5.29.2011

C-ya Real Soon!

Been getting tons of compliments about my nails - I'm really not looking forward to taking them off when I go back to work!

Sam let me do her nails, which unfortunately didn't come out like I had hoped.  For starters, she only wanted one coat of red, and I think she could have used another.  Secondly, the combination of my shaky hands and old, thickened polish did NOT make for very nice dots.  Sam didn't want the bow on an accent nail, and we didn't have time for topcoat.  So by the time we snapped a picture the next day, they looked like this:

5.27.2011

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Finally free of the company rulebook for the week, so I decided to go all out!


By far, this is my favorite manicure that I've ever had.  (Close runner-up was the red nails/black tips combo my sister did for me for prom.)  And it's even cooler because I did it myself!  I used Chloe's Nails' scotch tape method, and it worked like a charm!  I need to get better about getting the lines straight and the proportions even from one nail to another, however.

Yellow: Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Mello Yellow
Orange: Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Sunrise, Sunset
Pink: Skin Food PK202
Topcoat: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails

The color combo may not be for everyone; I just spoke with a co-worker who was expressing disdain for these very three colors paired together.  But personally, I love them.  To me, pink/orange/yellow says FUN, HAPPY, BRIGHT, SMILE!  And, even more, to me they say summer!

5.18.2011

Practice Makes Perfect

My Tart Deco mani was finally so terribly chipped that I had to take it off completely, it would not stay on - on one of my nails the polish even popped right off, like the entire nail at once!  Definitely need to use a topcoat next time I try Matte About You, but I'm also wondering if I was using the Orly Bonder properly.  Are there any tips or tricks for that?

In any case, I know that I won't be able to do my fun-color vacation mani for a few more days, and I was getting bored of bare nails in the meantime, so I decided to do a test run for Sam's Minnie-Mani.  I'm thinking red nails, white polka-dots on the fingers then a yellow bow on the thumbs.  Dots are easy, but I've never done a bow before, so here was my attempt.

No clean-up, because I'm just going to have to take this off before work tomorrow morning.

Hmmm.  Needs work, clearly.  Plus the wide brush in the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear color I'm using wasn't really made for fine-tuned designs.  I'll have to keep experimenting.

5.08.2011

Dollar Store Finds

Most of the time, the makeup section at my local dollar store is pretty useless.  But every once and awhile you find something fantastic.  Like these blinged-out nail files that are SO much fun!


Or a bottle of e.l.f. Light Pink, which is somewhat similar in color to my Sally Hansen Yo-Gurt Style.  It also reminds me of OPI Mod About You, a color I've been lusting after, which made me really excited to find it.  I also really like e.l.f.'s bottle design.



In unrelated news: if you live in a wet climate, BEWARE OF YELLOW FLIES/DEERFLIES!!  I was supposed to run a 5k yesterday morning, but instead ended up popping Benadryl and elevating my ankle, which was swollen huge, as well as itchy and painful.  The friend I was supposed to run with also managed to come down with strep throat, so we made a pretty pathetic pair.

But, friends come into town in a little over a week, and I just found $100 in my budget, so time for a completely guilt-free staycation!