Lulus.com Fashion Blog

Get $5 when you sign up!

To display your photo here simply include the tag #lulusdotcom in a photo comment on our Facebook fan page, a photo tweet on Twitter or as a tag on your Instagram photo.

Beauty

Manicure Monday: Toile de Jouy Nails with Sam and Syl!

Beauty | 24 September 2012

by

Hey ladies,
We were on a quick trip to New York City last week for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week writing some articles for Chictopia and inspiration was all around us! We were able to attend over a dozen fashion shows and even though it’s not even Fall yet, we’re excited for the Spring trends that we see rolling out. One of my favourite prints ever is the elegant French classic, Toile de Jouy, and it was used generously in the Ruffian Spring/Summer 2013 collection!
Here’s our inspiration:

runway photos from Style.com

What you’ll need:
- white base coat
- konad nail stamping kit: an image plate (m71), stamper and scraper
- blue konad special polish
- nail polish remover
- quick dry top coat

Start with a few coats of your base colour and don’t worry if the coverage isn’t the greatest, it mostly gets covered anyway. My white polish is pretty chunky, so it looks ridgy but it doesn’t matter too much.

We’ve covered the whole nail stamping thing in our Lace Nails Tutorial, but I’ll try to explain the steps again if this is your first time seeing stamps! Start with your tools all within close reach. Take the special nail polish and cover the etched design that you want to use with a single coat. Then grab your scraper, apply even pressure while scraping off the excess polish.

As quickly as you can, grab the rubber stamper tool and stamp down onto the design on the plate. You need to move fast just because the thin layer of polish remaining on the plate can dry up in a second!

Once the image is transfered onto the rubber stamp, you just need to roll the stamp onto your nail, pressing down hard so that the entire image transfers to your nail.

Then use some nail polish remover to clean off the excess from the image plate, stamp and scraper and repeat the above steps to cover each of your nails. There will probably be some stamped polish on the sides of your nails but you can just clean it up with some polish remover on a cotton swab.

Top coat and you’re done! This Toile de Jouy look can also pass as a porcelain china effect! Either way, this fresh and dainty look is so eye catching you’ll be sure to get a ton of compliments!
Comments (0)>

Manicure Monday: Tribal Nails with Syl and Sam

Beauty | 10 September 2012

by

Hey ladies, 
This week we’re going to show you how to get the stylish modern “tribal” pattern nails. They look really intricate and detailed but when broken down to some easy steps, you can totally get the look in no time!

Here’s what we’re going for:
What you’ll need:
- white base coat
- white striper
- three contrast colours, I used a teal, orange and yellow.
- a black nail art pen

Start with a few coats of your base colour and don’t worry if the coverage isn’t the greatest, it mostly gets covered anyway.

Next grab your contrast colours and do some random stripes across each nail.

Just keep the colours random and do a coouple of stripes per nail. Wait for these coats to dry completely before continuing!

Then take your nail art pen and draw outlines for each of your horizontal stripes that you drew.

And now the fun part! In between each set of lines, draw any repeated geometric pattern. Some patterns I drew were triangles, zig zags, polka dots and concentric circles. Continue with the rest of your nails and then top coat!

That’s it! Once it’s broken down into a few easy steps, those really intricate nails aren’t actually that difficult to do! They’re a bit time consuming but it’s worth it for the compliments you’ll get!

 

