Look at your fingers, girl. Do they need a little fancying up before the ball drops? Well, Jamie has the perfect fancy schmancy manicure to get your digits dance floor ready for New Year’s Eve!

What’s your favorite at-home manicure tip? Tell us in the comments!

Try This Too Cute Plaid Manicure!

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Looking good, girl! | Source: Shutterstock

Good thing? We’ve got some majorly simple winter beauty tips that’ll make looking hot when it’s cold outside a snap.

Read on for the best beauty tips around!

You spent HOW long on this?! | Source: Shutterstock

Okay, so I’m not like, against nail polish or anything. It’s fun, and it can be an easy (and usually inexpensive) way to make yourself feel a little more awesome. What I’m here to gripe about today (and yes, I’m griping) is the fact that so many girls are totally obsessed with nail polish to the point where there’s really not that much else going on with them.

It’s one thing to get your nails done maybe once a month with girlfriends, or to spend your Sunday evening TV binge with a bottle of nail polish. It’s quite another thing to have a standing appointment at the salon (that’s expensive!) or to carry a bottle of polish around with you at all times “just in case.” I’ve actually even known girls who were super late to dinners or who said they “couldn’t come out” because their nails were a mess and they had to fix them first. What the hell?

I want to shake these girls for so many reasons. First, there are better things to spend your money on. Things like chocolate milk shakes, concert tickets, you name it. But more than that, there are way more important things to spend your time on!

My not-so-perfect nails!

My nails are a mess right now, and I love that. You want to know why? Because every time I look at them, I remember that a) I was in too much of a rush to get to my own birthday party (fun!) to do anything but swipe one stripe of glitter polish onto each nail and b) I’ve already messed them up from typing (awesome) and playing my ukulele (even more awesome).

If you have the time to totally obsess over nail polish and nail art, you’ve got way too much time on your hands (literally!). Try playing a sport, making real art (not just on your nails), playing an instrument, or offer to help your kid brother fix his bike. YES, your nails will get chipped, but you know what? You’ll also have fun or at least learn something new. You’ll become a more interesting person to hang out with, and someone who can add something cool to a conversation.

What do you think? Are you obsessed with nail polish? Do you ever feel a little prissy about it? Tell me in the comments!

Check These Over The Top Nails!

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Phew, the rest of the day could have been a disaster. Just look at all the ways Sally Hansen can transform your day from blah to huzzah!

Julie Can’t Even Type

 

Melanie Can’t Find Her Lips

 

Jess Can’t Figure Out Scissors

 

Em Just Has No Friends

 

No Luck At The Vending Machine For Julie

 

Melanie Lost Her Dog Drawing Abilities

 

Jess Can’t Figure Out Cups

 

No One Wants To High-Five Em

 

Thanks to Sally Hansen, the editors at Gurl can be fabulous and functional once again!

This post written in partnership with Sally Hansen.

Three of the nail polishes we’re giving away!

We love manicures (seriously, love ‘em), but we don’t really love the price tag that comes along with them. The only thing better than an amazing manicure is a FREE amazing manicure!

Obviously, the best way to get a free mani is to do it yourself. If you don’t have all of the tools needed, no worries – we’re going to hook you up with some Sally Hansen supplies. We’re giving three readers a Sally Hansen Prize Pack that includes a manicure kit, four different Gem Crush nail polishes, and a Diamond Strength top coat to seal everything together. And if you really want to take the easy way out, we’re also throwing in a pair of Sally Hansen Salon Effects, which are super easy and awesome. Wanna win? Enter now!

What are you waiting for? Enter now!

This sweepstakes ended on July 4, 2012 at 11:59 P.M. EST. Good luck!

This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook®.

Learn how to make your own penguin manicure!

Would you try this trend? | Source: ShutterStock

Nails are so much fun to play around with – you can grow them out, keep them short, paint them a million different colors, try out new designs. The list is pretty much endless and all of it is awesome. Nail art is huge right now, and we’re loving it.

So we want to know what you’ve got going on with your nails. Are you one of those girls who has scheduled weekly manicures, or would you rather do it yourself? Or do you not really care about your nail look at all? Take our survey all about your nails – just copy and paste the questions into the comments and you’re good to go!

