blue NOTD for my crappy day

Just a quickie today because I've been anxious and irritable all damn day.  It took me 2 hours to get home from school today and had about 5 near misses.  A facking COP of all people almost slammed into me.  Today sucked. So here's a pretty blue (well, blurple) to suit the mood!

Three thin coats of Funky Fingers "Cottage stripes".  So pretty, loved the application!  "Cottage stripes" is a dark periwinkle with some sort of a purple-y hue, more so in real life, creme - I think so at least.  Whatevs, its pretty!

The day did turn around a little towards the end because boyfriend took me to dinner and we had a really nice time.  He does wonders for a bad mood (=

pretty pretty pink!

Looooooooooooove me some Sinful Colors.  This color is so pretty.  It's a little goopy but nothing a few drops of thinner won't fix!

This is 3 coats of "Cream pink".  Which kind of irks me because its a shimmer, not a creme.  I know cream =/= creme but still.  It's like the one time I was at Walgreens and the Make Up associate kept calling shimmers, "metallics".  It's like.. "No. Just, no."  Also, do you like my strategically placed heart?  I jumped a whole cap full of acetone all over my hand and my skin looked A MESS but my nails were too wet to lotion up so I got innovative. 

Pretty pretty pretty!

Then I added this holo topcaot, Cover Girl Boundless Color in "City lights".  Two coats. OMG I can't stop looking at my hands.  It's like Barbie got a bedazzler and went nuts!

HA. YOU CAN'T STOP LOOKING EITHER, I KNOW IT.

cover girl NOTD; best 1$ mani yet

I am sooo drawn to pink sparkly polishes.  This one is especially pretty and it just jumps off the nail in person!

This is 3 thin, fast drying coats of Cover Girl Nail Slicks in "Very berry".  It's a bright pink/magenta with glass flecks or foil flecks, I still can't figure it out.  This came in one of the two-packs I bought at the dollar tree a few weeks ago.

It's so sparkly!

I decided to add one coat of another sparkly polish I also got for an amazing .50 cents!  It really blows my mind that you can find great polishes with fun colors (in the US, at least) for nearly next to nothing.

This is Maybelline Nail Expert in "Rock out" which I think I will be putting to good use in the near future.  Adds a little something that some polishes really benefit from.

Just look at the sparklies!!  Excluding the topcoat, this mani cost me A DOLLAR! LOVE!

disney on ice; snow white inspired mani

Today I took my sister, old roommate and her 3 year old daughter to Disney on Ice.  We had such a good time and her little girl, Amaya, absolutely looooooooved the Snow White part and went NUTS when the 7 Dwarves came out.  I actually did a mani the night before inspired, somewhat abstractly, by Snow White's iconic dress!

Three coats of China Glaze "Lemon fizz" for four nails and a base color of Funky Fingers "Alice" on the accent nail.  I freehanded the red diamond with Art Club's red nail art polish and that's it!  It was somewhat recognizable, but not an entirely gaudy and obvious reference to the dress itself.  I loved it :D

(These are not my photos, love the Photoshop job on the first one LOL.)

Sadly we were running a bit late so we got there as the first scene was going and we were so enthralled and distracted I took maybe only two pictures of my own!

cuppycake nail art

I've been seeing cuppycake nails all over lately and makes sense with cupcakes on the rise and possibly peak of their popularity.  This design is not my own, but as mentioned, they're everywhere and I haven't the slightest clue of who did this first.  I had lots of fun with these and once the first one was done, I was able to get the hang of it and finish my other nails in an assembly line fashion.

background:  Funky Fingers "Cheshire"
wrappers: Funky Fingers "Daiquiri on deck" and China Glaze "Lemon Fizz"
icing/sprinkles/cherry: assorted Art Club Nail Art polishes
I used a paperclip for the sprinkles and shine on the cherry and and the end of a paintbrush for the cherry itself.

For the following picture, I did a little more abstract cupcake design doing only one accent nail as a cupcake and the rest as icing and sprinkles (=

I used L.A. Girl "French White" for the bigger white parts.  I made a tutorial which I will be sure to post later!

NOTD; south hamptom seafoam

What a cute name (=  This is a beautiful springy robin's egg blue creme, or tiffany blue, I guess.  It's a subtle difference.  Either way, love love love!

Pre-cleanup, excuse the mess xD

Sad sad; my index finger finally went!  The nail itself was destroyed thanks to my fakies I had used months ago but I had been using strengthening foundations to try and make it work.  And it held on for a long time.  I was cleaning underneath my nails and the tool I was using pierced RIGHT THROUGH the middle of the free edge.  It didn't technically break, but it looked a mess.  If I had tried to file/buff it, it would have made it even more thin and fragile.

I don't know if you can tell, but where the light hits my index nail, you can see a break in the white part.  That's how dramatic the dent in my nail is from when I stopped using fakes.  All of my other nails have much less noticeable indentations and much much less damage.  My left hand is worse than my right since I am right handed and was able to push the fakes on harder with that hand.  Ugh )=  They're about half way grown out.  Only a few more months to go!  Also, I added a cute french tip to these, I'll update later!

