Green Hair

 The day after dying my hair green. January 2013:

I used all Manic Panic colors. On the top I used Electric Lizard. On the sides near my ears I used Electric Banana. Underneath was Enchanted forest

Also January 2013!

















 So, how do you get ridiculously awesome green (or other un-natural colors) yourself? Well, you first need to start of with pretty light hair. If you're not naturally blonde, your color will still stick, it just won't be as brilliant. I only use permanent color that lifts my color maybe 3-4 times a year.  The rest of the year, I use hair color that only deposits color. Brands like Manic Panic, N Rage, ChromaSilk, Beyond the Zone Color Jamz, Clairol Jazzing. Those are the ones I have experience with. You will want to experiment with what works best for your hair type. I know a lot of my friends don't like Manic Panic because they found it'd just wash out in a couple washings. But my hair is very thick, very porous, and already chemically treated.

When I went green, I first had to consider that my hair was already a redish orange. To get the last of the permanent and temporary color out, I used a color stripper for the first time. I don't have a photo of it, but I used One 'n Only Colorfix. The clerk at Sally's Beauty Supply warned me that this stuff is VERY effective and can actually bleach your hair if you aren't careful. There are two sets of directions with this stuff, one for Full Color Correction and one for Slight Color Correction. I followed the instructions for Slight since all I wanted to do was basically speed up the color fading process that normal washing would have done.

 I actually also got my hair cut before using the ColorFix so I wouldn't need as much. I only used one box. To the left here is my hair before getting it cut. It was a straight across cut that had been growing for probably the last 6 mos. I only cut my hair once or twice a year.

 To the right here is what my hair looked like after cutting a couple inches off and also getting it layered. It was immediately a lot lighter and had more movement to it.

 Okay, here's me in my bathroom with the regular lighting from my vanity. It looks pretty orangey/gold. But if you compare it to the red red orange above, a lot lighter.

I was a bit worried that this gold would interact with the green. Then I realized... whatever, green has yellow in it and I'm not willing to do another round of the ColorFix. It is incredibly harsh and I didn't want to end up with straw hair that would fall out.

 ProTip:  I waited a week after using the ColorFix before going to dye it green. That allowed the chemicals from the ColorFix time to neutralize and wash out over a couple washes before attempting to put the Manic Panic green on.







I also used this excellent Neutralizing Shampoo by Silk Elements a few times after using the ColorFix and before dying the it green:

 

So before you dye your hair a weird color, you have a few things to consider. Is your hair light enough? If it is naturally, AWESOME. If not, you need to lighten it. Is your hair already colored? If it is, you'll either have to wait til its all washed out, bleach it or use a stripper. If your hair is already chemically treated, be very cautious to not stress it out more by going crazy bleaching it.

I learned my lesson the hard way about hair bleach when I was a teenager. I went and got the most lightest platinum blonde bottle color and used 50 Volume Cream Developer. My hair fell out in chunks when I combed it. Do not go overkill. If your hair is dark, a orangey color should suffice if you're just going to put another color over it. Lightening your hair to gray/silver is a whole different situation, so... I'll save that for another time.

Once you are ready to dye your hair a fun color (we're talking color only products that don't use Developer), start with DRY hair to dye. Yes, I know a lot of their instructions indicate your hair can be wet/towel dried but in my experience, that just dilutes the color. Your hair is like a sponge. If it is filled with water, it can't absorb the color. Section your hair if it is even shoulder length. I like to do either 4 or 6 sections. Top part with a left and right side. Bottom part with a left and right side. And the parts on the sides of your head, just above and behind your ears. Butterfly Clamps, Duckbill Clips, or even those standard Clips will work fine. Use plastic, not metal. 

Make sure you prepare your bathroom before you start dyeing your hair. It is a pain in the ass to try to get something out when you're hands and hair are covered in hair color. I get out: two hand towels, two washcloths, 90% Rubbing Alcohol, toilet paper, wide tooth comb, two grocery bags, and vinyl gloves. Make your trash can easily accessible. I lay out the two towels on my sink, open all the haircolor I think I'll need (plus two more, you never know when you have hair this long) and set it on top of the towels along with my wide tooth comb. Since my vanity is tiny, I also set a towel on the toilet lid with the two washcloths and the rubbing alcohol.

