The Perfect Barielle Mani + GIVEAWAY!

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Good morning, readers. I have an exciting post for you today! Barielle asked me to select which products I would use to create the perfect Barielle mani and I'm going to share those with you today. Barielle was also generous enough to send a second set for me to give away to one of you!! I'm going to show you step by step how I created my mani below. A twist on Tutorial Tuesday, I suppose. 

Let's take a look at the products I chose:

Extra Gentle Cuticle Minimizer, Fortifying Nail Builder, No-Chip Speed Dry, Intensive Nail Renewal Oil, Money Talks nail color, Designer's Shoe nail color, and Decadence Nail Color.

Step 1) Apply Barielle Extra Gentle Cuticle Minimizer to clean, dry cuticles. Wait 2-3 Minutes, and then gently push back cuticles with the orange stick. Finally, wash with warm soapy water to remove residue. I really liked this gentle cuticle gel, I've had issues with harsher cuticle removers in the past and they've caused peeling of my actual nail layers. I had no issues with this one at all.

Step 2) Once your nails are dry from washing, apply one coat of Barielle Fortifying Nail Builder. This is a base coat for overworked, stressed nails.  I liked this base coat, it applied nicely and dried quickly for me to apply color shortly after.

Step 3) Apply 2 coats of Barielle Money Talks nail color. This is a mint creme and 2 coats were needed for full coverage. It didn't perfectly level itself, but topcoat evened out everything in the end. 

Step 4) Use Barielle Decadence nail color and a medium dotting tool to make 3-4 blobby dots on each nail. 

Step 5) Use Barielle Designer's Shoe nail color and a small dotting tool to make squiggly "C" shapes to kind of outline the blob dots. We are going for a leopard print so don't make them perfect. 

Step 6) Using the same small dotting tool and Barielle Designer's Shoe nail color, add some small "C" shapes and uneven dots in the open spaces on the nail.  I like to do one or two more than the number of big leopard print spots, but not too many that it overwhelms and crowds on the nail.

Step 7) Let your nails dry at least 15 minutes. I was able to touch my nails and had no marks appearing before moving forward. Then, carefully apply Barielle No Chip Speed Dry top coat. 

• Let's talk top coat for a minute, shall we? As a person that primarily wears nail art and not a solid color mani, top coat is a BIG hit or miss for me. After spending an hour or more on nail art and then applying a top coat that smears the design is so frustrating. This Barielle No Chip Speed Dry falls somewhere in the middle.  You definitely have to wait for the polish to be dry before adding it. I tried after about 5 minutes (longer than I normally wait to apply top coat) and had a smear through a leopard spot. Once I waited longer, I was able to carefully apply with almost no more smears. My biggest tip for applying top coat over nail art is to get a lot on the brush, and try to avoid the actual bristles touching the nail underneath. If you have enough polish beaded onto the brush, you can kind of hover over the nail spreading only the top coat without touching the polish with the bristles. So I did that extra carefully for this manicure.
• After application, I did notice a bit of a yellower tinge on the finished nail compared to without top coat, so I'm not sure if it pulled any of the other colors from the nail art or what. I'll have to try again over just a solid color to see if a yellow tint appears. 
• Other than those two points, it was a nice top coat that applied easily and dried fairly fast. It was dry to the touch within 5 minutes or less, but I had to be careful for a while to not dent it. I'm still wearing this mani after doing it yesterday, and I have no chips or smudges so I think it does what it says. It is also still shiny.
• I would definitely wear this again for a solid color mani for sure.

Step 8) Apply Barielle Intensive Nail Renewal Oil to your cuticles and gently rub into the surrounding skin to rehydrate what the polish remover and soapy water took from your skin. I usually wait around 5 minutes after adding top coat before adding cuticle oil just so I don't mess up the nail when I am rubbing it into the surrounding skin. It is SO important to apply some kind of moisturizer to your nails after you finish painting because the remover is so drying. I also like to apply cuticle oil throughout the day and right before bed. This oil applied easily with the nail polish brush and there wasn't a scent I could detect so it would be great for anyone with a sensitive nose.

And I'm finished! What do you think? Would you want to recreate this look or something similar using the products I chose for the Perfect Barielle Manicure? 

Barielle provided a new set for one of my readers so enter with the Rafflecopter Widget below. Unfortunately, because I am responsible for sending the prize, this is open to US addresses only to comply with shipping regulations. (Feel free to enter if you are international but have a friend with a US address that wouldn't mind forwarding onto you!) GOOD LUCK!

Giveaway Terms/Conditions:

Must be 18 years or older to enter.

Must have a US address for me to ship the prize.

This giveaway will last for 2 weeks.

Prize must be claimed within 48 hours of email.

Adventures In Acetone and Barielle are not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged goods.

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Don't forget to check out these products and more over at Barielle.com! You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter!

*This post was sponsored by Barielle but my opinions are my own.