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:

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!

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.

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!

Tart Deco update

Survived work with my nails - even training under what's supposedly a stricter department than ours, but based on the people that I met today I'm beginning to question that; they were very cool and laid-back.  In any case, one of my bosses had a shimmery reddish color, and another girl had a purple holo, so I guess my worries were unfounded.  I'll just stay away from really bright eye-catching colors like white.

Tart Deco never really grew on me, I'm just not a fan of the color.  I'm considering putting a layer of white underneath it sometime to see if that will help lighten it up.  Next time, I'm also going to wear a topcoat!  I was under the mistaken impression that Matte About You was a topcoat, not just an effect to be added over a topcoat.  The result?  Quite a bit of chipping the first day alone.  Go ahead, laugh it up - I'm sure it's not the only rookie mistake I'll make.

In the meantime, I added an orange stripe (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed) on my thumbnails just for fun.  My first time using the Scotch tape method (as displayed so masterfully by Chloe's Nails) - it'll definitely need perfecting.  Not too easily noticeable, and I like the contrast of the shine and the matte (that you can't really see in the picture).  Plus, having a bit of fun makes me feel like I'm sticking it to the man.  Kinda.  Buckle up people, this is about as rebellious as I get.

In other beauty news, finally got mah hair did.  Hooray!  I didn't do anything fancy - just reshaped my bangs and added some layers - but oh man do I love the smooth feel of freshly-cut ends with no splits. 

Additionally, I let my friends who will be vacationing with me later this month know that I'm doing their nails.  Yay!  Something fun for me, and more content I can post for you guys without getting spoken to again.  Win-win!  Sam is getting a Minnie Mouse manicure - we found several pictures online that look absolutely adorable.  Ashley is really intrigued by the OPI Shatter topcoat, and if I can't find it at Ulta before they arrive she thinks her mother may have a bottle we can borrow and experiment with.  Their mani styles are so them - bright and cute vs dark and funky.  I'm looking forward to it!

Work-Safe Mani #1

I have to say, I was unimpressed with Essie Tart Deco.

For starters, I didn't find the application to be very smooth.  Then again, I'm experimenting with better technique (as reccommended by The Lacquerista), so hopefully that will improve over time.  Also, even after three thick coats, I still don't feel like I got bottle color.  It's much darker and more orange on my nails, nowhere near as light and fleshy looking as in the bottle.  I cut my nails because they were uneven and starting to annoy me while typing, so less nail means less polish.  To detract attention I also used my new Matte About You to take away the shine - which is super cool, I have never had matte nails before!  I'm just hoping that the color doesn't get me in hot water again at work.

On my toes, I simply covered the white with my Sinful Colors Silly Alix, then matte'd that as well.  And oh my god, it's so pretty!!!  I love the effect of matte over a shimmery color - it gets you this really gorgeous pearly effect.  I'd post a picture of my toes, but between my horrendous polish job, dry skin, and deformed big toenails due to repeated injury, I don't really think anyone wants to see a close-up of my feet.  Trust me.  But next work mani?  Definitely doing that same effect.

...In With the New

This is how long it's been since I shopped for makeup anywhere other than the drugstore:  I wandered around for a good ten minutes before I figured out where the nail polish section was - and that was only because I asked someone!  FAIL.  I saw small collections with other makeup from their respective brands, but I wasn't finding very much selection - until I asked, and was directed to the back of the store where there were three giant racks full of polish.  I AM VERY DUMB.

Out With the Old...

Off to Ulta later today, yay!  In the meantime, I sorted through what I do have to decide what to keep and what to toss.

Damn the Man

Predictably, I got spoken to both days that I worked this week.  Also accused of White-Out use no less than 4 times.  *Sigh*.  In my defense, white technically is a neutral color, and is close to my skin tone...heck it practically is my skin tone.  Not to mention I wore it last summer.  But my bosses weren't having it, so I promised to take it off before I work next.  Luckily, however, I have several days off before then, so I decided to add some embellishment just because I can.

That's purely freehand, I don't have any stencils or anything.  So maybe not the neatest it could possibly be, but I love the look of it, both alone and as part of the full manicure.  I love doing just one accent nail.

Also found another new OPI collection that I would give my firstborn child for:

Pirates of the Caribbean Collection

Thanks to @AllLacqueredUp for the info - I think I'm still drooling.  Damn I need a better-paying job so I can afford all of these!  Looked up the nearest beauty supply store, and there's an Ulta in the shopping center down the road, so I'll definitely be heading that way soon.  Let's hope my bank account survives.

smell of wine and cheap perfume

Did anyone else know that OPI is releasing a Glee collection?!  Probably, I'm just very behind on the times, but I caught Naya Rivera's tweet this afternoon.  And seriously, why can't you link to an individual tweet?  Or can you and I'm just too stupid to know how?  In any case, I'm excited!  As inconsistent and at times somewhat offensive as that show can be, I will admit that I adore it.  Wholeheartedly.  Being a television production major, it's very hard for me to shut off the analytical part of my mind when watching pretty much anything, but I've trained myself to put on the blinders for Glee.  If I can ignore everything else, it's a happyfuntime show, just makes me smile and of course sing along!

They had better have a Rachel Berry Gold Star color.  Oooh, and a Grape Slushie!  And a Cheerios Red!  Okay, I'll stop now.