Put your vinyl gloves on! This stuff stains everything including your skin. I also wear a crappy tshirt designated for hair coloring. Same with towels, by the way, they'll get ruined. Some people say to line their face with petroleum jelly. I think that is nasty and ineffective and makes me break out and can get on the hair you're trying to color. I skip it, but my ears and neck DO end up colored. Start with the lightest color first. I recommend to put that on the top of your head because as it washes out, it will bleed into eachother. So if you put a light color on bottom and a dark one on top, the lighter color will get darker as you wash it.

Work each section until it is entirely saturated. If you're not sure, comb it out and then separate it at the scalp and examine the whole chunk. I do this a lot and it pays off. You don't want splotchy color, it is hard to fix. You kind of knead the color into your hair and squeegee it down the length of the hair. Once you're done with one section, re-clip it and move on to the next. Once you are done, if the color is all the same, you can unclip them all and smoosh them all together in one big clip on top of your head. Take your gloves off and throw them away. Then you get the hilarious and magical task of putting a grocery bag on your head. I do this because it is cheap and I have a million grocery bags. If you are classy like my mom, you have processing caps which are way easier to use. I tie two bags over my head to make sure I got a good seal. If you use a cap, one should do.

Now it is cleanup! I use a washcloth with rubbing alcohol on it to clean up all the spots on my skin. I also do this throughout the dyeing process so my skin isn't spotted. That's where the toilet paper comes in handy. You can just use a bit as needed. Alcohol is also quite effective getting color off the sink, bathtub, floor & mirror. Yes, I make a dang mess when I dye my hair. I fill the sink with lukewarm water to soak my comb and clips. Once I'm done getting the color off my skin, I use that wash cloth to wash my instruments. Set them on a towel to dry off. The other wash cloth I use in the shower. After the bag is on my head, I carefully take my hair dye shirt off, leave it inside out and hop in the shower. In the shower, I wash my face with my normal facewash. I use the washcloth to get along my hair line. 

Out of the shower your body should be pretty hair dye free. Now you get to let it set for as long as you can stand it! If its my day off, I dye my hair in the morning & I'll do chores wearing the bags on my head. Otherwise, I sleep with it on overnight. If you sleep on it, be sure to put a whole big bath towel down on your pillow case. You'd be surprised how much you can move around at night. When you go to wash your washcloths, towels, & hair dye clothes, be sure its with other such things, towels, sheets or whatever you are okay with possibly getting color on it.

In the morning, or after a few hours, you get to rinse it out. I start on my knees using the spigot (or if you have a fancy hand-shower, use that. I'm jealous!) and rinsing it out with my head upside down. This is just to get the bulk of the color out. Use lukewarm water. As cold as you can stand it really with out freezing.  Stand up and turn the shower part on. This is where it is nice to have a bunch of cheap hair conditioner. You're going to slather that in your hair and use a wide tooth comb to comb our your hair. Its ok if there's still a LOT of hair color coming out. Get your hair all nice and de-tangled. It will take more water/conditioner than usual washings. Once its all detangled, turn the water on pretty cold. You are going to have to lean your head way back so the water is only on your head and not your body. Use the comb and your hands to rinse out the color more from your hair. Instructions will say until it starts to run clear. That is silly. Just get most of it out. 

Clip your hair up once it is rinsed and you're still in the shower. Put the shower back on warm/hot. Wash your face and body well as you are probably whatever color your hair color is. If your face is tinged, use alcohol and a cotton ball when you get out. Make sure to really rinse your shower/tub out. It will also be colored. Use Comet or something with bleach in it to get it out. Or just get used to the idea of your bathtub being that color for awhile. Its going to get colored every time you wash. Use a junk towel to dry it off when you get out. And now you have awesome colorful hair!

My tips for prolonging your hair color are: Don't wash it a lot. I go anywhere from 5-10 days between washes. Use sulfate free shampoo if you can. Or at the very least, not something cheap or a clarifying shampoo. I use normal conditioner. I wouldn't use a conditioning mask til a few weeks in as they seem to strip color too. Don't use a bunch of product in your hair. Especially stuff with alcohol in it.

And that's it. Be awesome with your bad ass self. I get compliments all the time for my colorful hair. You can too! :)

Hair Dye Stash

Here's my current weird hair dye collection:

I know it is a lot and this cellphone picture isn't the best. First off, this is JUST my Manic Panic stuff.

