Fifty-Two Weeks

Instagram Change Hi Everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that my Instagram name has changed! Since it i no longer the year of the Radiant Orchid, I have changed my name to @amandagrams89.  Make sure you follow me on Instagram to see sneak peaks of the week's colors, other nail inspiration and to see what I am doing in my free time! Also, the #fiftytwoweeksofnails is what I use on all of my posts, so make sure to tag your nail photos too! Want me to follow you? Just let me know! Be Radiant! Amanda #fiftytwoweeksofnails @amandagrams89

Some Radiant Vintage Violet with a dash of Tink-Her-Bell Better late than never right?! Sorry this past week's post is a bit late - such a hectic week for me! But here it is: This week's color of the week is a lovely combination of Two Ulta brand Salon Formula Nail Lacquer polishes.  The base coat color I chose to go along with our Radiant Orchid theme of the year is Vintage Violet . This polish color is so lovely! Vintage Violet is a pale pink creme polish that went on smooth as butter. It also dried really fast too!!! I give this polish an A++ on the fast drying time!  As well, as I look down upon my nails (almost a week later) I notice that I only have ONE chip in my polish! Holy Cow, isn't that great?! Fast drying and Long lasting.  As you can also see, this past week I was in the mood for a bit of sparkle on my nails. So I paired Vintage Violet with a great pink glitter polish called Tink-Her-Bell . I love glitter polishes and this one is making...

Wakeup Wisteria Radiance Hi Everyone! This week's color of the week is so lovely! It's a great shade of purple that is perfect for the blog. Wakeup Wisyeria is a purple polish by PIXI Beauty by Petra and I am so excited to talk about it on the blog! This is the second time that the Wisteria plant has cropped up on the blog - for another wisteria based polish, check out my other post . As "Makeup to Wakeup" PIXI is all about being "flawless in a few fuss-free minutes" and this polish does just that! This Wakeup Wisteria polish went on smooth in about two coats of color. Each coat only took minutes to dry! How nice is that!? I am sometimes time crunched when painting my nails, so I always love a good polish that dries quickly.  I have also had on this polish for about three days now, and I don't have a single chip yet. Three days isn't saying much, but I have done a lot of typing and even more hand washing over the past coup...

Happy Fourth of July Hi Everyone! I hope you all are getting ready to have a great Fourth of July weekend! I know I am! A cookout, visiting with family, and day of rest are what I have in store for myself this weekend.  To get ready for my nice weekend ahead, I painted my nails! (Surprise, surprise!) And here is the simple manicure that I did to help amp up my look for the fourth!  For the blue color Julep's Monaco, which turned out to be a great blue color to represent the blue we see for the fourth! It went on smoothly and dried quickly! If you are interested in purchasing Monaco , which is also inspired by the color for this past spring, check out Julep.com. I got my bottle in a Sparklers trio set!  For the red color, I picked out a great Essie color that I have featured on the blog before   called Forever Yummy. This color finally looks good on me now that I have a bit of a tan! You can purchase Essie polish at almost any big name local drug...

Freedom!! Here's a little freedom from Zoya - pick any three colors of nail polish for FREE and only pay for the shipping and handling! For more information, check out Zoya's Blog .  I just got this email this morning and I already picked my free colors! The colors I chose were even from the new Tickled and Bubbly collection!  If you have been wanting to try some Zoya polish, now is your chance to do it for super cheap! Usually bottles of Zoya are $9+ so this is really a great steal if you pick your color choices wisely!To head on over to start shopping just go to Zoya.com . Happy Shopping! Be Radiant! Amanda #fiftytwoweeksofnails @theradiantamanda 

