Finger Paints, OPI and Nail Art Polishes Haul, Plus Organizing Ideas

Here are just some of the items I got from this amazing nail supply store that I found in our neighborhood. Take note: it's not a beauty supply store, it is a huge store solely for nail care, nail art and polish supply. It's a nail polish/nail art enthusiast's candy store! Tons of nail polish, rhinestones, nail art decals, stickers, artificial and natural nail art, the works! I believe they are also wholesaler for a lot of nail salons in our area. Good thing they do retail too. Here are some stuff I bought from that store.


I finally found some Designer Series from OPI in our area. I got DS in Opulence and Signature that are really pretty. I also got Fiji Weejee Fawn which would be a great office color. Speaking of the office, I don't really indulge in nail art because I work in a very conservative office environment, but it would be fun to play with nail art on weekends. I decided to get some supplies like the striper nail art polishes in silver and gold.


On my second trip to that nail supply store, I got some more striper polishes (they have extra long and thin brushes that would be great for adding designs to your nails). They are pretty inexpensive for $2 each. I also got a french tip brush that would make it a lot easier to apply french tips to your own nails. You simply apply the white tip using your white nail polish, then dip the brush in 100% pure acetone and clean the bottom of the white tip to make it a neat crescent shape. Then apply the base color over the white tip, apply top coat and you're done!


I also got OPI Significant Other Color polish, and it is such a pretty lavender with lots of white pearl shimmer. It is very pretty.







I usually don't do nail designs for the reasons stated above, but I couldn't resist getting this dotter set for only $7. It has 5 dual-sided dotters that would be perfect for any kind of design you can think for your nails. Now that I have this, I am pressured to do some designs!



This one though is a haul from Sally Beauty Supply. Easel Come, Easel Go was bought for a co-polish enthusiast, while I got the Pretty as a Portrait and Putty in My Hands for my own collection.

Speaking of my nail polish collection, I have been having a hard time looking for a particular polish because they were just housed in those six-pack cartons that 8ty8 or Head-2-Toe online nail stores ship their nail polishes in. I finally asked my husband to make me a nail polish display rack we often see in nail salons, but he made me several nail polish drawers instead. I have a desk that has a significant amount of vacant space, so he decided to put that space to good use. He made several drawers with rollers and compartments that would house my polish and nail care tools and inclements. Here is what he came up with (the polishes were not yet organized when this picture was taken; it was hubby who dumped everything haphazardly):


The "Don't Bite It" anti-nail bite polish is for my 5-year-old. Note for moms: Do your kids get sick most of the time in school or daycare? They probably bite their nails or put their fingers in their mouths a lot. Schools and daycares are germ factories, so I had to prevent my child from putting his hands in his mouth. I paint his fingernails with the anti-nail biting polish regularly. I told him he would get sick if he bites his hands (he thought it was the "poison" on his nails), and the nasty bitter taste prevents nail biting. This anti-nail biting polish single-handedly helped my child become healthier in school and daycare.

Obviously, this wouldn't hold all my polishes so he is making maybe 3 more of these. I love how convenient it is because it is built right in my desk, so I can just pull the drawers from where I am sitting right now and pick which color I want to use. I also love the fact that the polishes are neatly tucked away so our room isn't cluttered with dozens of polishes all over the place.



Remember this ingenious idea, again from my MacGyver husband? This is exactly the position I want my brushes to be in while drying from their weekly washes, especially my synthetic mineral makeup kabuki and flat-top brushes because it takes one whole day for them to dry up. I want all the moisture away from the ferrules and the base of the hairs, so I want them upside down. My husband thought of doing it another way, so he decided to make this for me:



It's a wet foam for fresh flowers that you can buy at Wal-Mart or any other kind of general merchandise store. He skewered it with a pipe thing and attached suction cups on either side and attached it to the wall of the bathroom. I have three more of these so I can replace the wet foam after several uses. You just gotta admire the ingenious ways you can dry your makeup brushes that hubby comes up with!