Left to Right:
Enchanted Forest
After Midnight Blue
Vampire Red
Pillarbox Red
Purple Haze
Ultra Violet
Electric Lizard
Light Wildfire
Electric Banana
Shocking Blue


Here's my current not that weird hair dye collection. Okay, its all reds:

L'Oreal Preference Mega Reds in Dark Intense Auburn Red
L'Oreal Excellence Hi Color High lights in Copper
ChromaSilk Vivids in Red

After I dye my hair I either use the Beyond the Zone hair maque or these L'Oreal Preference after color conditioners my mom gives me. They come in L'Oreal box colors but I don't use box color and my mom's hair is about 1" long.

To answer your question, yes I have used all of these before. Right now, I am still sporting green hair. There should be a lot more posts to come about the past hair colors I've sported.

If you want to just look at pictures of colorful hair, neat hairstyles and braids that I like, Follow me on Pinterest: Epic Awesome Hair.

All this hair junk!

I'll give the quick and dirty review of each, going Top Left to Right:

Beyond The Zone Split Mender - leave in conditioner
I use this in wet, just washed hair. It says you can use it in dry hair though. The smell of this stuff is pretty non-offensive. Not strong, not weak. Its sticky when you pump it out. When it dries, it leaves my wavy-ish hair pretty weighed down, mildly crispy & straight. I like to wash and apply this at night, then comb it loose in the morning. Helps for humid days!

Beyond The Zone Waxed Out - mousse wax
Honestly, not sure why I keep this stuff around. I apply it to wet hair as directed. And while it does tame frizzies, it's also too thick. It leaves like a waxy residue on your hair. Duh, must be the wax! I'd imagine this would be great for shorter hair you're looking to give some extra body. Something my hair isn't and doesn't need.

Beyond The Zone Super Sexy - texturizing wave spray
Super easy to apply with this spritz bottle. However, its leaking if I lay it on the side. Grr. Smells kind of nasty. Apply to wet hair and let it dry. If you really saturate your hair, it'll get stiff and crispy when it dries. But I find that combing it out once its all dry, and its good to go. Similar to the Split Mender, but in my opinion, not as nice. Wouldn't buy it again, but again, I'm not actually needing more body to my ridiculously long and thick hair.

Beyond The Zone Last Call - leave in conditioner
I love this stuff hardcore. It smells fabulous, the pump spray is easy to use (and doesn't leak when on its side) and it makes my hair soft. As with the other items, I put this in wet towel dried hair and then let it dry. I've left it as is in the morning after sleeping on it to let it air dry and it looks great. Or you could comb it out. However, doesn't help with frizz as much as the Split Mender or Waxed Out.

Beyond The Zone Super Sexy - styling sauce
Its been awhile since I last used this stuff. It says apply to wet or dry hair. I'm sure I've only applied it wet. It doesn't really smell like anything at all. The consistency is pretty thick and waxy. Bad for curls, great for thinner/shorter hair. 

Just For Me! Hair Milk 
Posted about this previously. The short was: its alright but I probably wouldn't buy it again. It was given to me by my mom.

Pantene Curl Defining Scrunching Mousse
So there was a time in my life when I was trying to culture my curls a little more. My hair isn't curly, not really. It has a good wave in it when it is short (or layered) and not chemically processed. I looked for curly haired products to try to help smooth the waves and not weigh them down. This stuff was ok at that at best. Smelled great but I hated how un-touchably crunchy it made my hair. I haven't used this in ages.

Matrix Curl Life Mousse
I then decided "Maybe its just Pantene's Mousse. I'll try a brand I like more." Still mostly nope. I like the smell better. But the results were mostly the same. Made it pretty and wavy, but un-touchably crunchy! I like to be petted, so this is a deal breaker.

Bottom Left to Right:
Living Proof Prime Style Extender
I used this just this past weekend. I washed and conditioned my hair as normal, towel dried, and used the entire tube on my hair. I think it smoothed out my hair quite nicely. But then I immediately had it braided the next day. The combination of this stuff and the light clear hair gel the braider used wasn't a good combo because I could only wear the braid 4 days instead of my normal 7. My scalp was super itchy and irritated. There's some red itchy spots on the nape of my neck that I'm not sure if it was this stuff or the gel or what. I'll give it another try sometime because I liked how it felt and looked after it dried (which took longer than normal by the way).

