A fresh start: Guide to cleaning make up brushes

A fresh start...This applies for two reasons. One, today is my first day of my last year of college. It is exciting and a little nerve-wracking at the same time. Two, this blog will give your make up brushes an amazing fresh start.

Alright, here we go! Hope you're looking forward to the tutorial. It's rather simple really. You have some dirty make up brushes, and they need a good refresher. You are going to need three ingredients.

1. 1 cup of Hot water
2. 1 tbsp of dish soap
3. 1 tbsp of white vinegar

Mix all three of these together. I used dawn soap so my mix was a pretty light blue color. After that is mixed, dip your brush in and give it a swirl in the mixture. You will see the color change as it's cleaning off the brushes. When you are done rinse them off with water and leave them to dry.

This was the first time I've cleaned my brushes. That is really bad. I know ypu don't need to lecture me. The mixture was really gross that was a good enough scolding for me. I will say, I always wanted to clean them. I never wanted to pay for a solution, though. This is a great, cheap option while on a college budget. Did I mention it left my brushes SUPER soft :)

Below is a photo of before and after using Pic Stitch. Notice in the before the small brush is brown. In the after photo it is white. I literally had no idea that was the original color...oops!

Thank you all for reading!

Love,
Ally Norm

Nail Tutorial: French Manicure

My past nail blogs I have talked about wanting my polish to last as long as they do in the salons. Well, I got that down :) This time I went from a salon type polish. I did my very own french manicure. I will no longer need to go to the salon. Keep in mind I don't like getting fake nails. My nails are already too fragile.

Doing a french tip was very easy. I took my white nail polish and painted the tips. Do not paint too far up the nail. The next step is to shape the polish. I am a college student. I use what is on hand. Q tips were my go to choice. I would love to have the polish brushes that salons have. One day I'll purchase one.

Now you're left with a shaped tip. Just think of all the possibilities you can do with this. All the color possibilities :) I used a pale pink glitter all over my nail. I then added a top coat. I am really happy with how it turned out. I looks like I just stepped out of the salon.

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Nail'd It

Love,

Ally Norm

Nail Tutorial: Fishtail

Doing your nails is something that patience. Today I did the fishtail method for painting my nails. Now, I can't do hair. The closest thing I can do to my hair is a plain simple braid. So, I tried it with my nails.

There isn't much to this. You just cross colors over your nails. I used Orly "Jealous, much," Sally Hansen "White on" and Ulta's "Tutu cute." This is a VERY long process. I only did it on one nail. I'm glad I skipped the other nails.

I learned one great thing about doing my nails today. That is if you touch your nail before it's dry wet your finger and rub on that spot in a circular motion. It gets rid of the mess that you just made.

Do you have any questions about nail polish or anything please ask!

Now, onto something else I'm excited to blog about. I have been running lately. My grandma walks. My dad bikes. My boyfriend swims. Everyone has their thing. I would love to run on the treadmill when I went to the gym. I really should have done track when I was in high school.

My first run was 13.22
My second run was 11.46

My goal is to cut my first time in half! Help keep me motivated. I would love to hear good running songs that you may have!

PR's Buzzn: Start Up

I recently got an internship with Wolverine Solutions Inc. They launched an app called Buzzn. The app is currently offered for iPhones and will be on the android market soon.

Let me tell you a bit about the app first. I really like it. I think it is a great idea. The app allows you to share your social and academic calendars with your friends. First you create an account, add courses you are taking and events (work, meetings or social events) then you can add your friends. You can see your friends courses and events and vice versa. This makes planning around the busy college schedules sooo much easier. Here is a photo from Pic Stitch showing what Buzzn looks like.

These posts will be about things I did Buzzn or things I learned while working for them.

One thing that I've learned is people will sometimes have unrealistic expectations. I am evaluated based on how many downloads I generate for the app. My boss's boss was expecting the app to TAKE OFF right at launch. As much as I would love to see that from the app, sadly it is not realistic. For one thing, we haven't even started school yet. This makes promoting the app only possible for me over social media. I don't mind this really. I love social media. It is not the most effective way to generate downloads.

