Nailed it for St. Patricks Day.

Being that tomorrow is St. Patricks Day, I wanted to share with you a green manicure.  Absolutely Shore is probably my favorite Essie polish of all time aside from Aruba Blue.  The light green is so cute and a bit different than the standard Kelly Green that you see everywhere on St. Patricks Day.  The ring finger has He's Going in Circles by China Glaze.  I have to admit that I don't often wear this polish but I like it for something different every once in a while.  

I hope you guys liked this quick little St. Patrick's Day manicure.  The greens are different but it's still pretty festive.  Thank you as always, for reading.  Send me a tweet and let me know if you do anything special for St. Patricks Day or leave a comment below.

Xoxo-Brit.

DIY Nail Polish Rack/Storage!

Hi everyone!  I hope you are all having a great day and weekend and are excited for this first installment of my DIY series.  I hope you will find some interesting things here and try to create them on your own.  The first thing I want to tell you all about is my oldest DIY project, my nail polish organizer which is quick, really easy, and super inexpensive.  Read on and enjoy!

Up against the wall, the two nail polish racks.

The reason why I made my own is because I was tired of searching for something online and in stores that would hold all of the nail polishes that I have (and that is a ton).  I am not joking, as you can tell in the photo it really was not easy to try and find something that would work for me.  Another reason for wanting to create my own nail polish holder is that everything I was seeing in stores and online didn't have a set-up that would display them so that I could see them.  The reason why I wanted to be able to see them is because I have so many and love them all.  I wanted to make sure that I could see them all, at all times.  Maybe I am way too obsessed, I just call it in love.

My first nail polish rack.

The first thing you are going to need is a 2ftx2ft flat piece of wood, this will make the back (and base) for the entire nail polish rack/holder.  You can definitely get a smaller size if you think you don't need this much room/space, or you can get a bigger one!  After you get the back of the holder, you are going to need smaller pieces of wood to make the shelves.  I picked up as 1inx3in that was about 6ft.  By doing this, you can have the people at Home Depot cut it into 2ft sections to use as the shelves.  You can find these at your Home Depot and can get someone to help you if you need it.  Sorry for this sidebar but I just wanted you all to know if you have never been in a Home Depot alone as a girl, you're in for a really interesting experience.  Every single time I go in here, 5,000 people ask me if I need help.  

As far as building materials, the only other things you are going to need are small nails, a hammer, a pencil to draw on your measuring marks, and a ruler/measuring tape.  

Showing you how to read the measurements.

Once you have everything that you are going to need it's time to start measuring things out.  My tip to you for doing this is to get one of each different kind of nail polish that you own.  When you are laying them down on the back piece of wood you want to make sure that the shelves are spaced out enough so that you can easily take on and off the nail polishes from the shelves.  Once you figure out where you want the shelves to be, mark this with the pencil.  Another tip is that you should always make sure that you space out all of your shelves, measure them, pencil them in, and then you can put them in place by nailing them to the backboard.  My father always said, "Measure twice, cut once..."

The second nail polish rack.

Basically, you are done!  All you need to do now is set your nail polishes on the shelves.  One of the only things that I would do different is add sides to this.  Right now I have my nail polishes displayed on the shelves without sides and it is perfectly fine, but adding them would just ensure that they are locked in a little bit better.  If you are going to do this, make sure you measure to add them in before you do the shelves that hold the polish.

If you need help cutting the wood, they should be able to do it for you at your Home Depot, that's what I ended up doing.  Big props to my dad for helping me out and putting it together.  With my design and my dads assistance a wonderful nail polish rack was made!  I told you this was super simple, I absolutely love it.  The best thing about this is that you can either attach another one to it on the side, or make another one.  As you can see, I made another one and they are both permanent fixtures to my room.  Another thing about these nail displays is that they look great and quite modern in your room.  The design with wood adds a little "homey-ness," it's really interesting and something new.

Leaning against the wall.

Another great thing about the design is that the shelves are a little bit bigger than the nail polish, I designed them this way.  The reason for this is that I figured there would be space for nail files and in some cases, a second row of nail polish that is not as big as other polishes.  The fact that you are able to see all of your polishes when trying to make a decision of which you'll use is great functionality.  As you can see, my polish rack is sitting on my desk, out of the way.  In another photo, you can also see that they lean against the wall or can be pushed up against the wall.  I love how elegant and modern-ish, you can put them anywhere.  Very cool!