Josie Maran Argan Oil Hair Serum 
Straight up haven't tried this yet. I'm eager to give it a try though as it was recommended to me by a hairstylist friend.



For someone who doesn't do their hair a lot or put a lot of product in their hair, I sure have a lot of stuff!

Sprite Eyes

This past Cinco de Mayo, I decided to do colorful springy-ish eyes. One of my party goers said this makeup reminded him of the sprite logo:

I can see it:

So how, you might ask, does one make awesome eyes like these? And I'll tell you!


Start off doing your regular everyday face makeup routine. (As explained in Makeup Basics). Then use that awesome Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer sitting in your makeup bag on your eyelids! Let that dry a bit. I recommend brushing your teeth or something while you wait.

You're going to need brushes and eyeshadow:

Brushes: Essence of Beauty, L'Oreal HIP, Maybelline (and the one inside the Naked Palette)

Eyeshadow (L to R): Urban Decay Naked Palette, Urban Decay Narcotic, Ben Nye LU-6 Sun Yellow, Tokidoki Robbery Palette


Start by loading up your fattest brush with your lightest color. In this case, it was the Essence of Beauty brush with the Ben Nye yellow. You apply that to your inner eye and across most of the eyelid. Next, I did the Urban Decay blue using the angled Maybelline brush. That is what you use to cut your crease. Put it right in the crease of your eye lid. I followed that out into a bit of a cat eye (which is my typical eyeshadow look, it seems to compliment my eyes well). Next, I used the HIP brush to do the Tokidoki green. You just kind of blend that in between where you cut the crease with the blue and the over all lid yellow. Finally, I used the flat end of the brush in the naked palette to apply the lightest color IN the naked palette between the blue crease area and my eyebrow.

I occasionally use my foundation brush to dust off any eyeshadow that falls on to my cheeks. If you find your colors are a little too blended because of that, you can go over them again. Be sure when you load up your shadow on to your brush, you tap the brush a little to get rid of some of that excess powder. That helps with the shadow fall. Another great tip I've found is simply using a hand mirror laying flat on your counter and leaning over and using it to put your shadow on. Gravity, bitches. The powder falls on to the mirror. I use the palette mirror that comes with my Urban Decay Naked 2 or Vice, those are both pretty big.

And boom! Final product is gorgeous:

Let's Shave Legs!

Shaving is so cumbersome. I shave my armpits every day (as long as I remember) and my legs probably only once a week unless I have a hot date. *wink wink* One of the reasons I don't like shaving is because I get crazy ingrown hairs on the backs of my thighs and bikini area. Well, if I actually shave correctly, I don't have that problem any more!

This is the basics of what I need to shave my legs & bikini area:

Left to right:
Barbasol Soothing Aloe Shaving Cream
Johnson's Shea & Cocoa Butter Baby Oil
Standard Venus razor

How To Shave:
I usually take a shower to wash off first. I use my scrubby poof as per usual. Then I turn off the shower and fill the bathtub a bit. Not even usually all the way. Now, I've been told that soaking helps with the shaving process but I normally don't soak long at all if at all. If you shave at the end of a nice long hot bath, then more power to you!

I stick both my legs out of the water and rest my heels on the lip of the tub and shave both legs at once. Well, as at once as you can get with one razor. Always spray your shave gel or cream into your hand first, then rub around in your hand and then smooth it onto your legs. I have a hilarious story of me sitting in the tub in a hotel in Chicago and I sprayed the shave gel directly onto my knee. Something about the angle of my knee, the trajectory and speed of the gel because I ended up with a big EYEBALL full of shave gel that burned like the firey furnaces of a thousand Kryptonian suns. I spent the next 20 minutes crying, rinsing it out in the shower, then in the sink, then dousing it with saline contact solution. My eyeball was red for the next day. Subsequently, I will both: 1. Never use a gel again and 2. Never spray directly on my leg. Let my lesson teach you!

I start with the area below my knees first on both legs. You don't need a crap ton of shave cream, just a light coating. I also shave the tops of my feet and toes at this time Well, I'm part Yeti you see. Clearly not Hobbit since I'm so tall! I shave against the grain. That means from your ankle up to your knee. I clean the blade off with each swipe by wiggling it around in the water. The knee itself isn't as straight forward, be sure not to shave off your knee cap. Sometimes you have to bend or straighten it to get it all.

