Welcome to Pink Meringue!

Hello, hello! Welcome to Pink Meringue and my very first post for the blog! Today, I am going to start off with telling you a bit about myself, what you can expect here, and then a quick couple of manicure tips & tricks.

I am currently a Cosmetology student, with a long time interest and passion for the beauty and fashion industry's. I love shopping, playing with makeup, & creating new hairstyles. This is everything that you can expect to find in this blog and more. I love reviewing new product and am a huge product junkie. I have used anything from Clinique, Lancome, Urban Decay, Paula's Choice, & Murad, to Stila, Smashbox, Bedhead, Kenra, Terax, & Mac. If there is ever a particular product that you would like me to cover, whether it be review, suggested use, hints & tips, please leave a comment below and I will be happy to cover it.

You can expect to see just that here: product reviews, makeup and hair tutorials, the latest manufacturer coupons, or sites that I use to find my insane deals! How to refresh your wardrobe to make last year's fashion staples work this year, manicure tips, etc. I'm hoping to become one of your daily rituals. If you stop by, please leave a comment! It makes my day to know you've been here, even if it is just out of curiosity and to sneak a peek. Let me know you've been here. Occasionally I will do a product give-away, so if you've stopped by it might be good to let me know. Hint, hint. ;)

So for today, I am going to start with a simple, basic tip & trick. So let's say you've decided to skip the salon and give yourself a manicure. Hooray! No reason to feel ashamed! We would rather see you give yourself a mani, than come into the salon with green hair because you've tried to color your hair yourself. I personally feel that the biggest building block to a beautiful mani is exfoliation and beautiful cuticles. To start off right and to save some time, begin with pushing your cuticles back after a shower. The heat & moisture from the shower will loosen those cuticles right up and make them more pliable and easy to push back. Ever wonder why you soak your nails in a salon? This is why! To make those cuticles even more soft and pretty, use some olive oil on them. Yes, I said olive oil! This super moisturizing oil can be used for many more uses other than just your next salad dressing. But we'll get more in depth with that later. My plan is to give you an entire blog dedicated to olive oil and it's uber moisturizing properties.

Massage the oil into your cuticles for about 30 seconds to a minute and then leave on for about 2-3 minutes before rinsing off with a MILD soap and luke warm water. For a mild soap, I highly recommend Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day handsoap. Any of the scent variations they make are absolutely blissful.

Continue with your manicure, but right before polishing be sure to use a non acetone polish remover to remove any residual oils from your nail beds. This will ensure that your polish stays as long as it possibly can. Always remember: Use a base AND a top coat to fully protect the longevity of your manicure.

Hope you enjoyed the first blog here, and that you learned something! There will be much more to come in the future. Thanks in advance for any comments, and subscribers.

Never go through life, without a passion for beauty & fashion!

Much Love,

PMBB