Best Nail Art Supplies For Cheap

I know I'm a total bargain hunter. I mean, I spend hours looking for the best deals on everything, from beauty to furniture to food. But I'm especially a bargain hunter when it comes to nails. The reason: my parents hated nail polish because of the smell, and only let me use non-toxic, all-natural water-based paint. When I was a kid, I would have to save up all my money because the only nail polish that fit their restrictions was, like, $20.00 a bottle (crazy, right? I mean, it's not like it's Chanel polish or something). I learned to find the best deals for everything, and today I'm going to share some of them with you:

Nail Polish

For normal uses

1. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear ($1.99 and up)

The polish on the bottle of Sally Hansen is exactly the color of the polish inside! Perfect for those times when you need a specific shade for a project.

2. LA Colors Color Crazy Series—My personal fav, only $1 at DollarTree

LA Colors has my vote for the #1 cheap nail polish brand. It's chip resistant, has tons of bright colorful shades, and has nail strengthener in every shade, so that you don't have to buy is separately!

3. Wet ń Wild "Spoiled"—92 shades, $1.99 each

Wet ń Wild has a huge variety of finishes, and so many shades of each color!

4. NYC Color—Start at 99 cents!

Like the Sally Hansen polish, what's on the bottle is exactly the color that goes on your nails! It is extra long-lasting, and comes with tons of shades. Their One-Minute Quick Dry version literally dries in thirty seconds!

5. Revlon—Start at $3.99

While this polish isn't as inexpensive as the others, it provides the perfect smooth manicure. There are no streaks, bubbles, or chips—as it is chip-resistant. 

For Konad and Bundle Monster Image Plates

Rumors have been going around about how regular nail polish doesn't work with image plates and only Konad Special Polish (SP) works. If you're reading this, it's about to save you a ton of cash, because we tested all of the above polishes (plus Honey Bee Gardens, Claire's Pastels, Ally Kats, and Keeki) and they all worked. The Keeki and Honey Bee Gardens didn't work as well as the others, but an image still came out. We then tested them versus Konad SP and found that while there was a minute difference, it was hardly noticeable. These polishes work on both Bundle Monster and Konad Image Plates.

Image Plates

Bundle Monster

The place where I get all my Bundle Monster image plates is from Amazon. For $21, I got 25 image plates, which is a great deal compared to the $6.00 each at the Konad store.

Konad Individual Plates

I got my individual plates from Amazon also, because I found a whole bunch for only $3.50 each. These are also Konad brand plates, so they would usually be $6.00 each. What an awesome deal!

Stamping tools

Double-sided stamper

I got my double-sided stamper with my scraper on Amazon also (OMG, now I'm realizing just how much I use Amazon  :p) for $5.27. At Konad, they are $6.00 usually for the stamper, and $1.25 for the scraper.

Nail Polish Remover (Used to clean off Konad image plates, stampers, and scrapers)

I use Honey Bee Gardens nail polish remover, because regular CVS nail polish remover makes my nails peel and break ($7.78 on Amazon). This is where I spend most of my nail-polish-spending-money, because who likes having broken and peeling nails? I also buy regular CVS nail polish remover for cleaning off my image plates, because it takes too long to clean them off with the natural stuff.

Remember: NEVER USE GEL LIGHTS. THEY ARE PROVEN TO CAUSE CANCER.

Thanks for visiting! TTYL, Mia Nicole

Halloween Nail Art!

 Delicious Candy Corn Nails

1. Using white, yellow, and orange polish, stripe the brush across your nails in the white, orange, then yellow pattern of candy corn.

2. Finish off with one to two coats of clear polish or top coat. Yummy!

 Blood-Dripping Nails

1. To have these terrifying nails, use a skeletal white and scarlet polish. First, add one coat of the white polish to make a slightly see-through skeletal look. Let dry.

2. For the dripping blood, get a LOT of scarlet polish on your brush and stripe the very ends of your nails like in a french manicure. Raise your hands so that the polish drips onto the white. When they are as drippy as you want them to be, put your hands back on a flat surface and let dry.

3. To finish them off and add the fresh-paint look of wet blood (ewww) add at least three coats of top coat or clear polish to only the red paint. The finished nails are perfect for a vampire or werewolf costume!

Fall Nails!

                      Fabulous Fall Leaves French Manicure

       This fantastic fall fashion statement is perfect for September, October, and November and never goes out of style during these months. Here's how to make your nails look just as perfect as those in the picture above:

1. Using an eggshell white color polish, slash a diagonal line across the tips of your nails. If you have tip guides, it really helps. Diagonal ones work best for this kind of nail art, but if you only have straight ones, it's ok to put them on diagonally. To buy tip guides for cheap, click here. If you have short nails, this might not work as well, because it would just look like you have striped nails. But you can still have french manicures with short nails by using nail extensions or fake nails, which you can buy here. Put on two coats of this, letting the polish dry each time before applying the next coat.

2. The next coat covers both the white painted nail and the unpainted nail. Use top coat or high shine clear polish to give your nails an extra shimmer. It is important for the white coat to have dried before applying this coat.

3. While the clear polish is still wet, apply little leaf nail accents (link to where to buy below) along the edge of the white polish or the edge of the nail. Let dry.

4. Final step! Apply one more clear coat and let dry, and you're done! This last step isn't mandatory, but it ensures that your manicures will last and the leaves won't fall off. Happy polished!!!!

                                                                                                                                           -Nicky

                                Thanksgiving Turkey nails!

             This Thanksgiving tradition is the perfect addition to your "I've painted my nails that" collection. It's both festive and cute, even for someone who doesn't like turkeys.

1. Paint your nails with a snow-white or eggshell white polish, starting from the cuticle and sweeping upward as you near the tips of your nails. Apply two coats and let each coat dry before adding the next coat.

2. For this step, you need light brown, yellow (or orange or gold), and red polish. If you don't have some of the colors, it's ok, you can make the leaves all the same color or alternating colors. Paint little stripes extending halfway across the nail, starting off thin but getting thicker, and then thin again. To do this, use the edge of your brush for the thin parts, and the regular part for the thicker parts. Add leaves on every nail but one (or however many you want there to be a turkey on). On this one (or ones), paint leaves surrounding an oval shape from the end of the nail in the middle to the center of the nail. This will be the turkey's feathers.

3. Using dark brown polish (light brown or gold works too), fill in the space that the feathers you drew for the turkey surround. This will be the turkey's body.

4. For this step you will need black and white polish. After what you have painted so far dries, use a toothpick or eyedropper to apply to dots of white that will be the turkey's eyes. Once this  dries, use black to make to smaller drops in the white ones, also using a toothpick or eyedropper. Let dry.

5. Once the eyes dry, use orange or yellow polish to make an upside-down triangle. This is the turkey's nose. Once this dries, you're ready for the last step.

6. Finally, add two coats of high shine clear polish or top coat to the nails. Now you're done!