If you guys try this, please tweet me a picture and show me.  I would love to see everyone recreate this DIY.  I also hope that you guys enjoyed the first installment of my mini DIY series.  Tune in tomorrow for the next post dealing with organization.  Thank you for reading.

Xoxo-Brit.

Winter Skincare/Nail Polish favorites!

Hey all!  I hope you're having a great day.  I just wanted to go ahead and continue with my "Winter Favorites" series by showing you some of my favorite skincare and nails of the winter so far.  Let's get started!

First I want to start with some skincare.  Now I went to the drugstore to get a new moisturizer when my Hope In a Jar ran out because I was trying to see if I could get something less expensive, but just as good!  The reason for this is because I tend to go a little heavier with moisturizer in the winter, like I am sure most of you do.  I tend to use Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer.  This moisturizer has an amazing consistency and it actually has a great scent, while being unscented (if that makes any sense!).  Although that tends to normally be my favorite from the drugstore, I wanted to try something else.  I picked up a Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture for combination skin, horrible decision.  The moisturizer made me swell up underneath the eye, I had an allergic reaction to it overnight!  When I woke up, my face was blown up, I couldn't believe it.  I believe it was $10 on sale at my Target when I picked it up, but I would not recommend it.  I didn't even notice a difference in my skin the next morning other than how huge it was.

Ponds Dry Skin Cream

Needless to say, I finally ended up going back to Target and picking up the Ponds Dry Skin Cream Rich Hydrating Facial Moisturizer.  This was $5 at Target and is probably the best kept secret of all time.  Now to be honest, I thought immediately of old ladies and moms when I looked at the Ponds products.  For some reason, I always think of older women using Ponds products, so as someone that is only 23, I was swallowing my pride a little bit with this purchase.  Let me tell you something right now, Ponds did NOT let me down.  I put the cream on my face the same day that it swelled because of the Neutrogena moisturizer and the next day that I woke up, the swelling was down, the dry skin was gone and my face was amazingly moisturized.  I was NOT expecting this at all, but I was accepting of it nonetheless.  If there was one thing I could change about the product it would probably be the scent.  It's not terrible, but it's not the best, it really just smells clean.  The back of the container says that it's Hypoallergenic, Suitable for sensitive skin, and it won't clog pores.  I completely agree and would recommend it to absolutely anyone!

Deborah Lippmann, "Billionaire" and "It's Raining Men."

Now moving on to some of my nail favorites for the winter thus far.  Maybe this is harping on the past but I just must go there, Christmas nails!  I can never get enough of my Christmas nails and this year I just wanted to go back to basics with it.  As you can see in the photo, I used two Deborah Lippmann colors in Billionaire and It's Raining Men.  I love them because they are true colors to Christmas and they are just beautiful.  These polishes are a little steep in price about $16, but they are completely worth it.  The color pay off is great, its bright, lively and fun.  The red here is a true Christmas red and the green and mossy, forest green.  The brushes on these polishes are great for application and the formula is a dream!  I tend to like this classic application technique, red on all the fingers except for the ring, where theres a green surprise!

My "Brown to Tan Ombre."  

The next nail design (or play on colors) that I have to share with you is my "Brown to Tan Ombre."  The reason i share this with you is because I have just been loving rocking it.  I think this is so appropriate for school, the office or even just everyday wear.  I love that it adds pizazz to the nails without really being obnoxious and taking it too far.  I wish I could remember the names of the polishes that I used but even looking at the photo I just cant remember which polish is which, I have way too many!  If you would like to know, please leave a comment below and I will try to look them up.  I posted a photo to my instagram and everyone seemed to love it!  If you try this look, tweet me a photo!

American Apparel's, "Peacock."

Finally, I wanted to show you this amazing color.  I tend to call it a "teal denim" because it reminds me of teal colored jeans.  I love the color and think it's perfect for winter for that pop of color for the season.  I love American Apparel polishes because they are very practical, and to be honest I love the unique bottle design and packaging.  The application of this polish is amazing and the opacity of the color is amazing with one coat!

Okay all, that's all I have for you today!  Look forward to another installment of my winter favorites coming tomorrow and if you have any questions please leave a comment below or send me a tweet. If you haven't already, check out the first installment: My Winter Beauty Favorites. Also be sure to check out my instagram and follow me there for outfit of the day photos, nail insta's and other random stuff!  Love you all and thanks for reading! 

Xoxo-Brit.