Some ladies would stop there, but again, Yeti, so I shave my upper thighs as well. Same process as below the knee. Coat the tops of your thighs lightly with the shave cream. Shave from knee towards your body. Rinse the blade often and thoroughly. The backs of the thighs is where this gets tricky. I've heard of some ladies standing, doing a magical balancing act and twisting their trunk and sticking the leg being shaved out backwards to get to the back of their thighs. That sounds dangerous to me, who is a klutz, in a slippery bathtub. Nope. I simply put my leg behind my head. Oh? You aren't a circus freak Yeti like me? Sorry, do the one leg balancing act then. The tricky part is your back-of-the-thigh leg hair grows kind of in a circular pattern. So you're going to have to shave from the knee to the butt as well as from butt to knee. As well as from inside of your thigh up around the top and towards the outside of your thigh. It's very complicated for us Yetis.

Once you are done shaving your furry legs, drain the water. Do your house mates/yourself a favor and wait til all the water is out. Then stand up and shower, rinsing both yourself off and your leg hair down the drain. This next part is optional and I do it more in the winter than the summer. But if you have dry legs or are just going to lotion when you get out anyway, use baby oil! I used to use the regular powder smelling stuff til I found this AMAZING cocoa butter version. Its new and I whole heartedly approve. Much to my boyfriend's chagrin, I put it on in the shower with the shower still running. I squeeze a stream of it on to each part separately. First one thigh, then rub it in with your hands. Then squeeze a stream on the other thigh and so on. You have oil on your hands and the whole tub now! I use crappy shampoo (Why does he have White Rain, that stuff is awful!) or body wash to wash the oil off my hands. I also use it to wash out the tub so it isn't a Slippery Death Trap. Also, the oil makes dirt stick and makes your tub dirtier quickly. I usually end up Cometing the tub myself at some point anyway, so it doesn't bother me too drastically. Just don't kill anyone with Slippery Death Trap.

Dry off as normal whether or not you used oil. If you didn't, and you are like me and tend to get ingrowns on the backs of your thighs (or anywhere really) you can use THIS magical exlixer:

Tend Skin! Holy crap this is awesome. It is glycolic acid, which means how it works is that it chemically burns/peels a layer of your skin off allowing the hair to grow smoothly out of your skin rather than get snagged and creating an ingrown hair. Put some of this liquid on a cotton cosmetic round or cotton ball. Then apply to just shaved areas that get ingrowns. Scream in agony because it burns like the dickens! However, it is very effective. Use it up to a day or 3 even after you shave to keep from getting ingrowns. Caution not to get in your eyes, mouth, lady area or asshole. It burns even worse in those areas and I'm pretty sure could blind you and/or poison you.


So there you have it! Shave your legs with confidence!

A quick rant about some things I don't like

Here are 3 products I've been begrudgingly been using until they are gone so that I won't ever have to buy them again:

Here we have from left to right:
Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Shampoo
Neutrogena Ageless Restoratives Energy Renewal Cleanser
CVS Apricot Scrub (knock off of St. Ives)

I'll explain why I hate these will be overjoyed when I've used them all up so I can move on.

I've had the shampoo for awhile in my basement queued up to be used. I only shampoo usually on Sunday (or Wednesday and Sunday) so I don't go through it very quickly. I don't know why I bought this stuff to begin with. It's a brand I've used at my mom's house and was never impressed with it there either. My mom has very short hair, so I don't think shampoo is much of a concern for her. Having long, thick, porous & kinky white girl hair, though, the shampoo I use affects all of my hair. Not just my scalp. This stuff not only dries the shit out of my scalp & gives me dandruff, but it washed all my hair color out too! Never again!

I bought the Neutrogena face wash at Big Lots and thought "Oh hey, I love Neutrogena. This is cheap, I'll try it out." Nope. It sucks. It actually makes me break out. Consistently. I also don't like the film it seems to leave on my face afterwards. That's probably what's causing me to break out. I have pretty sensitive skin. I also get nodule, cystic acne. This seems to both aggravate that and give me white heads. Never again!

I've bought the CVS face scrub in the past but apparently I forgot how much it sucked. I kind of got it on request of my boyfriend who wanted a nice exfoliator. He and I both really liked the sample of Yu Be Foaming Skin Polish I got from a Sephora order. But the CVS stuff (and let's be honest here - the St. Ives scrub too) just isn't up to par. The Yu Be exfoliator is like a godsend. The grit is a lot finer than what you can get at CVS or St. Ives. It just smoothly buffs off dead skin. This knock off stuff, on the other hand, actually feels like gross sandpaper and my face feels rough after using it. Tony, my boyfriend, has nice, even-toned brown skin and doesn't seem to mind the knock off but does agree the Yu Be is better by a lot.