Comments (0)>

Dry Shampoo Reviews

Beauty | 05 September 2012

by

Dry shampoo is an absolute beauty must. Even if you wash your hair every day, it’s good to keep some dry shampoo on hand for bangs-stuck-to-your-head moments, hot days, and for all around maintenance purposes. Dry shampoo is seriously my savior and I don’t know where I’d be without it. Since not all dry shampoos are created equal, I bought a few different dry shampoos to review them for you here.
Lush No Drought Dry Shampoo – Lush dry shampoo is different from others on this list in that it’s a powder instead of a spray. The powder is easy to shake into your hand or directly onto your hair and all you do is pat it onto the oily spots or finger comb it through. It soaks up all of the nasty dirt and oils and leaves behind a fresh scent of lime. I really liked this dry shampoo because it didn’t leave any white residue (as long as I blended it all in) and it made my hair look and feel so clean. The plus is the added volume you’ll get by fluffing your hair with your fingers.  
Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo – Suave is the least expensive on the list. For less than $3 per can, you can stock up on a few cans at a time and keep an arsenal of hair repair in your own home. Not only is it super cheap, but it works pretty well too. The back of the can says that it’s comparable to the splurge-worthy Renee Futerer dry shampoo and I’d say it comes pretty close. The convenient spray makes it easy to target the part in your hair (which is my problem zone) and the root line of the bangs. It smells good, it works, and it’s cheap. Just make sure to really rub the white residue into your scalp or use a towel to blend it in.
Dove Invigorating Dry Shampoo – One thing that immediately stood out to me with this dry shampoo is the smell. It smells like all Dove products do – delicious! It made my hair smell fresh and clean which is a major plus. One downside is that when you spray it, it creates a cloud of product so I’d recommend using it in a large open area. It soaked up all of the oils in my hair and added a little volume to boot!
Umberto Dry Clean Dry Shampoo – This dry shampoo should be used sparingly because it soaks up oils in the scalp like you’ve never seen. If you have dry hair already, I wouldn’t recommend this. On the other hand, if you’re prone to an oily scalp and mid-day greasy hair, this is the product for you. This dry shampoo leaves a lot of white residue behind so make sure you rub it all in with a towel and run a brush through it a few times to make sure it’s all out. Your hair will stay fresh and clean all day long.
Tresseme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo – Some people use dry shampoo for different reasons and if you’re looking for a quick, on-the-go type of dry shampoo then this is your friend. This product comes in a full size, and convenient travel sized can that can be stuffed in your purse for emergencies. I don’t like that it leaves a residue on my hair, but it does the job if you have no time to wash your hair, or you need to freshen up. 
Comments (0)>

Manicure Monday: Straw Stamp Nails with Syl and Sam

Beauty | 03 September 2012

by

Hey ladies, 
This Monday we’re going to share a really easy stamping technique with you that creates an abstract, colourful pattern. The only tool you’ll need is a drinking straw!

Here’s what we’re going for:

What you’ll need:
- a straw
- white base coat
- other complimentary colours (we used a purple, teal, lime green and hot pink)
- a quick dry top coat

Start with a light base colour on your nails. We used a pearly white but you can use any light colour that constrasts the other colours you’ll be using.

Take one of your contrast colours and drop some onto a scrap piece of paper or some foil. Take your straw and dip it into the nail polish

Then using your straw as a stamp, simply stamp it a few times on each nail. You may have to re-dip the straw every few times you stamp it.

Continue by doing the same with another colour. You don’t have to worry about it being imperfect or messy because it’s an abstract look we’re going for!

Repeat with three or four different colours!

And there you go– an adorably colourful manicure that doesn’t take much effort. It looks so intricate that a few people have been asking if they’re actually nail appliques! Try it out!

Comments (0)>

Manicure Monday: Nautical Nails with Syl and Sam

Beauty | 27 August 2012

by

Hey ladies, 
Summer fashion always means flirty little dress, denim cutoffs and flowy tops… but another trend that always screams summer is nautical fashion. The sailor inspired stripes and seaside inspirations are just so perfect for those warm months & we’ve decided to capture it in a cute manicure this week. We took the classic stripes and anchors and threw it together in a crisp red, white, and blue.

Here’s what we’re going for:

What you’ll need:
- blue base coat
- white striper
- red base coat
- quick dry top coat
- microbeads
- a toothpick

Start with a few coats of your base colour. We did blue nails with a red accent nail.

Then using your striper brush, apply thin horizontal stripes of white to your nails to get that cute sailor stripe look!

Do all of your nails with stripes but skip your accent nail

Apply a generous amount of top coat and then work quickly for the next step

Take your toothpick and just touch it to some clear polish. Then touch your toothpick to a single microbead to pick it up! You can read a bit more about microbeads in our studded nails tutorial.

Now that you’ve picked up a single microbead, you can touch it down onto your wet nail and it will stick right on! Work quickly and pick up beads one at a time and form a little anchor on your nail.

And there you have it! A cute manicure that has you ready for yachting… or maybe just a day on the docks :)

Comments (0)>

Did you see these?