something for you! I was hooked on the hair products, then I moved around to the body and beauty products, all are awesome! I have never come across a well known brand that is primarily targeted towards ethnic hair be all natural! anyone with any hair type! Even though the products are great for ethnic hair, the right product can be used by anyone, I have a friend who is of Philippino decent that has silky textured hair whom also uses and loves the line! I remember hearing about the line when it first started gaining momentum a few years back and to see where it is now is amazing! Some of my personal favorites from the line are: Tui Jojoba Oil, Tui Leave In Conditioner, Almond Cookie Souffle and the Ecstasy Body Spray! For such quality, the products are very reasonably price!

Check the site for good deals!
http://www.carolsdaughter.com/

Smelling Good in the City!

I have come to the conclusion that I absolutely can NOT live with out Sarah Jessica Parker's very first fragrance, Lovely! She boarded the fragrance train back in 2005 with this one and I refuse to go a day without it! It has top notes of bergamot, lavender, and apple martini. Middle notes of patchouli, paperwhites and creamy orchid. Burning down to bottom notes of cedarwood, white amber, sultry woods and musk. It's very soft and not at all loud or offensive, perfect for a classy lady!

Check out her site, it's super cute!
http://www.sarahjessicaparkerbeauty.com/

Bobbi Brown Beauty: The Ultimate Beauty Resource!

I recently got my hands on a great book by makeup artist turned cosmetic line guru Bobbi Brown. I just love how she went from being a top notch makeup artist and took that passion and developed her own line of cosmetic products, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics! Her line is very is filled with basics and essentials, which is what she specializes in. The book I have is entitled Bobbi Brown Beauty: The Ultimate Beauty Resource, and features commentary by Annemarie Iverson, who is the beauty and fashion news director of Harper's Bazaar. Inside you will find all kinds of fabulous beauty tips, secrets, and rules! Here are some of my favorites from the book:

The Ten Step Makeup Application Process:

Step One: Concealer

Step Two: Foundation

Step Three: Powder

Step Four: Eyebrows

Step Five: Eye shadow

Step Six: Eyeliner

Step Seven: Mascara

Step Eight: Blush

Step Nine: Lipstick

Step Ten: Lip Liner

Some may agree with this process and others may not. Ms. Brown is a makeup guru so I'm going to take her word for it! Check out the Bobbi Brown website for all of your essential makeup needs and to find this book==>www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com.