1. How often do you paint your nails?

2. Are they painted right now? If so, what color?

3. What’s your favorite color to paint your nails?

4. What’s your favorite kind of nail polish?

5. Do you keep your nails clean and trimmed all the time, or just sometimes?

6. How often do you get manicures?

7. How often do you paint your nails on your own?

8. Have you ever tried to do any crazy nail art, like animals or ombre nails?

9. What nail art do you wish you knew how to do?

10. Are your nails long or short?

11. Do you bite your nails?

Do you love pedicures? | Source: ShutterStock

12. What color would you never paint your nails?

13. What do you think is the best nail polish color for summer?

14. Have you ever worn stick-on nails?

16. Have you ever gotten tips?

17. French manicure: cute or gross?

18. How often do you get pedicures?

19. Are your toes painted right now? If so, what color?

20. Do you ever wear fake nails?

21. Do you ever match your nail polish to your outfit?

22. Do you think it’s weird when guys get manicures?

23. What’s cooler: leopard print nails or panda nails?

24. How much nail polish do you own?

25. What’s the most money you would spend on nail polish?

Bored? Take tons more surveys right here!

You wouldn’t think that there could be so many different kinds of panda and penguin nail art, but there really is. From polka dots to fun colors to bows, these adorable nails are definitely worthy of a second look. Check out our 20 favorite penguin and panda nail art designs:

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Which was your favorite?! Which animal nail art would you love to see more of? Tell us in the comments!

Check out these cute cats sleeping in super weird places

Preeeeetty! | Source: Facebook

But when it comes to every day life, that $12 a week starts to add up. Save yourself the $50 a month and learn how to manicure your nails at home. Getting a professional-looking result may take a little practice, but this is one skill that will really pay off if you ever find yourself broke, bored, or needing to impress your friends or cool co-workers.
 
 
 
Here’s the scoop:

You’ll Need
o Nail Clippers
o Nail Polish remover
o Nail File
o Lotion or cuticle softner.
o Buffer
o Cuticle Pusher
o Cuticle Trimmer (optional)
o Bowl of warm water
o Nail polish
o Top Coat
o Base Coat

1. Remove all remaining nail polish. Trim your nails if necessary to the length you want. (When in doubt, the bolder the color you plan to paint them, the shorter the nail should be!)

2. Soak your hands for ten minutes in the bowl of warm water. Use this opportunity to meditate/try to move objects across the room using only your mind/watching the latest episode of Glee on Hulu.

Check out these 16 amazing manicures, and get ready for superhero movie season!

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What nail trend do you want to see next? Tell us in the comments!

Now, check out 7 Dude Movies Girls Secretly Love!

cool nail designs

The result I was hoping for...

So when I noticed the newest nail trend all over the Internet of crazy patterns like leopard print and flowers, I was excited to try them. And when I found out that you could create the look yourself with Trendy Nails, which are totally inexpensive, I was even more excited. From what I could see, they looked simple and fun. Plus, if I could get awesomely unique nails while watching reruns of New Girl? Perfect Sunday night right there. So, I got myself to the beauty store, picked out a cute pattern, spent only $8.00 and went home to try it out.

Trendy Nail Wraps are advertised as being a super easy way to create an amazing nail look on your own, but the instructions were way less than clear and I kind of had no idea what to do. Obviously I turned to YouTube, where I found a tutorial that showed me exactly what to do… but, um, super easy? Not so much.

The nails I picked out to try. HUGE, right?!

The wraps themselves are pretty big, I guess so that they’ll fit most nail sizes. The first thing you have to do is cut them to fit your own nail. It sounds simple enough, but since you’re just approximating, it’s really hard to get them at the perfect size. After a few attempts (and destroyed wraps), I ended up just trying to cut them around my nail once they were pressed on (more on that in a minute).

The next step is to blow-dry the wraps for a few seconds – the heat activates the sticky side, allowing them to press on better. On the video, pressing the wraps on looked like a piece of cake: just smooth them down slowly, and they instantly looked perfect. In real life? No matter how slowly I smoothed the wraps down, air bubbles and creasing appeared (even after the second blow drying)… and they ended up just looking like horrible fake sticker nails. Obviously not the look I was going for.

My very sloppy finished product.

And trying to cut them to actually fit on the nail? Pretty much impossible! The edges of my nails only ended up looking ragged and terrible, and the sides were either too big, or too small. Overall my nails looked like I had just spent all of one minute putting cheap stickers on them. Oh, and they also felt yucky and started peeling off almost immediately.

I would never call myself a nail expert, so it’s possible I messed up with these. Maybe in this case practice makes perfect – but the next time I want a super cool manicure, I’d much rather splurge at the salon than attempt these wraps again.

Have you ever tried nail wraps? What was your experience? Tell us in the comments.
Nail Wraps
 

Want some more at home beauty testing? Take a look at our at home eyebrow waxing hot vs. cold wax showdown.