Mani Monday - Avon Anniversary Nails

In 2016, Avon is celebrating its 130th Anniversary! It is so exciting for me to be part of a business that started selling perfume door-to-door in 1886 to a company that is household name, beauty innovator, and a supporter of women's empowerment. Through 130 years of changes in the World and business practices not to mention style, fashion, beauty, skincare, etc. Avon has persevered.  

I recently had a chance to earn this exclusive Representative anniversary bracelet and I wanted to share its cuteness and my anniversary mani! 

What I'm wearing: Avon Gel Finish 7-in-1 Nail Enamel in Crème Brûlée and Parfait Pink and Avon Nail Gems. 

Learn more about Avon's history here and shop the latest  in Avon fashion and beauty at my eStore!

Get The Look - GLAM Holiday Nails

Here are two simple nail art tutorials for Holiday nails from mark. Magalog 12 using new Nailed It Trend Gel Finish Mini Nail Lacquers!! No salon, no UV light curing—just high-impact, gel-like shine in two limited-edition shades: eggnog, a deliciously creamy white, and sugar plum, a dreamy shimmering marsala. I am a big fan of gel polishes because they are long lasting! If you haven't tried gel yet, you should! :)

For these looks you will need mark.'s nail polishes and nail art stickers or paper hole reinforcements.

THROWBACK GLAM
Step 1: Apply one coat of shade eggnog to all fingers, allow to dry.
Step 2: Use a nail art sticker to cover the half moon of each nail.
Step 3: Apply one coat in sugar plum over unstickered nail.
Step 4: Allow to dry then carefully lift off stickers. 
Step 5: Finish the look with mark. Baroque The Mold Ring.

EDGY GLAM
Step 1: Apply two coats of shade eggnog to all fingers except the pointer, allow to dry.
Step 2: Apply two coats of shade sugar plum to the pointer finger, allow to dry.
Step 3: Use a nail art sticker to block off each nail so only one corner shows.
Step 4: Paint corner of each nail with the second shade, allow to dry, then gently lift sticker, repeat on other side of nail.
Step 5: Finish the look with mark. Sleight of Hand Palm Cuff. 

Photo: Word of Alicia

Photo: markgirl Instagram

Photo: dollydayinn Instagram

Avon Nail Gems Review & Halloween Mani

So I'm not one for intricate nail art designs. Let's face it, it's never as easy to try in real life as it seems in magazines or Pinterest. Not to mention I suck at nail art! 

I received the Nail Gem Applicator at my Avon Celebrate  the Season event so of course I had to get the Nail Gems set. After I read the directions for these gems, I thought "hey, I got this!" Plus the gems only cost $2.99 at my Avon eStore!!!

The gems are circle, square, and teardrop shapes in black, silver, gold, and a yellow/orange color. I wanted to use the orangy yellow and black gems to create an easy Halloween mani. I found these L.A. Colors nail polishes in orange and black for $.50 each at a local store and snatched them up for Halloween. 

I started with one coat of color, let it dry, then laid out the gems I wanted to use. Thank goodness for the tweezers! I did drop a few getting them out of the container and the worst part was getting the gem to flip rightside up.  

I added another coat of polish and picked up the gems with the tweezers and stuck them on. Using my left had was tricky. Getting the gem to the nail was simple enough but then polish got on the tweezers and the gem stuck to it instead of the nail. I would recommend a cotton ball with polish remover to wipe the tweezers on in between applying each gem. I also had trouble with getting polish on the gem itself. 

Once the gems were in place and the polish dried, I added a clear top coat. I will update this post in a few days to see how long they stay on!

To be continued...

Update: 10/25
I've been wearing the gems all weekend and I am pleasantly surprised! The gems exceeded my expectations. I washed my hands numerous times, did the dishes 3 times, and took 2 showers all the while checking my nails. Are my nail pretties still there? Yes! Did they come loose? Nope! The gems stayed on nicely and would probably still be on if I hadn't just picked them off while watching last week's episode of The Vampire Diaries. Anyway, I would definitely recommend these for a special occasion or a fun weekend!!!

Now-10/28/15 get FREE SHIPPING on your $25 Avon order!