Beautiful Wedding Nails

All Things Pretty

A week or so ago I visited my future soccer coaches for Weber State University. While sitting in their office discussing school and soccer matters, one of the two asked why my nails were empty... I was kind of shocked that they knew about my nail art obsession and I have since started to realize that many people know me as the nail girl. Yes, I love painting nails, but I also have other interests. I love nature and books, green tea, soccer, instagram, cats, sleeping, the sun, sketching, and all things pretty.

Like any girl, I love having an excuse to pretty myself up on occasion, which I feel that most girls need from time to time, it makes us feel good... right? Unfortunately, today was not my day to get all dressed up, but it was the day for my darling sister Ellee. I have received some clothing items in the mail from wonderful companies that suggested I pick out some free clothes that, in return, I should feature on my social media. Of course I cannot turn down free clothes so here it is. A blog post about a few of my other life loves; photography, freebies, and fashion. 

I know this is a little different from my usual blog posts, but I needed a break from polish and this was the perfect opportunity! I had a lot of fun and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed snapping the photos and editing them. 

 I love this outfit so much it almost hurts.

I honestly love this simple outfit. It is definitely a potential July 4th outfit option because of how simple it is. Paired with a red lip, I feel that the blue & white stripes are being patriotic without completely over-doing it and being too obvious.

I know I have a long long ways to go in terms of becoming a famous vogue fashion photographer and it will most likely never happen, but hey! I have fun doing it so why not?

xoxo,
   Harli

#ManicureMonday

I did my own nails for the first in like... months! I usually can't do super cute things to my own nails because they end up getting ruined when I give other people manis. I am totally obsessed with the design I created. It was inspired by some nautical nails I found on pinterest, but I just made them my own and changed them up drastically!

I completely love these. They are trendy for right now because of the double accent nails, glitter polish, and negative space. I also used my favorite polish of the moment! 

Hope you love them as much as I do! 

Have a wonderful week!

Harli

Perfectly Polka Dotted

I'm not naming names or anything because she'll know who she is, but let's just say that one of my dorm roomies *Cough Cough ... Alex* made a really nice attempt at painting a friends nails polka dotted once... unfortunately they weren't excellent, but there was a lot of love that went into them... which has to count for something right? So, since I no longer live with her... maybe this will help! So, this one is for you, aw_nels!

Do not ask me why, but of all the intricate and detailed designs I do people are most impressed with the "perfect" polka dots I am able to paint. I have not a clue why people are so impressed by them because, honestly, they are super simple to accomplish! Every time I paint polka dots onto someones nails they always ask how I do it and then are super let down when I tell them how easy it really is. So... I decided to let more people in on my tips and tricks to get the perfect spotted manicure!

In this blog post I have given two ways that you can get spot on... pun intended... polka dotted nails. Whichever way you choose is up to you and your own personal preference!

YOU WILL NEED: 
A dotting tool one size smaller than you want your spots
A base color polish
A color for the polka dots
A clear coat

Just remember when choosing your dotting tool, that the polka dots will be a little larger than the size of the dotter on the tool.

I chose my smallest dotting tool because I want the smallest possible dots.




FYI
Before following these steps make sure you have applied two coats of your base color (I chose white) and let them dry completely. 

Step 1:
Begin by applying one dot to the center bottom of each nail.

*when applying the dot you must press down firmly to ensure equal sized dots each time.

Step 2:

Eyeball the next few dots and guess how much space you must give in order for the dots to be equally spread. I usually end up applying 3 or 4 dots depending on the length of nail. 

*If you struggle with this step, try applying a dot at the bottom and top center of each nail and work your way toward the center

Step 3:

On the rows surrounding the center guideline you just created, apply a dot next to each of the spaces between the dots from row 1. 

*Notice that each dot in the row 2 is equally spaced from the center of the gaps as the dots do from one another from row 1

Step 4:

Keep filling in dots parallel to gaps in the previous row to finish. 

Finish with a top coat to complete the pedi/mani. 

TRY ME... if you aren't comfortable eyeballing the spaces

 measure finger against CM side of ruler

 apply piece of tape so one edge covers the marks on ruler

 make marks with a sharpie where top and bottom of fingernail hit

 make a mark in the center of the top and bottom marks

 make marks in between center mark as well 

 peel tape off ruler and apply to center of nail 

 with dotting tool make dots next to each marking on the tape

 peel off tape 

Finish by creating dots between each of the original dots

Then seal in with a top coat

I really hope one of these ways to perfect polka dots work for you! 

Harli 

I Heart Nail Art

Many of you have probably scrolled through Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook at some point this month and stumbled upon a link begging for votes in a Sally Hansen nail art contest. Yes, those links are all rooted from one of my social media pages and thanks to everyone who has taken a second out of their day to vote, I have reached over 400 votes! I have received many questions regarding the "I Heart Nail Art" contest put on by Sally Hansen so here is where I will answer those and also fill you all in on the super-simple-easy-to-do nail art I submitted!

