Polished on a budget.

I have been busy collecting some really great ideas to save you money on your nail addiction. 
As I find more I will add them in. If you have your own great economising tips please put them in the comments.
*  Buy 100% acetone from the hardware store in large bottles. It is exactly the same as store bought polish remover, and if you are worried about it being drying on the hands, you can add a small amount of glycerine as a softener.

* Instead of pouring remover into a bowl and then throwing away the excess, purchase some plastic pump dispensers from Amazon or Ebay and refill over and over. They are really handy too, and stop you making a mess of your mani when you are cleaning up.

*  You can use one cotton ball for all ten fingers if you unroll it and tear the strip into sections.
Check out this handy tutorial with pictures from http://www.thesobremesa.com/


How to remove polish with one cotton ball.



* Cheap drugstore polishes can work just as well as expensive ones.  True!

Some stamping polishes are super cheap if you shop online as well, so do a quick google on places which ship to your location.  I haunt the discount bins at all the chemists, supermarkets and department stores to make sure I never pay full price. 



*Use paper masking tape to cut out designs, make stripes and other shapes on your nails. 


This beautiful mani by NailZilla uses regular cheap paper masking tape.

http://www.nailzilla.com/

*Use your stamper to make decals instead of buying stickers.

Messy Mansion has a great tutorial here which shows you step by step how to make your own full nail decals and infilled images.

http://www.messymansion.com.au/advanced-technique-stamper-decals/

*A cheap option to cuticle oil is almond massage oil, jojoba or olive oil. Blend your own and add your own non allergenic essential oil.  Add a capsule of vitamin E oil which acts as a preservative and it should should last you years if stored in a cool dark place.

* Buy a small bottle of polish thinner solution. It will help revive old polish which has gone gloopy and save you from throwing out the last half of the bottle. Remember that some polishes need specific thinners, like Seche Vite.

* Try and double up on polishes, some are great as base coat colours and for stamping, so if you can collect those then you are spending money wisely.




*Remember this can be a hobby you can keep for decades, so a little investment will go a long way. 

AIS Sunday Stamping Challenge ~ August 4th.

This post was for the AIS Sunday Challenge, "Plates Ending in 8", 4/8/13.

I used a beige base coat, Champagne, by Savvy. Its a super cheap brand, but this is one colour I wear over and over. The second coat was a holographic nude by Born Pretty. Its number 6 from their collection.

I was using a Bettina plate (B18) design, from the Betina nail plate collection.  

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Plaquinhas-Betina


I stamped using Kleancolor Metallic Brown. 
Once the stamping was dry, I top coated with Seche Vite.

I found all the polishes very simple to use, and the flash from my camera picked up colors not visible in the daylight. (Its Winter here in Australia, and very dull at the moment.)  
For once I managed to get through a whole mani without repainting anything, and clean up was a simple once over using acetone and a tiny square end hobby brush.  
I hope you enjoy, and happy stamping!