I can't wait til I'm done with these so I can move on. But I just can't justify throwing out something. So here I wait in limbo.

Wear your hair fluffy!

So what do you do the day after you wear your hair wiggly? You can wear it fluffy! In some manner. I recommend pigtails, pony tails, or another round of braids. I usually wear mine in a do-rag to sleep after wearing it wiggly to keep it from getting super matted. Sorry I don't have a photo of that. Though it is pretty funny. But do rags are useful to preserve... your hairdo!

First, brush it out in small sections. Then brush it all together. If you have long or curly hair already, you already know this. But if you don't do it piece by piece, you'll end up with a lot of hair coming out. I hardly had any come out after brushing mine out. Here's how ridiculous it looks all brushed out:

I don't wear it out like this really because the top part is pretty flat still. But there's so much body in it, its a shame to waste!

This next step might gross everyone out. Since this is about day 4 or 5 after washing it, my scalp is pretty flaky and itchy. I meticulously go through my scalp and use my fingernails to scratch out all the dandruff. I just pretend I'm giving a really good head scratch to my kitty cat or something. I periodically empty the gunk out of underneath my fingernails (a good 20 times). You'll know you are almost done when hardly anything is under your nails anymore. Make sure you get all areas of your scalp: forehead to neck, ear to ear and all in betweens. The crown of my head gets pretty gross.

That part was the nasty part. But would you rather have nasty dandruff? Hell no! After that, make sure to brush your scalp oil through your hair as best you can. It's still going to be flatter near the root of your hair no matter what you do, but it is good to get as much residual flakes out as possible and evenly distribute your scalp's natural oil.

Next, find a nice leave in conditioner or oil to put in to moisturize the ends of your hair. This is a product I had never tried before, but my mom got it for me:

 Just For Me Hair Milk. Yes, its an African American hair product for kids. But its a detangler / straightening mist that I figured I might as well give it a shot. The spray bottle was really nice. The smell was okay. Not great, not terrible. I saturated my hair pretty well with it. I alternated spraying with brushing it through. After it dried, here was the result:

Pretty straight. Really thick, had nice body. I wore it in a pony tail, but cute pigtails would have worked. My hair is normally pretty thick, but this seemed fluffier than usual. I liked it.

Braid your hair and wear it Wiggly

I love having my hair braided, wearing it braided for as long as I can stand (up to a week!) and then wearing it wiggly. That's what I call it. I guess some could call it wavy or curly. I washed my hair one day, then had my boyfriend braid it the next day. I first wet it down with this:

Beyond the Zone Last Call Leave in Conditioner. I love this line of products. I think it smells good. I love their Hair Masque (especially after coloring my hair). This smells just like that.

I sectioned it into 4 parts so the braid could be pretty tight. Here's a bad cellphone pic of what it looked like braided into 4 parts:

This is the silly outfit I wore out to the bar that night:

I wore the braid all day before, slept on it, and wore it the whole day before that night I wore it out. When you take the braids out, just use your fingers. DO NOT BRUSH OR COMB! Here's what it looked like after I fluffed it out (and wore it to the bar for several hours):

Pretty fucking amazing right? I recommend people to wear their hair like this all the time!

Rubbery nail polish

So I bought this stuff because I absolutely destroy nail polish. Normally, it  won't even make it one day before I chip it. This stuff is pretty nice though:

Illamasqua has a matte finish and feels like a coating of rubber on your nails. Now, its not perfect, but it last much longer. For me, at least 2 days. Then it starts to chip. Not super bad, but if you are a perfectionist, bad enough. You can't use a top coat on it if you want the rubber finish. But what I do to try to keep it longer is: do one thin layer on the tops of your nails, then do the edges of your nails/some of the undersides, then do another thin layer over top again. This helps it last, but I can't guarantee it. I also don't bother worrying about painting onto my cuticles. I just wait til the nails are fully dry and then take a hot shower. It lets you peel the excess paint off with ease.

It is expensive but lasts. That said, I'd wait for it to go on sale/clearance.