Unconventional Ombre

So, I chose to do this tutorial, because quite honestly some of us are lazy and don't always want to go buy every item you don't have just in order to make your nails look pretty. That's not to say I don't think it's important to have nice looking nails, trust me...I'm not saying that. But there are other ways of doing an Ombre nail without a make up sponge. And I wasn't about to take a trip to the store for just that.

Things you'll need:
- 4 nail polishes, preferably all the same color hue in different shades as well as a sparkley one(of course top coat)
- Paper towels
- Acetone to clean up the edges

Step 1- Put on your base coat, lightest color. Let it dry.
Step 2- Fold over a piece of paper towel so that you have a corner to work with, put your medium shade of nail polish on the corner (don't let the nail polish soak in all the way or else you won't have much going onto you nail).
Step 3- Start to smudge the color on your nail(this might take some practice). Smudge as much as you see fit.
Step 4- Take a look at your nail, make sure it's faded enough. Or faded to your liking.
Step 5- Apply your darkest shade to another corner of the paper towel.
Step 6- Smudge the nail polish in starting from the edge of the nail and fading down(you can always go back with the medium shade to help create a good fading effect if you need to).
Step 7- Take a look, make sure the fade is how you want it.
Step 8- Apply a sparkley nail polish just on the faded part of the nail.
Step 9- Top coat and dry!

And you're done!!

Evil Eye Tutorial

This design is probably one my favorite ones that I've done. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

What you'll need:
+ Any colors of polish for the base, dots and eye color
+ A black sharpie
+ A dotting tool, or homemade dotter(stick a flat headed pin at the end of a pencil)

1. Paint you nails the base color.
2. Dot your nails in lines, usually the amount of dots is 3 and then 4 beside that and so on. Not parallel, more diagonal.
3. Having kept the middle nail with no design, now you put a medium size dot in the center of the nail for the eye color.
4. After the eye color has dried, take your Sharpie and draw an almond shape around the center of the eye.
5. With your Sharpie draw some rays at the top of the eye.
6. Dot the center of the eye to make the pupil and then circle around the colored part of the eye with the Sharpie.
7. WAHLAH! You're done. Put a top coat on and your good to go! For this design I used a matte top coat. Remember, you don't want to smudge your designs, the dots or the eye, so make sure you're careful when you put whichever topcoat you choose to use!

Revamped!

As some of you may or may not know, last year I started a blog called "Leopard Look Book". But also as of last year, I started an entirely new venture into the world of making jewelry. So, there after creating my business "Vaugner Jewelry", I got the idea of having a blog that went a long with it. So here it is, the new blog, "ZE VAUGNER"!!!

For those of you who don't know, I'm part German, and my last name that I married into just so happens to be....German! Anyway, I like my new last name pronounced in it's correct pronunciation, this is where "Vaugner" comes into play. It has nothing to do with anything other than, that is my last name, and what better name to associate my business with.

Enough said. I've revamped my old blog to this now very fitting one. And I will be updating this one.

I'll be posting nail tutorials, make up, hair etc. tutorials. I'll share with you my delicious recipes, keep you updated on my jewelry line etc. etc. etc.

Stay tuned!!

Curve Appeal

Okay, so there's probably a million and one different body types, obviously we're not all the same but thankfully with so many similarities it makes dressing bodies and designing clothing for them not so difficult.

Here are the most common bodytypes, I realize there are many more than this but even this can give you a good idea of how to dress to your curves.

Top heavy - You'll need to balance out your top half with your bottom, most of the time this means, don't pick the tightest pants you can find. What I've done here is chosen a flare jean that gives emphasis on the leg and normally I wouldn't have done such a strong top but the pattern is vertical, lengthening the upper body and the folding of the blouse is detracting from the chest area. The rest of the items obviously having nothing to do with body shape but were placed here only for the fact that I loved how these peices went with the outfit!

*Rag & Bone - The Low Rise Flare Jeans Style #:RGJEA40172 $187.00
*Funktional - Stripe Fold Front Shirt Style #:FUNKT20058 $110.00
*Giuseppe Zanotti - Extreme Platform Pumps Style #:GIUSZ40088 $750.00
*Diane von Furstenberg - Harper Spotted Haircalf Hobo Style #:DIAVF41591 $745.00
*Marc by Marc Jacobs - Ruber Turnlock Bracelet Style #MARCJ42114 $28.00
*Karen Walker - Super Duper Strength Sunglasses Style #:KWALK40035 $250.00

(YES! PRICEY! You never have to shop designer only brands, keeps your eyes pealed for similar looks, they're always out there!)

Pear - We need to bring more attention to your top half, whether it's eccentuating your shoulders or just flat out, your boobs. Adding texture to your tops is going to even everything out. Skinny jeans are not always going to work for you, but in some cases it will, they can be simple but sometimes they just end up making your booty the eyecatcher. Here I chose this amazing bright button up with pockets, this is bringing in texture and symetry. Then I added this Becky jacket, with a bold pattern your eyes are going straight to it. Lastly, a wide leg dark wash denim give your legs a more propotional look to them. Pair this with some amazing accessories and you're good to go!

