Q & A with celebrity manicurist Kimmie Kyees

Kimmie Kyees
Photo by Tiffany Kyees

For those of you who follow all things nails, the name Kimmie Kyees should ring a bell. If you are hot in Hollywood, Kimmie has most likely done your nails. Some of her regular clients include Rihanna, Katy Perry, Jenna Jameson and P!nk just to name a few (her portfolio and other professional information can be found HERE).

The 2011-2012 season has been a bright one for Kimmie Kyees.  She launched two awesome products this year; Kimmie Kyees Nails by elegantTouch (available at Ulta) and her own nail wrap design collection by Minx.  Knowing Kimmie, this is only the beginning of what she has in store for the nail community!

Instagram Photo by Rihanna
Caption: Thanks to my nail bitch @KimmieKyees this heaux is major as phuck
Photo posted 23 May 2012
Manicure for American Idol Season 11 finale performance

Kimmie has been a trend setting nail artist for many years and is responsible for some of the most talked about manis world-wide! We are so lucky and grateful to have been able to chat with her about all things nails including some awesome tips and tricks!

Mani Curiously: What exactly causes bubbling in polish? Are there any tips/tricks to avoid it?
Kimmie: Old polish, too thick application or formula or sometimes just a bad top coat.

Mani Curiously: So basically just like trying on shoes, sometimes you have to put some on and walk around before you decide if they're a good fit or not?
Kimmie: yeah, pretty much!

Mani Curiously: All of us love that nice clean "bumper" around the cuticle when polishing. What's the best way to get that for those of us still working on that?
Kimmie: Practice practice practice! By placing the brush down close to the cuticle and let the bead of polish/brush spread out on it's own then continue with your downward stroke toward the nail tip that will help create that lovely clean line. Also, if you do get too close to the cuticle you can always use a "clean up brush" to remove the mess up by dipping it in polish remover and wiping the mess ups away. Another tip though is to make sure the brush isn't too wet! You don't want to take off more polish than necessary. Lastly, you can actually turn the polish brush sideways and draw the crescent moon shape along the cuticle to give you a sort of "guide".

Mani Curiously: Alright, we'd love a few of your Faves...
Fave nail trends for the summer (colors, designs etc)?
Kimmie: I am loving Zoya's Fleck Effect top coats! The mylar fleck glazes change colors beautifully from green to blue and red goes to orange! They are amazing!

Photo courtesy of Kimmie Kyees
Rihanna wearing Kimmie's Minx nails in Lustrous Lizard
on the set of Rihanna's Music Video for "Where Have You Been"

Fave timeless color that you feel is never out of style?
Kimmie: Vamp colors will forever be fashionable. OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark is a great one. I also think the sheer baby pink will always be timeless, for example Essie's Mademoiselle or Sugar Daddy

Fave "high end" polish (msrp greater than $10)?
Kimmie: NARS! They have the MOST BEAUTIFUL reds on the market! Domiva is a stunning orange red and Jungle Red and Chinatown are gorgeous blue reds! You simple can't get any better!

Fave "low end" polish (msrp less than $10)?
Kimmie: Wet n Wild is easy on the budget and so is Sally Hansen! The Salon Effects by Sally Hansen are my favorite simple nail art... Katy Perry and P!nk just love them because they are easy and dry right away!!

Fave easy nail art technique or product?
Kimmie: Milani has great nail art polishes you can buy at the drug store. They have a thin brush inside that's great for making lines, french tips and moons! I clean the brush off with polish remover and use it in all different shades of polish!!

Mani Curiously: Tips on how to avoid shrinkage with the quick dry top coats?
Kimmie: Make sure to use the top coat in a thin layer and be quick

Photo courtesy of Kimmie Kyees
Fergie of Black Eyed Peas
on the Music Video set of "Imma Be"

Mani Curiously: What's your mani must haves?
Kimmie: Curette is a cuticle tool with a small half circle on each end. It's great for cleaning under the nail and pushing back the cuticles. It can easily be found at Sally Beauty Supply.

