#NailArt Tuesday: Awesome Designer Stuff I Can Actually Afford

I love designer stuff -- guess I'm a snob like that -- but the truth is I can't really afford it as much as I would like to. So, I get super insanely excited when beauty brands do partnerships with the badass designers that I dig.

The latest: Sally Hansen's Fashion Week Inspired shades for Prabal Gurung, Alexander Wang and Tracy Reese. Not only are the polishes $8 each, they're also are part of the Complete Salon Manicure line, which might be the easiest polish to DIY of all time. (The formula is designed to not only paint nails, but add a high-sheen topcoat that prevents chipping, too.) And while I love all three collections, I'm kind of obsessed with Prabal's the most -- the shades are just so freaking fierce.

The Spring 2013 Prabal Gurung show took inspiration from the amaze sculptor Anish Kapoor, and featured gauzy tees, chiffon tops and geometric designs that are Gurung's trademarks. To compliment his line, he created three lacquers with Sally Hansen: Apparition, a gunmetal shade I plan on rocking for nights out; Resurrection, a grayish blue that looks made for a summer pedi; and Angel Bite, an incredibly sultry deep red. I swear I'm gonna wear it on my toes till the end of time, and my editor, Rachel, swears she may just only wear it for the rest of her life. Frankly, it's the first time a seen a really cool, bluish red.

Did I mention each of the bottles cost $8 each? That's a LOT cheaper than this Prabal scoopneck dress I've been lusting after. Thanks to Sally Hansen I can now at least say I own something from the designer.

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#NailArt Tuesday: Galaxy-Inspired Tips

You guys!!! I am feeling really proud right now. I've been gawking over the idea of galaxy-inspired nails for, like, months and I finally figured out how to do it on my own. And guess what? It looks AWESOME. Even though you need like five different polishes, it's a worthwhile time investment for the fabulous result. It's so pretty it makes my heart flutter. (Once a beauty girl, always a beauty girl, I guess.)

You'll need:

First, set yourself up, cause as I mentioned, this is a process. Open all the polishes almost all the way, cut your sea sponge or makeup sponges into one-inch chunks and lay out a piece of paper you can cover in polish. Oh, and pull up an awesome galaxy picture for inspiration. I used the one pictured here.

Next, do a basic mani with your dark navy polish, and let dry completely. Do NOT mess this part up for fear of a chunky polish job. [Ed. note: Shudder. - RJ]

Once your nails are dry, pour about six drops of the bright pink polish on to a piece of paper. Dab the corner of a sponge into the polish, tap off any excess lacquer on the paper, the tap the sponge on your nail to create a nebula-like shape. It'll look like weird pink tie dye at this step, but don't stress. Repeat on all ten nails.

Next, pour about six drops of the purple-mauve polish on to a piece of paper. Use a new sponge's corner to dab polish over the edges of the pink nebula. No need to be super neat here. Then repeat the dabbing again with the silvery sparkly polish. It should kind of look galaxy-ish.

Now for the finishing touch: Dip a clean sponge in your sparkly navy lacquer and cover your entire nail except for a *little* bit of the center of the "nebula" you already made. Make sure there's only a tiny bit of polish, or you'll accidentally cover all of your hard work.

At this point, you can cover with a coat of clear, sparkly polish, but I prefer a subtle-looking galaxy so I skipped that. You can also touch up any sad-looking nebulas.

Finish with a super light layer of top coat to seal everything in and viola! You're nails are out of this world -- pun intended.

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Image Credit: via Pinterest

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Tuesday To Do: Outnet's Fashion Clearance Sale

It's the most wonderful time of the year... Aka The Outnet's clearance sale

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