NOTD; elephunk

I bought this one yesterday as mentioned in my previous post.  This is Funky Fingers, "Elephunk".  The application wasn’t too bad, this is 3 thin coats.  It was still a little spotty in some spots but only if you held it up to the light and looked for it.  It’s a grey, I think crème? Base, with the tiniest most miniscule hints of a silvery shimmer.  So I guess it’s a shimmer then.  But it doesn’t look like it on the nail, and barely in the bottle.  Anyways this is my first grey and I really do love it.  I added some pink and silver butterfly decals that added that extra something I felt it needed.  I put two on each ring finger and one on each thumb.  These pictures are pre-cleanup so excuse the messy edges. 

 

Also, I’ve been having trouble with the skin around the edge of my nails!  My left thumb has open cuts on the side and the right thumb (pictured) is super dry!  I use oils and cuticle balm but they don’t seem to have the same effect on my thumbs.  I definitely think my skin there is different but I am still figuring out how to avoid the issues I’ve been having.  Any advice? I sure could use some.

Look at that cute eyeshadow palette!  I got it for 3$ at Essentials at my mall.  So cute (=

Click to enlarge for detail.

mint apple refresher (=

Hello ladies (= as mentioned in a previous post, I have some extra time on my hands so I hope I can update and post as well as view, read and share with all of you!  It is official though: got all my grades back and I have my associates degree, should be arriving in February!

This next NOTW (Nail of the week!) has been one of my favorites because it didn’t start out as a NOTW, more like a NOTD.  But I have continually added onto it so much that its actually lasting a long time but each new addition gives it a little bit of a refresher so a) it looks fresh and b) I don’t get bored of it!

The layering goes as follows;

Sinful colors: Mint apple

ORLY: liquid vinyl

Art Club: Black

Art Club: Silver Glitter

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top coat

China Glaze: Matte magic

It started out with two layers of mint apple, and then I added one more for total opacity.  I am out of basecoat and haven’t had the thought cross my mind to purchase any new ones, so I didn’t use one, lol.  I then sealed it with one coat of the Sally Hansen topcoat.

It wasn’t until the next day that I added the flowers on the thumb and ring finger with a little bit of sparkle.  Being the awful disorganized mess of a person I can be, I actually misplaced the fauxnad plate I used so I don’t even know which number it is! M24!  I used the Art Club polish for it though, the thick formula works great with konad and fauxnad!  Two days later I decided to give another try on a French tip.  (My favorite concept yet worst execution! Love the classic look but haven’t been able to get it down just right.. until now!)

I used this tape that I bought for Christmas presents from Five Below for a dollar xD  I will definitely be investing in some French manicure strips because this tape is a double edged sword. 

Pros:

leaves the CLEANEST lines I’ve done yet

perfect amount of sticky that doesn’t pull off base coats

Cons:

Is 100% clear and VERY hard to place straight.

Not meant for nail care so leaves the tiniest little gaps on the edges (that I fixed with Art Club)

I loved the final look!

A day or two later, I decided to mattify my mani and loved it even more!  I am not sure WHAT caused this problem, but about half and hour after applying Matte Magic, the edges of my nails were really white, looked like a bad case of dry cuticles.  They still are and I don’t know how to get rid of it )=  My cuticles were just oiled and lotioned before I took these pictures, so I don’t think it was the actual dryness of my cuticles.  I really don’t know what caused this chemical reaction!  Anyways, the final product;

thanks for viewing (= i love to hear comments and feedback so let me know what you think!
(ALL images are clickable!)

notd done by salonist

so, my friend treated me to an actual manicure at a salon. i decided to get a french manicure since i love the look but have trouble doing my right hand neatly. the lady went straight for the clippers and said she was going to cut my nails. stop right there. haha i never reacted so quickly! i yanked my hand away and snapped, 'NO! file them.' my nails arent overgrown.. theyre not jagged or mismatched sizes. why was she going to cut them off?!

anyways, she used essie's 'mademoiselle' and an unknown white polish for the tips. i like it, but it chips easily. ive already had to patch it up a few times and put a new topcoat on it and ive only had it for about 36 hours. hmph. this is why i dont get manicures. the money spent on them isnt always worth the quality of work, especially when you can do your own at home. which i do, aside from a french.





in completely unrelated news:

classes started up again on tuesday. so being back in school means either two things. 1. i wont be posting as much because ill be busy or 2. ill be posting twice as much avoiding school work.

im taking;
math (online.. weird i know)
educational field experience (extremely intimidating)
speech/public speaking (already butted heads with someone in this class -_-)
educational psych (first class is tomorrow)

i know im only 22 years old, and i know i dont know much about life. im a firm believer in, 'the more you know, the more you realize you dont know', but there is an older woman in the class with an abrasive 'take charge' attitude and was acting as a dictator on our group speech. i spoke up and emphasized that everyones opinion was important and i felt that we should all voice our opinion instead of listening to her command. im assuming shes in her early fifties. she immediately copped a 'tude. a public speaking course is bad enough, i dont need enemies -_- ill keep ya'll posted.

