Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Nail Idea Using Milani's Sugar Burst

Time flies and it's already the end of October. I wanted to post this Pink Breast Cancer Awareness nail idea at the beginning of the month and do another halloween themed nail art at the end of the month but sadly didn't have the time.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so what's better to raise awareness than doing a pretty pink nails design.

This is a very simple nail design that looks pretty and can be easily done by yourself.

I don't like my nails long so its good for those who have short nails too.You can use any combination of pinks but these are the pinks that I find contrasted well with each other. Make sure you choose pinks that are a couple shades different than each other because one time I chose a pink and peach shade but the colors just looked like one shade.

left to right: Forever 21 Nail Color in Neon Pink, OPI in Heart Throb, Milani in Sugar Burst, Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat

On my thumb that isn't pictured,  I had two coats of OPI's Heart Throb.

On my second finger I applied 2 coats of Forever 21 Nail Color in Neon Pink.

On my third finger, I applied 2 coats of Heart Throb, then added 1 coat of Milani Sugar Burst.

On my fourth finger, I applied 2 coats of OPI's Alpine Snow, then drew a ribbon with a toothpick using Forever 21's Neon Pink. This is the first time I tried drawing a nail design with a toothpick and it turned out pretty nice. Closeup, the ribbon looks like a mess but no one's going to closely examine your nails. Just make sure that the nail polish has dried completely before carefully drawing in your ribbon.

On my pinkie is 2 coats of Heart Throb. 

I then topped the nails with two coats of Seche Vite dry fast top coat. I find that two coats gives a glossier finish.

The highlight of this nail design is really the glitter top coat from Milani's Gold Label Nail Lacquer in 09 Sugar Burst.

This nail polish has a combination of light pastel pink hexagons, bar-shaped flecks, circle flecks, and  silver reflective glitter submerged in clear nail polish. The particles are a light pastel pink color but you can't really tell when it is on your nails. From far away, it just looks white.

I find that using one coat of Sugar Burst is enough. If you apply two coats, there is so much particles that you don't see any of the base color and the flecks don't look defined enough.

When I bought this shade, I thought there would be enough pink to not have to layer another color underneath but it's basically translucent. I have tried a darker pink like Forever 21's Neon Pink underneath Sugar Burst but I didn't like the strong stark contrast between the white hexagon particles and the darker pink color.

I think Sugar Burst looks the best on top of 2-3 coats of Heart Throb or any other lighter pink that you have.

The pink color in the above picture is a tiny bit washed out. I think the color of Heart Throb most closely resembles the first picture in the blog post.

Sugar Burst easily flakes off in 1-2 days without a top coat, so definitely add a top coat over it.

When I used Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat to finish off these nails, my nails lasted 2 weeks after a moderate amount of typing and dish washing. But right after two weeks, every single nails either chipped or had a significant part flaked off in the same day.

Overall, Milani's Gold Label Nail Laquer in Sugar Burst is a pretty top coat that has ton of particles without having you to reapply many coats but I felt that the hexagon particles were a tad a bit too small and I wished the nail polish it was suspended in could have been slightly pinker instead of just clear.

I loved the color pink and always loved the pink packaging on those limited edition Breast Cancer Awareness beauty products that pops up in October. I used to buy a Breast Cancer Awareness product every single year because they are in my favorite color, looks pretty and supports Breast Cancer Research. However over the years, there were many article written about how companies use "supports Breast Cancer Research" and the pink packaging as a marketing tactic, to generate more buzz for their product while very little money is donated for research. And on the flip side of the story, many survivors of breast cancer actually abhorred seeing breast cancer products since it reminds them of the disease.

Ever since learning about the ugly side about these beautifully packaged "Supporting Breast Cancer" beauty products, I've become more cognizant about how much money from a product purchase actually gets donated to a specific cause. So make sure your read the fine print about how much money gets donated to research before you blindly make your purchase.

ULTA donates 100% of what they earn during Cut-a-thon to Breast Cancer Research Foundation

On that note, I want to highlight ULTA's amazing contribution to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. They had 4 different ways to help donate. The one I want to highlight is the Cut-A-Thon. For One day only, (this year it was on a sunday 10/11) from 11-6 by donating a minimum of $10 you get to choose a shampoo and haircut or a Microzone Express Skin Treatment.

I only got a haircut but other people in line got multiple things done at a donation of $10 for each service. Some got nails, haircut,  and facial for a $30 donation. Some got a hair cut and hair extensions for $20 donation. It doesn't say on the flyer but judging from what other people did, you get to mix and match different services for a $10 donation for each service and I thought this was incredibly awesome.

And my experience with cut-a-thon was absolutely fantastic. I live in a smaller town outside of Boston where my local ULTA was at and found that the entire cut-a-thon experience was completely smooth and well organized which surprised me. There were many negative feedback online but my experience was great. I went in at 11:05am and there were customers already getting their haircuts. There were only a couple people in line before me so the wait wasn't that long either.  There were 4 stylist working and 1 receptionist tending to the customers. When it was my turn in line, I was told that the wait time was 45 minutes and got my name on the list. I was fine with that and came back 30 minute later. I went to check back with the receptionist who told me my name was already called. So I waited a few more minutes, shopping around the store before they called my name on the loud speaker.

My stylist washed my hair, cut it according to how I wanted it, and blew dry it in less than half an hour. It was a pleasant experience. The only thing I wanted to mention was that when they blew dry my hair, they didn't add any heat protectant to my hair. While my stylist was blowdrying my hair, I kept getting the feeling that my hair was being fried but that was okay since ULTA did not earn a single penny through out the entire process and if they had used more styling product in my hair, they would have a steep loss. I was really impressed by the experience and would highly recommend you to ULTA's next Cut-A-Thon experience. You get to donate money to a cause while getting yourself beautied up and you know all the money you paid is going to a proper cause and not to some greedy company. If you didn't see me highlighting the fine print from the ULTA ad above, ULTA donates 100% of the proceeds earned from Cut-A-Thon to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Thanks for reading,

I was not sponsored in anyway for this post. All comments and opinions are mine. I bought all the nail polish in this post with my own money.