Nailed It!

Nail art done professionally can get pretty expensive. I discovered a few tips and tricks to cut your costs on those luxurious nail-painting appointments. All you need is resourcefulness, dexterity (which I don't have yet, but I'm working on it), and creativity. :)

1. If you have old, unfinished nail polish bottles lying around the house, don't lose hope yet. You can bring them back to life with the help of solvent. You can buy a bottle of this substance in Watson's or any other department store or supermarket. I use the Caronia brand. What it basically does is it thins out clumped polishes and helps remove other nail implements. Just pour a minute drop or two into your nail polish bottle, close the cap, and shake the bottle to submission. Please don't sniff it as the smell can get addictive. (Php 31.50) 
2. Invest in a great base and top coat polish. Well, you don't really have to sell your organs to afford one. Caronia has a good top coat (Php 44.25) that's widely available, plus, it's fast-dry too! For my base coat, I rely on Etude House -- a bottle cost me around Php 48. I also use this kwik-dry thing that I put on my cuticles after I finished painting my nails to help the polish dry faster. Saw this technique whenever I went in for professional manicures and pedicures. Mine's from Bobbie. Again, these are department store/supermarket/drug store brands. Easy accessibility. :)
3. There are a wide variety of options for nail art stuff. You can go with decals, stickers, stick-on jewels, fimo sticks, artificial nails, nail art pens and tools, and so much more! Jazz up your digits in more ways than one! The price range varies from 10 pesos to infinity! Hehe. It really depends on what you're more comfortable using. If you're a DIY nail art newbie like me, I suggest you start off with nail stickers, as they can be the easiest ones to apply/use. Watsons shelves have them. You can also check out your nearest Hortaleza branch. They're available online as well. (If you know where else to get them, please comment down below, thanks!) Just search for them on Multiply. :) For how-to tutorials, please check out Youtube, as many nail art gurus posted helpful videos on the matter. I've been dying to try the ombre and this marble thing I saw on Youtube once -- maybe not now. Perhaps when I've gained much confidence and when my crabby hands decide to hold steady long enough for me to finish an entire hand.
4. Invest in a really good mani/pedi set and DIY mani-pedi yourself, or have your nails cleaned and buffed professionally, if you're more comfortable with that. Usually, cleaning, shaping, and buffing (without the polish/nail art) cost less. You can work on the nail art design at home. Tutorials on how to do your own nails are all over Youtube as well.
5. Fear not! The first couple of tries won't be perfect (check out my crappy right hand nail art -- or something like it), but over time, you'll get the hang of it and you'll be more comfortable with doing it yourself. It really takes a lot of dexterity to get the design dead-on. Start with simple designs, such as this French Tip-esque neon orange style. I just added on a few floral nail stickers to make things more interesting. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Not bad for a first-timer, eh? :)
6. Look for nail art inspirations online. Tumblr and Pinterest can help narrow down your search, but then again, there's always Google to rely on in times of need.
7. Just go for it! It will take a lot of patience, practice, and polish to get you going on this DIY nail art business. :)) I'm only beginning to reap the benefits of DIY nail art because at the end of the day, I can do whatever I want with my nails and I don't have to spend a fortune while I'm at it! Plus, they look really cute and different! I hope to try out more techniques really soon. :)

Left hand
Used an old bottle of neon orange nail polish and some nail stickers.

Crappy right hand here. :)) sorry. Not ambidextrous!

Got these cute nail stickers from Pacita Complex (a market place a town away) today. Each sheet costs Php 10. Can you believe it?!

These ones are from Watsons. Got them the other day for Php 15 per sheet. I have them on my nails right now. :)

Hope these tips help! Feel free to post your DIY nail art projects on She Goes Thrifty's Facebook page. Share with me and everyone else your masterpiece. Let's get inspired together! :)

Love,

SGT <3