Today I'm so excited to share with you Lindsay's art work. Not only does she have a rad instagram account you should check out, she also has a youtube channel! (Go give her a like and follow)

Recently Lindsay celebrated her birthday, and in true Instagram Friend form a few of us got together and pained our nails in her honour to celebrate!
Here's my sheep-y design inspired by her tutorial below...

now onto the good stuff!

Let's get to know @Nailsbyagape!

What is your name and what are your pronouns?

Lindsay. She/her

Where are you from / where do you live?

Illinois, United States

What is your Instagram handle and how did you choose it?

@nailsbyagape

Agape is my Baptismal name. It means love in Greek.

What famous person throughout history do you most admire?

That's tough, but I'd say Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As a female attorney, I have always found her life story and career to be truly inspirational.

How long have you been nail painting? And how did you first get into it?

About 25 years or so. My first memory of painting my nails was when I was around 11 or 12. I saw an advertisement for nail polish and it showed a French mani using a pretty light blue with a darker blue tip with a shimmery glitter top coat. I wanted my nails like that so much that I convinced my mom to buy me the polishes so I could try to do it.

Do you prefer swatching or nail art?

I like them both but I think I prefer swatching. I love experimenting with nail art but my go to is usually a skittles mani. If you asked me in a year I'd probably say nail art though.

What is your favourite nail polish and why?

This is a hard decision, because I notice that I will be favoring certain polishes or colors depending on the time of year. Essie's Who is the Boss is a pretty pale blue/green that I realized was my go to as I had used most of the bottle and have since gotten similar shades by other brands (I don't think it is available by Essie anymore). It's light, fresh, and clean which is why I like it so much. When I'm feeling a bit more bold, I always go to Orly Breathable Detox My Socks Off, which is a turquoise creme. My other fav that I will be sad when I run out of is OPI's Envy the Adventure. It's one of their Infinite Shine 2 colors and I think was part of a 2018 collection no longer available.

Favourite nail polish brand?

OPI and Essie were my favorites for well over 15 years. While I still love them, I've found that Orly and Olive & June have been my favorites for awhile now.

Favourite nail polish color?

I sort of go through phases, but right now it's all shades of blue.

Are you a natural or false nail (press on) fan?

Natural. I had one year of acrylics during my senior year of high school but have had nothing but natural since. I don't even use gel polish.

What was the most difficult manicure you painted?

My most difficult successful manicure was a deep water theme. All of the artwork was free hand and since I have a bit of a tremor in my hands, it was more challenging. I will say that I also find water marble manicures to be difficult because they are always a mess and look horrible when I do them. I also am still struggling with reverse nail stamping.

What manicure is your favorite?

For a plant themed challenge, I decided to paint something that they often do in those paint and sip classes - a tree with rainbow colored leaves. It turned out better than I thought it would!

My other favorite manicure, which is one I repeat at least once a year, is my newspaper mani. I transfer ink from a newspaper to my nails. I have a tutorial on my YouTube channel.

If you could paint one person's nails in the world who would you pick?

Tori Amos. She has been my favorite musician since I was young, and I have seen her in concert 5+ times. I would love to chat with her while doing something fun on her nails.

What other nail accounts do you think I should follow?

There are so many accounts I love for various reasons. Here are several that I particularly enjoy (in no particular order):

@nailsbyannieb_

@xglitzandpolishx

@magglesnails

@nails.by.jaisha

@cloudnaildesigns

@livwithbiv

I'm also assuming that anyone reading this is already following @polishednz, but if you are not, you should be!

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know if you're enjoying this series.

As always you can find me on instagram, facebook or occasionally youtube.

If you're a NZ based Nail Enthusiast please join our facebook group!

::Peace, Love & Polish ::

Hannah

Babyface Collagen Review
My thoughts on Babyface Collagen

*gifted to me for review.

Today is a post I've had in the pipeline for a wee while. It required some background work you see. It's an 'experiment'.

Today I'm reviewing Babyface Collagen.

I've been waiting to do a "nail health" post for a long time, and I promise it's coming!

One of the key elements I've been implementing (for my nail health) has been consuming collagen.

I was lucky enough to be gifted some collagen from babyface and I wanted to use it long enough to give a fair honest review.

Now, I'm going to be completely frank with you. One week in someone asked me if I'd noticed a difference in my skin or nails. Back then, I hadn't.

One week of use is not going to show you results in your skin, hair or nails. If you want to see a difference then you're going to need to commit!

In saying that, there is one change I noticed from early on. I've had a lot less bloating and my digestion has been more "regular".

I wanted to see it out through the month because I'm gonna be honest- I bloat like a blue whale at my time of the month. 🤣

Did I still bloat? Yes, but not nearly as much.

In general I've found my stomach feels a lot better in terms of reaction to food (bloating, gas, constipation etc)

So other than tummy changes I can't report I noticed anything in that first week.

It's been about six weeks now since I started using babyface collagen.

Now I can definitely notice a difference.

The two main changes for me are nail health and nicer skin (less break outs).

Nail health:

Trust me, I'm someone who knows my nails well. I'm gonna be honest, using dip powder wreaked havoc on my nails because I was less than gentle in my removal and did not consistently file/soak off. (Yes, I know, I know I keep telling you not to pick of your nails!)

It left my nails flaky, brittle and thin. The length hasn't drastically improved over the six weeks, but the new growth on my nail bed feels seriously healthy!

I know there could be a number of factors contributing to this, but I do genuinely feel like the collagen has made a difference.

Skin Health:

Secondly, I've noticed an improvement in my skin. I've never "loved" my adult hormonal skin and I'm prone to uneven tone, flaking and deep rooted break outs (especially at period time!)

I've been using babyface about six weeks now and can happily report that break outs are almost nil for majority of the month. During my period they are far lesser than they previously have been.

As for changes to my hair. I'm not sure... I have very thick hair and wouldn't really be able to comment on my typical hair growth etc. Because I'm dyed blonde my roots are noticeable and I'm long over due a hair dressing appointment!

So the question you're dying to know...

Would I recommend babyface?

Maybe more importantly, would I purchase babyface for myself?

The answer is yes!

Yes. Yes. Yes!

In fact once this bag is empty I'll be getting more!

It's actually so smooth and tasteless. I drink it every day in my coffee and cannot tell the difference between coffee with or without it.

I've even seen some great ideas of people mixing it into recipes and even avocado on toast!

So please, if you're thinking of changing up your supplement routine or looking for something to improve your nail, skin and hair (and gut) health then check out babyface!

In addition to being a great product, you'd also be supporting a small NZ company - win win.

You can purchase here.

As always you can find me on Facebook or Instagram.

For those NZ Nail Enthusiasts- join our Facebook community here.

✌️💕💅

::Peace, Love & Polish::

Hannah xo