Nail Art: Gold Glitter + Watercolor Stripes

Two coats of gold glitter nail polish on my ring finger and thumbs. 

Opaque white polish on all other fingers.

On index fingers, I lightly brushed on three colors of polish.

Blue Denim from Forever 21

Raspberry Ice by Revlon

Minty Green by Savina 

Swarovski accents on pinky and middle fingers

Topcoats used:

Gelous

Seche Vite

Seche Vite Top Coat

I can't think of a better nail polish topcoat than Seche Vite. Seriously. This stuff is worth every penny and if you can find it on sale... even better!! You can get 2 bottles on Amazon for about $5 here. 

There's a bit of a learning curve when using this holy grail product because it doesn't act like normal nail polish. If you've never used it before, I'd recommend keeping these things in mind as you're mastering this. Once you do, be prepared to start fielding questions about where you get your nails done. This top coat doesn't turn yellow or peel either.

Some helpful tips on using Seche Vite:

Use quite a bit more than you think you need and try and cover your nail with one swipe. You're going to essentially "float" the Seche Vite on top of your nail color. You don't want the Seche Vite brush to drag across your nail color or really touch it at all.
Shrinkage. It is bound to happen and this is probably my biggest challenge to date. Seche Vite dries quickly and grabs on to the layers of lacquer below, so you'll need to wrap the top coat over the tips of your nails.
Oh and you also want to apply your Seche Vite when your nail polish is still wet. Not dripping wet, but definitely not dry. It needs to be able to "melt" all of the layers together.

Coconut Oil and Pink Salt Hand Scrub

Using a combination of coconut oil and pink Himalayan salt as a DIY scrub makes my hands soft and smooth better than any store bought product I've tried. I'm a huge fan of coconut everything and really love the smell of it. I suppose you could substitute olive oil for the coconut oil and regular old table salt instead of the pink stuff, but that isn't very fun. Use whatever works for you though! My current hand/nail routine incorporates this DIY skin softening method about once every week or so.

Directions:

Do this over the kitchen sink... it can get messy.

Scoop about a tablespoon each of coconut oil and pink salt into your hands. Your body heat will melt the coconut oil as its melting point is about 76 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Pretend like your hands are extra super dirty and scrub scrub scrub them together. 

Pay close attention to your cuticles. This is my favorite way to make sure they're properly hydrated and pushed back. I've been told it isn't a good idea to clip your cuticles, but rather push them back instead. 

Rinse with warm water then hold the back of your hand up to your cheek and feel how soft it is!! Use soap if you are planning on polishing your nails afterwards. Otherwise the residual oil will help to keep your paws moisturized. 

What I use:

Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

Cost Plus World Market Pink Himalayan Salt