*BLK DNM - Short Sleeve Silk Military Shirt Style #:BLKDN30004 $95.00,
*Rebecca Minkoff - Becky Jacket Style #:RMINK41043 $398.00,
*James Jeans - Palazzo Jeans Style #:JADEN40081 $135.80
*Cambridge Satchel - Fluoro Satchel Style #:CAMBR30000 $155.00
*Modern Vintage Shoes- Lorisa Wedge Sandals Style #:MODVI40021 $192.50
*Michael Kors - Parker Glitz Chronograph Watch Style #:MKWAT40070 $250.00

Hourglass - Flowy fits best + something tight ;). I'd know, this is my body type. Tight clothing is not bad especially when you have proportional curves but sometimes it's best when the tiniest part of your body is shown off rather than the biggest parts of your body are. With this outfit though I chose a tight bottom and an off the body slouched type of top to keep the accentuation not completely on the hiney.

*Kelly Wearstler - Souxsie Faux Leather Pants Style #:KWEAR30068 $395.00
*Jeffrey Campbell - Martini Studded Loafers Style #:JEFFC40085 $170.00
*Velvet - Freeda Native Top Style #:VELVE40234 $130.00
*Milly - Elle Metallic Leather Mini Bag Style #:MILLY40313 $198.00
*Eugenia Kim - Kurt Hat Style #:EUGEN40166 $82.50
*MAC - Lipstick Pink Popcorn $15.00

Everything fits - Everything fits this bodytype but it might not always flatter. Creating some structure with different pieces will give your slender fit some shape. Here I picked this bright pop of yellow in a skirt with lots of texture and as it comes away from the body it adds some dimension. On top, giving some drama is some black lace and last but not least some amazing pumps to show of some long lean legs. Beautiful ;)




*Diane von Furstenberg - Missy Skirt Style #:DIAVF41282 $385.00
*AIR by alice + olivia - Lace Long Sleeve Top Style #:ALICA30013 $154.00
*Rebecca Minkoff - Giraffe Haircalf MAC Clutch Style #:RMINK40954 $350.00
*Giuseppe Zanotti - Sculptural Peep Toe Pumps Style #:GIUSZ40094 $795.00
*Fallon Jewelry - Crystal Spike Ring Style #:FALLO20210 $120.00

*Fallon Jewelry - Leather Stud Bib Necklace Style #:FALLO20195 $215.00

Remember, you have to play with clothing, see how things fit. But if you stick to basic rules that go alone with your shape, it'll be a lot easier.

Playing with Displacement

Simplicity in design is sometimes what really sets your nails apart from everybody else's. And amazing colour to go with that simplicity is a work of art. Play around with different colours in this tutorial, anything goes!

What you'll need for this:
* Two different colours of nail polish and topcoat.
* Tape
* Small craft scissors and eyebrow scissors

1. Paint your tape half/half so it's symmetrical. Let it dry and then put a topcoat (this is going to SAVE the design from getting completely smeared).
2. Tape off half your nail, paint it, let it dry.
3. Pull the tape off, correct any imperfections in the line.
4. Paint the other half of your nail, let this dry.
5. Put a top coat on! (Yet again, this is making it so the design doesn't smear when you go to put a topcoat over EVERYTHING.)
6. Cut a strip of the tape that's painted, place it on your nail with the colours opposite how you painted it. Clip the excess tape with your eyebrow scissors.
7. Same exact thing as in number 6. Now, you've already put a top coat on both the tape and on your nail before assembling, putting a topcoat over everything altogether will keep the tape from coming up.

* If the tape DOES happen to come up, use your topcoat as a sort of glue, paint it on the sticky part of the tape and press done and do another topcoat over the entire nail and you're good!

Pugs and Polish

My babygirl Yoko has inspired me to make a tutorial in her honor, and it actually turned really well :)

For this all you need is:
* tan/nude polish
* black polish
* white polish
* top coat
* small paint brush or thin tip polish
(you can get a huge variety of these at Sally's)

1. Paint your nails. I like to accentuate the pug so I paint the nail I'm doing the design on a different colour.
2. Gather your tan, white, black and topcoat.
3. Start with the face of the pug, using your tan polish create a side ways type oval. Let this dry a bit.
4. Start creating the infamous pug mouth, using your small paint brush/pre bought thin polish brush, create a type of half flower, it's very much like creating petals.
5. The eyes, using the black, create two dots for the eyes, don't make these too tiny, you'll be adding more to them later. Let them dry.
6.The ears, for these you're basically just making diagonal round tipped triangles.
7. Detailing the eyes, using your white polish and a small brush, dot the black eyes you've already created. Let this dry a little.
8. Even more detail, using the black again, make yet another dot on the white, just so the white shows through. Let this dry and then a topcoat is applied. And remember that if you don't let this dry enough, it will smear with the topcoat.

You can play up this design so much, making the eyes even bigger, adding bows etc. It's a super cute look.