Mani Curiously: Filing vs. Clipping?
Kimmie: I normally don't clip fingernails unless the nails need to be dramatically shortened. If you do clip them, clip one side then the other and then the center. When you try and clip the whole nail you can cause fractures on the side walls and affect the overall strength and health of your nails.

Mani Curiously: Cuticle care... Any tips for making the most frustrating nail issue bearable?
Kimmie: Use your nail file! When the cuticles get hard and frayed on the sides using your nail file to buff them down with a nail file helps smooth them out easily. It's the same concept as using a foot file on rough skin. Also, push your cuticles back right after a shower.

Mani Curiously: Tips for nail biters, ex-acrylic users, those growing out their nails and anyone else that might be trying to "better" their nail situation?
Kimmie: Pushing your cuticles back. The stimulation will promote nail growth. Using a nail strengthener like OPI's Envy is great. Lastly, always use cuticle oil. It keeps the skin in good condition!

Photo courtesy of Kimmie Kyees
Ke$ha on the set of an ad for Baby G by Casio Watches

Mani Curiously: Nail shapes... Which one do you like best and why?
Kimmie: I am really loving the oval, pointy nail. I never thought I would be but it has grown on me!

Mani Curiously: How about a quick and easy nail art trick?
Kimmie: Magnetic polish is the easiest nail art and it looks amazing. Also, crackle is a simple way to get a neat look. Try polishing the crackle from left to right across the nail and it will shatter in a more "animal" looking pattern!

Mani Curiously: Ok, how about your fave way to show your creativity through polish with your clients?
Kimmie: My clients are entertainers so I have the opportunity to do things that they will only wear for a short period of time. So that really allows me a lot of leeway. For example the flower nails I just made for Katy Perry. They looked amazing but wouldn't have been the easiest nails to "live" with! It's also fun to make press on nails and use nail glue tabs to press them on, wear them for the night then take them off! So super easy!

Instagram Photo by KimmieKyees
Caption: Katy Perry's full bloom fingernails!!! I love how they turned out :)
Photo posted 7 May 2012
Nails featured in

Photo by Getty Images & Katy Perry's Twitter 

We would really like to thank Kimmie Kyees for her time and allowing us to pick her brain!  We will definitely be using these tips and tricks in the future. We wish Kimmie continued success in all of her future endeavors and we can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

To connect with Kimmie Kyees via social media:
Facebook Fan Page - Kimmie Kyees Nails
Instagram - KimmieKyees
Twitter - KimmieKyees

Please leave your comments below and I am sure that if any of you have questions that we didn't get to in this interview we might be able to get Kimmie to answer a few more!


and      


Dom has known Kimmie since high school and is so proud of her longtime friend for what the force she's become by believing in herself and pursuing her dream. What an awesome career she's had and it's only getting better!  (More nostalgia can be seen HERE!)

Julep Maven Spring Mystery Box!

I loved my initial Julep Maven subscription box... so of course I was right on top of the SPRING MYSTERY BOX! I mean... who doesn't love going to the mail box and finding a surprise?! Ok, so it isn't exactly a true surprise because I paid for it and blah blah... but! I didn't know what would be in it and that IS a surprise! Tickle me pink because it was definitely worth the $20! (Julep Maven on Facebook listed a promo code to make the Spring Mystery box only $20) The Julep Maven website listed the Mystery box value between $60 - $200usd depending on what was included in it. After seeing some rave reviews of their St. Patrick's Day Mystery box I knew I wanted to receive a Spring Mystery box!

Well... I watched the mail like a hawk for about a week. I knew it should be coming but the anticipation was KILLING ME! I do love surprises but seriously it was getting close to tortuous levels after a week or two! My agony was finally alleviated when I checked the mail the yesterday...

My awesome Spring Mystery box!