An exciting collaboration! I just got a great email this morning! Refinery29 and Maybelline have paired up to bring you some of the newest trends in beauty! Exciting!  Here is what Refinery29 had to say about this collab: "The Fashion and Beauty Dream Team You've Been Waiting For (We're On It) If you've Ever wondered how to master a neon lip or a hard-to-pull-off runway look, we've got a new online goldmine to bookmark pronto. Introducing CITY from Maybelline New York, your go-to site for easy-to-follow makeup tutorials, steal-now inspiration, and a bevy of beauty tips. And-drumroll, please-Refinery29 has signed on to lend its fashion savvy to the site for the rest of 2014.  Yep, R29 and Maybelline have partnered up to become the ultimate beauty and fashion dream team. We'll be serving fresh CITY content to the reg (think must-have pieces of the season and a weekend-style video series). And, to take your crushing to the next level, we'll be get...

Glam Roc Radiance Hi Everyone! Im keeping it short and sweet this week - it's only Tuesday, but its been a long week for me already! This weeks color of the week is an intense dark, almost black, purple Stardust Finish by Julep named Glam Roc.  Glam Roc is a great polish that went on easy and dried really fast. However, I really don't think I was very prepared for how dark this purple would really look on my nails. A lot of my friends thought I had on black sparkly polish. I also found that it took me a little longer to get use to the texture effect the Stardust Finish left on my nails.  If you are interested in getting your own bottle of the dark beauty, check out  Julep.com . If you have used a polish you really enjoyed or have some nails you would like to show off, please feel free to share them on the blog!! Be Radiant! Amanda #fiftytwoweeksofnails @theradiantamanda

1500 Views! The blog has finally reached 1500 views! I am sending out a big thank you to everyone who has continually been reading and spreading the word about Fifty Two Weeks ! You all rock! If you aren't already doing so - check the blog out on Instagram! @theradiantamanda or #fiftytwoweeksofnails and please please please send pictures or contact me about posting about your nails on the blog!! Be Radiant! Amanda

Don't Pick It! I think most of us are famous for this, myself included, but for the sake of our precious nails we need to stop picking at our gel polish and start taking it off the right way! In today's post I will take us through the proper steps of safely removing gel polish at home. However, my personal advice is to always try and have a licensed nail technician take your gel polish off if you have the funds and time to do so. (Here is a detail image of damage that can be done to your nail if you do not remove gel polish correctly.) Part 1: Set up your work area To minimize the damage to you nail plate you want to make sure you have the right tools for removing your gel polish. Here are the key items you will need, and why, to do the job right: Nail file - for roughing up the surface of the nail polish Acetone - this breaks down the polish and makes it easy to come off Ten small cotton balls (or five large one pulled in half) - to soak in the acetone A...

Now Trending in Nail Art: the Radiant Orchid Check this out! I got an email today from one of the nail sources, Nails Magazine, I use and they showed how Radiant Orchid is inspiring new nail art trends!  http://www.nailsmag.com/article/107306/trend-watch-radiant-orchid?ref=enews-latest-20140430&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_campaign=The-Latest-from-NAILS-20140430 After you read the article, I would love to know what you think about Radiant Orchid inspired nail art! If you have had your nails done recently, feel free to share! I would love to feature them on the blog. Be Radiant! Amanda #fiftytwoweeksofnails @theradiantamanda

FLOWER Radiance Good Evening Everyone! I am super excited for this weeks color of the week. Its a color by a new brand called Flower by Drew Barrymore.  Not only does this brand have nail polish, but they also have other great beauty products that you should try out.  I for one, just love the brand's philosophy: Philosophy You no longer have to spend a lot of money to get the quality cosmetics you want and deserve. How do we do it? We do not pay for advertising. Where other beauty brands spend a vast percentage of the cost of their products on ads, we do not. Drew, as an owner of the brand, takes pride in promoting Flower, which in turn allows us to put all of our resources into the formulas and packaging, and not into advertising. Custom-formulated with the same ingredients used in luxury make-up, our exclusive botanical-infused Soft-Focus Complex illuminates for a lit-from-within effect. All products are proudly made in the USA and are never tested on anim...