I've Been Told It's Summertime

There are many reasons I wanted to move to Oregon, but the main one: blissfully pretending that the season called Summer doesn't exist. The horrible furnace I came from typically gets to be somewhere near the temperature of the sun starting in April, maybe May if you're lucky, stretching all the way out to October. Today I'm looking out my window at an overcast sky enjoying some low 70's... in the middle of July!!! Do I even need to say how happy I am?

To sympathize with those of you who are stuck in less temperate zones I did some bright summery gradient nails. The matte finish reminds me of a frosty popsicle. I was originally going to do some stamping over these, but then couldn't bring myself to cover up such a fantastically colored gradient.

I started by painting two coats of Orly, Key Lime Twist since this yellow shade was the lightest color in my gradient and I didn't want to mess around with a white base. I used a make-up sponge to dab all three colors in a diagonal onto each nail. I probably did 3-4 sponged coats per nail. My other two colors are Island Girl, Diamond Head Breeze (the most eye-searing neon pink I own) and China Glaze, Too Yacht to Handle (not sure what neon teal has to do with yachts.. but whatever). The results are a magical unicorn-tail-like gradient. I topped it off with Wet n Wild Matte Top Coat which unfortunately doesn't last as long as a nice glossy top coat. I wish I could have worn these nails all month. I couldn't stop staring at my DayGlo fingers.

Meet my sweetest Sugar Glider, Leela.  She wasn't cooperating very well, but I'm trying to start a new #MyNailsAndMySugarGlider thing. Her brother Nibbler was too hyperactive and bitey to sit still for any pictures, but I'll try to get some shots of him for you soon.

Blush VoxBox Review- Influenster

Hello everyone. Today I have a review of the Blush VoxBox from Influenster. All the products in this box were geared toward summer weddings which was lucky because I was the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding in June. In my next post I'll show you the nails I did to match our dresses.

I'll be honest, last month was hectic and I did a crappy job of taking pictures. A lot of this stuff got thrown in my bag and ravenously torn apart in the madness of pre-wedding prep so behold, a bad off-center cell phone picture of the eyelashes from Ardel. 

The bride (Kate, left in the picture above) also picked up some Ardel lashes, but the ones she got were a little less full and I think they look a lot more natural. Mine were super dramatic and fun to wear, but I think maybe just a tiny bit too much for me, or at least for this particular occasion. I was also pretty rushed putting them on and not really pro at application in the first place. I wish I'd had about 30 more minutes to get them just perfect. Overall they weren't crazy hard to work with. I love the look of fake lashes for dressing up (Halloween, parties, etc) so I'll definitely check out more of Ardel's range of lashes for my next event.

Next up is the Secret Clinical Strength antiperspirant in ooh-la-la lavender. I already use a Secret antiperspirant so I was actually happy to try this one vs the last two deodorant offerings from Influenster. Lavender isn't one of my favorite scents, and I rarely buy scented products anyway, but I'm happy to say this has a very pleasant smell that's not overwhelming at all. This trial size was perfect to throw in my carry-on for the flight. It worked great and kept me smelling good all day even in the summer heat for this outdoor wedding.

These Pantene Intense Hydration samples, however, didn't make it into my carry-on. At 3.9 fl oz, that's .9 more than is allowed in the liquids bag. Who am I kidding, I skipped the shampoo and loaded that bag up with nail polish anyway! I did try them once I got back though and am liking them. They smell incredible. Like cookie dough and flowers and unicorn fluff... or something. I can't quite pick out the smells, but it's good. They also give my hair a ton of moisture without weighing it down or making it look oily which can be a problem for my fine hair. Below you can see how much body my bangs have even a half day after washing with this shampoo (conditioner added just to the ends of my hair).

I also got a sample of Micellar Make-up Remover Wipes from Simple. These were great to throw in my bag for the trip since I couldn't take my liquid eye make-up remover. They do a good job getting off foundation, eye shadow and regular eye liner but had some trouble with the waterproof liquid eye liner. I'd recommend these for travel and quick removal of make-up when you're feeling lazy. The wipes were very moist and gentle on my skin. The only thing I didn't like was the residue feeling left over after using them. I'd always plan to give my face a quick rinse afterwards to solve that issue.

The last thing in the box was a coupon for 15% off accessories at the Perfect Details website. These jeweled accessories really are gorgeous and I did need a clip for my hair, but I received it so close to the wedding that I didn't have time to wait for shipping. 

This was a great VoxBox overall. I liked all of the products and was able to put them all to good use (except you, Perfect Details). Are there any that you're curious to try?

4th of July Nails & Chasing the American Dream

Happy 4th of July weekend! So, I kind of took an unintentional month off from blogging because sometimes life happens like that. We've been house hunting over the last two months and it's been a little bit soul sucking for me. Nothing like looking for houses on a tight budget to show you exactly what your place is in society. I've discovered that my place is manufactured homes from the 70's. But that's ok, because just like my dollar store nail polish budget I'm totally going to rock it and find the perfect (old) place that my husband and I can fix up and call our own. Lucky for me I really like painting.

I wanted to do a more abstract flag design instead of the traditional stars and stripes and I've been looking for a fun way to use some crackle polish that's been languishing in the helmer. They turned out so bright and fun and I'm excited to show them off this weekend.

I started by painted three fingers with Sinful Colors, Snow Me White. I added two coats of Wet n Wild, Break the Ice to add some shimmer, then topped it off with a coat of red crackle polish that came in a Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers set. The blue nails are two coats of LA Colors, Reckless and one coat of Color Club, Sky High. I used my new clear stamper from Born Pretty to individually place each star image from Bundle Monster plate BM-206 + Mundo de Unas white stamping polish. I don't have any plates with a full nail image of stars so this was a good test of the clear stamper. It's finicky actually picking up a full, crisp image, but once I have one on the stamper it's really easy to place it exactly where I want it on the nail. I might keep my eye out for a clear stamper that's slightly stickier, but this one is good enough for the low price of $2 and free shipping on ebay.