Of course my eyeballs zoomed in on that lovely $50 gift certificate! WOOHOO!!! Yayness *does happy dance* And then the rabid search through the box started! In addition to my gift certificate I found a lovely bottle of Julep Elixir 100% Organic Argan Oil that retails for $24, nail polish Melissa, Hayden, Fast Dry Topcoat and Anne, and a cute little bag of chocolates!

Polish L to R: Melissa, Hayden, Fast Dry topcoat, Anne

I was a little bummed at receiving Melissa again and Hayden is definitely not in my normal color palette, but the Fast Dry topcoat was of course a nice addition as well as Anne. I will say this... even though the polish selection didn't knock me off my feet, I do see potential in the colors and will happily try them before attempting to swap, especially at $14 a bottle the polish is at least worth a try! Plus the formula is pretty awesome so you never know, I might decide I love the colors.

Last night I tried the fast dry topcoat and while it is definitely not a substitute for my fave, Seche Vite, it did dry quickly with a lovely shiny surface. Since that worked out pretty well I figured why not give Melissa a test run too. I will start with this, it is not a color to wear alone unless you want a verrrrrry sheer shimmer but it IS an awesome effect color. Meaning it is sheer enough to layer it on top of another color to add a lovely creamy shimmer to. Of course I removed the polish before taking a photo because I'm a total dunce like that but I promise to use Melissa as a top layer again soon and post pics so you can see what I mean.

All in all it was a great box! I loved what I received and am truly happy with my new mani additions. Total retail value of my box: $130 (gift certificate, 4 polishes and 1 bottle of Elixir)!! Not too shabby for $20! That means I'm up $110 worth of products I really like! How awesome is that?!

At this point I would definitely recommend giving Julep Maven a try. You can follow this LINK to start your Julep Maven subscription today!

Dollish Polish... Bringin' the heat! Bringin' the funk!

Yup! This lady has got some hot products! Bringin' the funk for those that need a little more pep in their step and a polish to those that could use a good... POLISHING!!

For those of you that have been living under  a rock in the world of Indie polish, she's the Host with the most! Dollish Polish makes and sells her own brand of fun in bottles of varnish and glitter. I know it may seem as though I am overly amped up, but truly I have fallen head over heals in love with her polish. My first time in I bought four; my initial excitement and everything involved with seeing them for the first time live and not Memorex can be read in my recent post, Nail Mail and an Epic Fail. But lets get on with the show and review these babies!

"Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe"

The first polish I used of course was Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe. I was so excited and eager that I honestly couldn't wait for the glitter to mix up well, so please excuse my eager polish job. Believe me the polish is way more awesome than my iPhone and my eager beaver polishing show in the following photograph. 

Don't worry- this beautiful polish will be making a very very quick return in some future mani's I've already got ideas for...

2 coats, no undies!

"He slimed me!"

Next up I painted my nails with He slimed me! This particular polish is so awesome I don't know if I have enough interesting adjectives to do it justice. However, I'll put it this way... If you've ever imagined what slime or specifically Slimer (from Ghostbusters) and his slime looked or felt like, this polish is that. Litterally it is the varnish equivalent of what I can imagine it being like. Wait a second though- before you jump to the wrong conclusion, I love and adore Slimer. I love the Ghostbusters movies and the way that the movies, characters and dialogue have impacted our culture. That being said, there really could be no higher praise for He slimed me. Honestly if I could afford it I would buy bottles to just give out to people that needed a funny, sunny pick me up. 

The day I wore this polish it wasn't meant to impress, I was just eager to try it (much like Barry's polish job lol). While I painted my nails before getting ready for an appointment I was talking to Dom via Skype and discussing the blog and other life things. She also likes He slimed me, so I kept showing her coat after coat what it looked like. I remember telling her "it is just SOOO pretty and SOOO fun, I just can't stop putting layers on!". He slimed me! can be worn alone and in my opinion 3 good coats would achieve an awesomely slime-rific appearance, however I was in the "zone"and wanted to see what it'd look like with just one more, and another and well just one more maybe... I lost track of how many coats I put on, but I'm going to estimate that it was about 5 or 6. Way more than I needed but it just kept getting prettier and prettier lol. I received several compliments and even referred 2 people to Dolly's shop on Etsy. 

