There is something different about a tattoo you get with your best friend. It is not just another piece of ink. It is a decision you make together, and it lives on your skin as a permanent marker of something that actually matters. I have a small matching piece with one of my closest friends,…
Let me tell you something I wish someone had told me earlier: short square nails are not the backup shape you pick when your nails break. They are a choice. A clean, modern, intentional one. And once you get the filing right, they become one of the most versatile canvases for nail art you will…
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve tried to recreate a dreamy, effortless messy bun from Pinterest and ended up with something that looked more like a sad, deflated donut on the back of my head. If that sounds familiar, you are absolutely not alone, and I promise the problem is almost never your…
There is a specific kind of feeling that comes before a family tattoo. It is not the casual excitement of flipping through a flash sheet. It is quieter than that, more certain in some ways and more nervous in others. You already know you want this. You know who it is for and what it…
Here is a thing I hear constantly, and it used to be the thing I told myself: “My nails are too short for nail art.” I said this for years. I said it while scrolling through gorgeous manicures on Pinterest and saving them to a folder I called “someday nails,” like nail art was a…
I have a very clear memory of the first time I tried to copy an updo I found online. I was twenty-two, I had just started my salon-assistant days in Austin, and I thought watching stylists all day meant I was basically a professional. I attempted some kind of twisted low bun that looked absolutely…
I remember sitting with my sketchbook for weeks before my first tattoo at eighteen, circling words and images and asking myself the same question every night: does this actually mean something, or does it just look good? I didn’t want a tattoo that was pretty on the outside and empty in the middle. I wanted…
I still remember the first time I saw a double French manicure on my feed. Two clean curved lines at the tip, impossibly parallel, looking like someone had a tiny printer installed in their fingers. My first thought was “beautiful.” My second thought was “absolutely not, I can’t do that.” And then, true to my…
If you have a Pinterest board full of knotless braids and a little voice in the back of your head saying “that could never be my hair,” I am writing this specifically for you. Knotless braids have completely taken over the protective style world, and honestly, for really good reasons. They look incredible in photos,…
Let me tell you what happened the first time I tried a micro French tip on myself. I had steady-ish hands from months of dotting tool practice, a striping brush I ordered off Amazon for three dollars, and approximately zero patience. The first nail looked like a seismograph reading. The second one was pretty good….