My current promotion is being done on the computer. Last night I sent out emails to roughly 100 student organizations on campus at Wayne State. I post on twitter and share Buzzn's information on Facebook. If you're reading this and you are a Wayne State student download this application! Also, please friend me (Allison Normand).

Thanks y'all

Love,
Ally Norm

Nail Tutorial: Spackle

It's my favorite day of the week. That would be Monday. It's time to do my nails :)

First I want to start with saying thank you all that have been reading my blog! I really loved seeing the numbers jump from the last time I had checked. I started this blog not thinking I was going to get as many views. I have to thank Pinterest/Twitter for getting me out there. I hope you like what you see and continue to read.

Now, back to the nails. I have said in posts before that I wanted to make my polish last longer. I am so happy to say that from my last blog post my Orly color did not chip AT ALL. I went a whole week without ANY chipping. As woman we know this is basically a miracle unless you get them professionally done. Well, I finally did it on my own :)

This week I decided to go for a sort of spackle technique. It's a very simple tutorial.

Step one: Paint your nails with the color of your choosing. I used Orly Purple Crush. I now LOVEEE this brand, as well as this color.

Step two: Get a sandwich bag and crinkle it up. Put polish on the bag. I used OPI Lincoln Park after Dark. Everyone needs to own this color. It really is the best. By the way, my grandma calls it "ohh-pie." I just can't bring myself to tell her that isn't the brand name.

Step three: Dab polish onto your nail. It's that easy.

This can get a bit messy. The photo is what I mean by messy. I know that it will come off in the shower tomorrow. That is one thing I love about painting my nails and then showering.

 

I've becoming known in my family for my great nail techniques. My grandma made me use the Sally Hansen nail strips on her nails. They are supposed to last up to 10 days. Hers lasted four days. They were nice enough to send her a free set. Here are what her nails look like now! The design is really cool.

That is all for now. I will be glittering shoes on Wednesday. Keep an eye out :)

Love,
Ally Norm

Nail Tutorial: Tips and Tricks

As a woman on the go, you need to do your nails in a hurry. I just recently read in Allure magazine that you should wait 25 minutes for your nails to dry. Who has that kind of time nowadays? It doesn't matter whether you're in college, a full-time job or a stay-at-home mom. We are busy women.

This blog is going to give you a few simple tricks to make your nails look great.

Trick number one: Push back your cuticles.
This is a trick that will make your manicure look better. This way the nail polish will adhere to the nail. When you polish over the cuticles the polish doesn't look smooth. I apply cuticle oil first and then push back the cuticles.

Trick number two: How to remove ripples from you nails.
Ever in a hurry to see if your nails are dry? You touch the nail and presto you can see a great finger print. There is an easy way to remove that. Go grab your nail polish remover. Put a little nail polish remover on the pad of your finger. Use slow, circular motions over the messed up area. That should cure the mishap. After you are done, apply a top coat.

Trick number three: How to remove the nicks you get.
You can remove nicks similar to the way you get rid of ripples. The only difference to this is first apply a dash of polish over the nick. Rub around the polish to even out the layers and add a top coat.

I just bought some Orly nail polish. This is the first time I used this brand. I really liked it. Here is what three coats of Jealous, Much? looks like. I love the sea foam color.

Love,
Ally Norm

Hiatus: Coast Guard weekend

Today is usually the day I get my craft on. I am taking a small hiatus.

I am getting ready to take a mini vacation. I leave tomorrow for Grand Haven, MI, and I come back Sunday. I am really excited. My boyfriend will get to meet my mother and stepfather. He will also get to experience one of the best weekends at Grand Haven. That would be Coast Guard weekend.

We will fill our time with carnival rides, craft shows, walks on the beach/pier and fireworks. I am really looking forward to this weekend. I am excited to see all the cool things on sale at the craft show. I know I will be buying a glass nail file! Who knows what else.

I hope that I can bring back some inspiration for my blog. I plan to take pictures. Maybe you readers will be lucky enough to see them.

I'd love to hear comments on if you tried something...Let's be friends y'all :) Did it work? yay or nay? Do you like what you see? Do you want to see pics of Coast Guard :)

Love,
Ally Norm