**UPDATE 4/14/12: According to a post on Dolly's FB page "He Slimed Me!" will be moving to the Acetone Vault... so get your polish while its available people!!!

Crappy lighting and an iPhone don't do this polish/ picture justice!

"I'll have what she's having"

The same day I received my polish I didn't want to wait to put on the beautiful and multi-faceted I'll have what she's having. I also really wanted to see it alone. I can't wait for an opportunity to try out a really cool hot pink I recently picked up, but this time around I held off and put on 3 coats of I'll have what she's having alone. I never thought I'd love a PINK glitter as much as I love this one. I am NOT a "pink" girl. However, since this polish was delivered to my door I have purchased 5 different pinks including a neon and a crackle lol. I have SOOO many ideas for I'll have what she's having its nuts! Every time I look at it I find more facets to it. At first it has this soft pink base and pink glitter- sort of a "stock" ya know? But then some light shifts and WAIT! Is that? Why YES it IS flecks of a darker pink, almost fuchsia and possibly some more very very fine pink glitter along with the soft rose of the "main" glitter.

I'm just going to be honest and direct here... this line is from the scene in When Harry Met Sally and Sally is educating Harry in the fine art of a faked orgasm... in the middle of a busy diner! The scene is seriously epic and one of the funniest in the history of motion pictures (in my opinion at least!). The line is spoken by a woman in the diner ordering her meal. A little trivia, that woman was no actress! She was director Rob Reiner's mother! Also, just because the video is hilarious, here is a LINK to see Billy Crystal on John Stewart relating a funny story about the filming of the famous orgasm scene (skip to about 6mins to just see that part if you don't want to watch the whole vid).

Sorry... I'll get back on track! Sorry I get so wrapped up talking about movies. So just like He slimed me! this polish is exactly what I can imagine it to look like to live up to it's name. Honestly, a woman's orgasm... hmm sparkly, pretty, pink, multi-faceted and in a lovely sheer pink base? Check, check, check, check annnnnd CHECK! HA! Well done, Dolly, well done! Bravo!! I'm cheering from my seat asking to have what she's having!! 

Sorry I didn't get a better photograph, but just like the others- I have BIG plans BIG BIG plans for this lovely... you'll be seeing it again and believe me you'll fall in love with it just like I have. I promise you, it's definitely worth the purchase. The glitter doesn't need placement, it spreads nicely and honestly it's leagues better than some of the other glitters I've purchased that were supposed to be so great and wonderful.

3 coats, no undies!

"I wanna do bad things to you" 

I have a confession... I don't watch... True Blood. *GASP* *insert shocked face here* I know I know. What self-respecing Vampire literature loving woman doesn't watch that show!? I want to, I just refuse to pay HBO prices. It sucks (hahaha) everyone always talking about a show I have no clue about. So for this purchase it was purely because it caught my eye as an exceptionally beautiful red glitter. This was my first red glitter purchase ever. The previous red glitters in my stash are all fine and micro glitter with a dark red base, so truly it is a polish with glitter in it, not a glitter. Therefore I was really excited about this purchase because oddly enough, a good red glitter is hard to come by. I wanna do bad things to you is exceptionally pretty. It is jam packed with glitter and not just any glitter either! Beautiful sparkly round ultra red glitter, some tiny flecks of more red glitter and some other glitter that shifts purple! What an awesome addition to any bling-tastic mani! Of course like any glitter- especially such a dense glitter you have the not so fun task of clean up and removal. I swear glitter can be such a meanie sometimes! In closing I would definitely brave the clean up and removal for this beautiful concoction. It truly is the cat's pajamas for any red lover- especially a red GLITTER lover!!