Regarding the contest, winning this month provides the winner with $500 and a guaranteed spot in a nail art competition in New York. The competition will be held at Sally Hansen head quarters August 11-13 and is all expense paid for the winner and one guest. The competition itself is for the 3 winners from the May, June, and July contests being held by Sally Hansen. One of the 3 competitors will be named best nail artist of the year and will also receive $2,000 as well as many Sally Hansen products. In all honesty, I would love being referred to as the Best Nail Artist of the Year, just as much, if not more, than the $2,000. That would be totally amazing right? Wow "Harli Hall: Best Nail Artist of the Year" has a nice flow to it, don't ya think? 

The next question I am often asked is regarding voting. I know it is kind of a pain to vote sometimes. Sometimes it will say you have already voted and sometimes it won't let you vote at all. Every person is allowed one vote every 24 hour period. If you wait 24 hours, it should allow you to vote. If you have waited the 24 hr period and it still says you have already voted, hit the check mark next to vote twice and even though the number of votes I have received may not immediately changed, it will at some point! 

Lastly, I really need everyones help in order to pull this off! I know it is so tedious to do, but if everybody could just keep voting and sharing daily, then I can get there! I am still one of the top competitors at this point, but without votes I will not stay there long! So please take 5 seconds out of your day and vote... maybe force your BFFs to vote daily as well. ;)

Now, without further ado, here is the nail art I submitted and how to get them yourself!

You Will Need:

Step 1:

Apply a base coat! This step is super important when it comes to nail care. Without a base coat, nails can become dry, stained, and your manicure's longevity will not be great. 

Step 2:

Paint thumb, pointer, and pinky fingers with a white polish (or really any color that you choose) and the ring and middle fingers black. 

Step 3:

Once the black polish has dried, apply 5 dots to act as guidelines for the petals. Apply them to the lower right or left quadrants of the nails leaving enough space to paint in the center of the flower. I think they look better when the petals are close together and similar in size, but don't be afraid to play around with it! Try using different sized dots or not lining them up perfectly. 

Step 4:

Using white nail polish and a skinny brush apply curved lines to both sides of the dots extending to the top of the nails. The lines do not need to be perfect, in fact, they look more realistic if they aren't perfect curves! Do your best to leave black space between petals, but it is not completely necessary! You can always go back and add black lines between later!

 

TIP: Flicking the brush creates the best results. DO NOT try to do this step slowly. Honestly, I hold my breath when I do this part... so try that if you're struggling. (: 

Step 5:

Fill in the center of the curved lines with the same white polish. 

Step 6:

In the blank black portion of the nail apply white dots with a dotting tool. This part it is really necessary to make sure the dots are not all the same size. It creates dimension. Try to stay within the same range of size, but go a little larger and smaller on some.

Step 7: (Optional)

You can totally apply your top coat in step 6 and be done, but this step is what really adds dimension and realness. 

Using a very sheer gray polish and a skinny brush, add some splotches to the tops and bottoms of the petals. Make sure you don't give the gray spots a clean edge, make parts of the gray areas higher up on the petal than other parts. 

Step 8:

Apply your favorite top coat and let dry completely!

I definitely think the top coat is the most important part to any nail design. A design might not look that great before the top coat, but once a clear coat is applied, it seems that the design just magically gets prettier and neater! This is my absolute favorite step... ask just about anyone that has had their nails done from me! 

As you can probably tell from the pictures, the right nail has been finished with a top coat and the other has not, I just wanted to show how much of a difference it makes!

Voila! You're finished. 

If you ever try out some of my nail designs please tweet or instagram me using #heyhar 

I would absolutely love to see the recreations!

Thanks and remember to follow the link on any of my social media pages to vote every 24 hours if you like any of my nail designs! 

Harli

Totally Trendy Tribal

One of the best parts about the spring and summer months is the tribal everything ; tribal clothing, tribal jewelry, and definitely tribal nails. Sometimes I feel that the whole tribal trend can be a bit overbearing when not executed properly... there is such a thing as too much tribal print guys! So if you're on the hunt for some tribal nails, without over-doing it, then this post is most definitely for you! There's a hint of tribal, but not too much. So enjoy!

You Will Need:

Step 1: 
Using your colored polish, paint all of your nails except for you ring fingers with two coats. Paint your ring fingers with the gold polish. Let them dry completely.

Step 2:

Using the dotting tool and black nail polish paint 2 "V"s onto your middle nails. 

Step 3:

Using your dotting tool and your black polish, paint small lines extending out from the top "V". Connect the lines to the "V" going downward. 

Step 4:

Carefully fill in the small triangles. This is the hardest step because it is easy to go outside of the lines if you don't work slowly... so Be Careful!

Step 5:

Once your nails have dried completely, top them off with a thick layer of your favorite top coat. This will seal in the design for longer and make the nails look shinier.

*Top off the look with a super cute Midi-Ring like the one Ellee is wearing. I promise it totally completes the look! 

There you go! A 5-step-totally-trendy-spring-ready manicure. The great thing about this mani is that it looks a lot more difficult than it actually is, so people will be impressed when you tell them you actually did it yourself. 

Don't be afraid to add your own twist to this manicure! It's so simple, there is definitely room to spice it up with some of your own flare!

Harli