field experience is 3 hours a week in the AM, which will be nice since i was laid off in september and havent been up to too much. i have class for it on weds but ill be in the classroom again which i miss dearly. since my classes are mostly night classes, mornings are mostly open.

i have an opportunity for an unpaid internship at a charter elementary school specializing in visual and theatrical arts. it really piques my interest, so if i decide to embark in that, there will be less of me around (i guess?) i somehow always find some time for this nonsense (= im completely enthralled for the new semester!

notd x2

i finally had the chance to wear dorothy who? as a full mani. i LOVE IT. it applies so nicely and it is smooth with one topcoat. i used sally hansen insta-dri topcoat rather than seche vite so i can see how long it takes for chips. so far ive found that both topcoats are neck and neck. sally hansen dries a tiny bit faster than seche vite, but both apply about equal. if anything id say that seche vite is a little bit thinner, but not enough to notice if you werent trying to pick them apart.

any who, on to the pics:





i used fauxnad plate m11 with konad special polish in white for the design. it thought it was cute enough, simple, not over the top.

i also did my friend kristi's nails (well one hand, she did the other) she likes china glaze's "cowgirl up" and used fauxnad plate m20 with special white polish too. i just dont see anything fabulous about this color!



just a side thought..
am i the only person who isnt going ga-ga over opi's mad as a hatter? there isnt one appealing quality about a mish-mosh of rainbow glitter to me. i see and hear about it everywhere but it doesnt do a thing for me! anyways, thanks for reading lovies (=

french mani; notd

love love love the look of a french manicure. my toenails are 90% of the time done in french manicure style, since its so much easier for me to paint a straight line on my toes compared to my right hand. i have konad plates that are tips and of the french style but i havent been able to get them down.

anyways i was jonesing for one and decided to try taping off my nail to get a straight line. it worked mostly. i had to re-do a couple of them but i dont consider that too bad since this was my first time trying it. i used regular scotch tape. but i think that blue painters tape i used to use to tape off my canvas would work even better. here are the little soldiers i used:



left to right; (and conveniently in the order i used them)
sally hansen insta-grip basecoat
orly french manicure "pink nude" (sounds dirty)
L.A. girl nail lacquer "french white"
art club fine silver glitter
orly french manicure "bare rose"
sally hansen insta-dri topcoat

if i could redo this, i would have put "bare rose" BEFORE "french white" because it actually tinted the french tip part of a my nail a little which i hadnt thought of until i was almost finished. my bad.



i love how it came out. i was happy with the results.. i think next time ill put the tape a bit lower and paint the silver with the help of the tape instead of free hand.

new haul, new technique, new notd!

i went shopping! i went to the dollar tree and walgreens. i got 5 polishes and 5 nail art polishes from the dollar tree and 3 sparkly topcoats from walgreens on sale for $1.09 each! how exciting! my haul;



the three polishes i got from walgreens were absolutely stunning. theyre from the covergirl "boundless color" collection which i had never heard of, and were the last 3 left on the rack. im sure i wouldve bought one of each color given the opportunity. i really like the bottles and brushes too.



from right to left;
-pink twinkle. there is irregular flecks of foil inside this one.
-city lights. a holo topcoat (the little bits of holographic glitter are sparse compared to a typical holo polish)
-amethyst mist. a purple jelly base with hexagon multicolor glitter & teeny tiny bits of glitter as well.

theyre so beautiful and the application is wonderful. i dont have _that_ many drugstore polishes that i actually use but i will definitely be employing these 3 lovelies (=

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in other news, i tried my first marbling last night! i cant say i was too happy with the outcome. in fact, i removed it right after taking the pictures. here is a few things i learned;
-petroleum jelly moves when you insert your finger in the water and often times ended up under polish resulting in a re-do
-aside from a base coat, a base color is needed to bring out the vibrancy of the marbled colors
-scotch tape works relatively well. i used one long piece for the sides and top of my nail, and then secured that piece with another piece of tape around the whole finger and that piece edged off the bottom of the nail.
-for some reason, i could not get 2 different holos to work together, but that just could be me.
-i cannot figure out how to avoid a large gap on my thumb; i retried over 5 times and had a large gap, in the same place, of uncolored nail each time - any advice?



like i said before, i think a white underneath wouldve really made these colors pop. i used orly "liquid vinyl" and funky fingers "punch". the black came out mostly gray.. i wonder if it just isnt marbling compatible or it wouldve been brighter with white underneath. not TOO bad for my first attempt!

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my NOTD has got to be one of my new favorites. i used my new colors for this;
-sally hansen insta-grip base coat
-maybelline wet shine "pink splash"
-covergirl boundless color "pink twinkle"
-seche vite topcoat

the golden/pink flecks look so much cuter irl. i had a hard time capturing the color of the flecks and i tried all 20 different camera settings with different flashes.. the best ive found so far is the flower/soft flash option. i had some luck with the food/soft flash too. i think its because these are both meant to capture fine detail. without a doubt the worst setting was one for text, DARK, blurry and spotty. anyways, here it is;