Well I hope you enjoyed my lengthy lamenting on Dollish Polish! Keep your eyeballs peeled for these to make some appearances in upcoming posts! Don't forget to leave me some love and comment below!

First Julep Maven... Next the World!!!

So previously I posted about receiving my first Indie Nail Mail. But then today I came home to not only receiving my recent Amazon order of brushes and dotters, but my first Julep Maven box!

Let me be honest, I LOVE the idea of a beauty sample box, and I think it's ingenious but truly I only chose "It Girl" because I wanted 3 new colors. The colors that did come, Leah, Helena & Melissa, are beautiful colors and definitely colors I didn't necessarily have either. Leah was the first one I tried and is a very pretty soft green with a slight shimmer. The formula was awesomesauce too! It goes on so smooth and dries fairly quickly. So Truly that was a win and I definitely plan on wearing it alone in the future. I used it for an upcoming post as a background so be sure to look for that. Helena is a really awesome fuchsia color. I haven't worn it just yet but I plan to use it very very soon! Last but not least is Melissa. This color is definitely an effect color. It doesn't appear to be pigmented enough to stand alone but has some amazing shifts in color. Again, I haven't worn this one but I plan to. I have some ideas for it already!

Love the packaging! Cute hot pink bag with lime green ribbon and a nail file!

L to R: Melissa, Leah & Helena

I'll say this in conclusion... I signed up for a mystery spring box... so at least at this point Julep has my business enough to try a second helping of their nail mail!

FYI According to Julep Maven on Facebook their SPRING code for the Spring Mystery box is still valid! Hurry on over and give Julep Maven a whirl!

Easter Nail Art, A long way to go... but it's a start!

With Easter around the corner I knew I wanted to do a themed nail but hadn't quite decided what. I've seen a lot of super cute stuff in the past month and have really felt the pressure! Well with the arrival of my brushes I was anxious to give them a test drive just that much more... but the question still remained test drive them with WHAT?

It came to me in a flash... of middle finger waving angrily in my direction on Southside Blvd in Jacksonville (FL).

Yup... it was like a lightning bolt made of soft creme colors and easter grass sparkle! I wanted to have 3D grass on my nails, eggs hidden in the grass and of COURSE an Easter Bunny! Yup! So simple... yet how exactly to achieve this and with which polish and in what order. Oh the logistics lol.

I formulated my plan while moving along in the hell that is traffic on that particular road for my 40+ minute drive home and got nowhere. Really and truly nowhere. I just couldn't see it yet. It was like I was mentally constipated or something. I had the idea and I knew I had the colors but the rest was just... stuck.

I went the rest of the day like that and let me tell you it was just as uncomfortable as the real thing! I can't stand being creatively stuck it sucks sour eggs!

The end of the day bled into the end of the night and while on Skype with Dom I just started picking out colors... before I even really realized what I was picking out colors for lol. The next thing I knew I had a base coat and my background of Julep - Leah on and drying!

Dom of course was asking me what I was doing because i looked so intent. I wanted it to be a surprise so I told her nothing and beat around the bush for a bit. The next part were the eggs. Now I knew I was going to do the grass so I needed to put the eggs about mid nail, so I had to sort of imagine the grass already there when picking out space for the different eggs on the other 4 nails. Next up, the bunny!

I learned a VERY important lesson that night... White nail polish (aka Sally Hansen - White On) is just like some paints... the white will pull the color behind it! So what ends up happening (in my case) was I had a verrrrrrrry light LIME GREEN EASTER BUNNY!!! ACK! So, what do I do? I put down another coat of white. And another. And another. And another. AND ANOTHER COAT OF WHITE POLISH! Yes people, SIX COATS of white polish to get a WHITE Easter Bunny lol. Seriously I had so much polish on my middle fingernail, the pile-o-polish was this little white mound as though I had some acrylic on my nail!

Moving on... the next step was the background for grass. For that I mixed a little pile of China Glaze - Holly-Day with Sinful Colors - Happy Ending to get this darkish green shimmer color. It was actually very pretty, but a little bit darker than Julep - Leah to give some depth and what not (or some such artistic blah blah)

Once that was done I very politely asked my husband to go to Wally's and get me some green glitter. Yup, 2am my loving husband said "I will... if you REALLY want me to..." my response? "yup, thanks! Love you!" LOL He chuckled and said he'd be back. A while later I get texts with pictures where he's asking me if I want fine glitter or regular or some such caddy thing. I love that man, he cracks me up.

Pre-Glitter Grass

While Dom and I wait for the delivery of glitter goodness I decorate the little eggs. I should back up and tell you the egg colors lol. NYC - Spring Street, Essie - Play Date, Essie - Turquoise & Caicos, Loreal - Tweet Me, Revlon - Indigo Night, China Glaze - Shower Together. I decorated each egg with glitter since they were so small I wasn't sure that an actual design would be visible, but glitter is! I used the small holos from OPI - Servin' Up Sparkle, Jordana - Blue Bash, Jordana - Celebration and of course, last but certainly not least my new Dollish Polish - I'll have what she's having. I saved that beautious pink confection of sparkle for the most important feature on a bunny- the pink hears and nose! I did try to do the Bunny's face in proportion but the whiskers came out bigger and thicker than I thought they were going to be so that part was poop, but I like his little blue eyes and cutesy ears!  I do  know in the pictures it won't look as though all these colors are represented but I promise they're there lol. Some got covered up with overzealous glitter glass application lol.

L to R: OPI - Servin' Up Sparkle, Jordana - Blue Bash, Dollish Polish - I'll have what she's having, Jordana - Celebration, NYC - Spring Street, Essie - Play Date, Essie - Turquoise & Caicos, Wet n' Wild - Tickled Pink, L'Oreal - Tweet Me, Revlon - Indigo Night, China Glaze - Liquid Leather, China Glaze - Shower Together, China Glaze - Holly-Day, Sinful Colors, Happy Ending, Julep - Helena, Julep - Leah *not pictured Sally Hansen - White On

Alright... the piece de resistance! My glitter-grass! A coat of OPI - Top Coat was applied where I wanted my grass to stick and then copious amounts of fine green glitter applied.

Finished!

TA DA!!

I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at free-hand nail art. It was a lot of fun and while my painting skills are rusty, they're in there... just have to blow the dust off and work out the kinks!

Side note: I wanted to mention that all my photos are done inside and with my iPhone. Unfortunately my camera has been in the shop getting repaired. Hopefully I will have it back soon!

Green with Envy

Hello all you nail polish lovers!  

Something about the Spring time this year has changed me into a color freak!  I have been buying some of the most out of character colors and it has been so fun!  I recently went on a mad hunt for a green that spoke to me.  I really wanted a true green, a green that you can go outside and see budding all around!  E calls it a kelly green and so that is what I searched for.  I ended up with several green colors that didn't quite do the job.  The colors were either too dark or too light or shimmery or just all together the wrong green.

I finally found what I was looking for one day at Sally's!  China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover. It is amazing and depending on the light, looks like two completely different colors!  

No Flash Natural Light

Once I found the base color you know I had to do something fun!  So on the same trip to Sally's I bought Finger Paints - Art You Wondering?  Art is a really cool turquoise glitter with green bits as well.  I LOVE it!  When I bought Art I really didn't know what I had in mind for it.  I saw the "two tone" quality of Four Leaf Clover and knew immediately that I wanted to put a layer of Art on top!  

No Flash

It was nice but, of course, it just wasn't enough!  I finally got the look I was going for by adding a nice layer of China Glaze - Fairy Dust.  AND BOY OH FREAKIN BOY!!!!!  The heavens opened and the angels sang!  I finally had the look I was hoping for!  

The final look was amazing!  So much so that I had a hard time taking it off when I was ready to try something new!  Long and short of it ... I love this mani and it doesn't have to be St. Patrick's Day to rock a hot green mani!

Let me know what you think!