Velvet Gradient and a Sparkly Spider

Halloween week continues with these dark and vampy spider nails. I did a similar look last year, and loved it so much I had to reinvent it again. This year I went darker and matte with new coffin shaped nails that I'm loving. I think it really completes the look.

Above I have a shot minus the spider which is really more accurate to how I'm wearing these nails because the spider came off less than three hours after I glued it. It was really cute for the photos, but the legs were catching on everything and it popped right off. I got the spider charm from Miss A (all the nail art supplies there are $1 each). 

My base color is Sinful Colors, Black on Black. I sponged on a gradient of Wet n Wild, Under Your Spell and Sation, Sparkling Ruby. I topped it off with Wet n Wild Matte Top Coat and then painted the web using Color Club, Harp On It for contrast.

This is my favorite Halloween look so far this year. I'm always a sucker for something dark and spooky (but you can't go wrong with spoopy either).

Spoopy Halloween Nails

Much spoopy, so creppy! I did some nails that are perfect for trick or troating this Halloween. Oh, spoopy meme, you're everything that's right with cheaply imported Halloween goods and illiterate people who work in bakeries. 

These were so much fun to paint! I used quite a few colors, so don't get fritened if this gets a bit long.

Trick or Troat- China Glaze, Home Sweet House Music (orange) with China Glaze, Intelligence, Integrity & Courage and black acrylic paint for the lettering.

Spoopy- Sinful Colors, Black on Black with white acrylic paint for the lettering and Spoiled, Only in Creams for the shading.

Candy Corn- China Glaze, Plur-ple for the base. I drew triangles with white acrylic paint and then colored them in with Home Sweet House Music and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Expres-so Yellow.

Creppy- Wet n Wild, Stand the Test of Lime with Plur-ple for the drippy accents.

Smashed Spiders- China Glaze, Intelligence, Integrity & Courage for the base with black acrylic paint for the spiders.

My motto for Halloween this year:

I didn't make this, but whoever did is pretty much awesome.

Blingy Halloween Skulls

For my next Halloween look I used the Rebel Chic kit from Orly. This is one of my all time best finds at Sallys. It was marked down to $4.99 already and I got it during the half off clearance sale, so about $2.50 for all of it! Everything in the kit goes so nicely together, although maybe not in as much excess as shown on the package. I've chosen to use just a few elements at a time for a more understated look. You can also check out this other manicure I did earlier with this kit to see another way to wear these elements.

I mentioned it in my last post, but I'll say it again. Iron Butterfly, the polish that came in this kit is fantastic. I'm wearing two coats here. The formula is easy to apply and dries super fast. I really like the metallic shimmer with the matte finish. The only drawback is that the wear time is a little less than a typical polish before it starts chipping. I also had a bit of trouble keeping the skull on. The back is curved to help it lay flat on the nail which is great. It lasted about 3 days before it came off (I was being pretty rough with it). After it came off the first time I re-glued it 2 more times to extend the manicure, but it popped off much more quickly when I had to glue it over the residue that was left over from the first time.

This is the kind of look I could wear any time of the year. In fact, I did this manicure in June and never got around to posting it until now. This is what I had on for my last day of work at my old job, and it felt so right. I miss everyone there, but I'm so glad I took the risk and moved on.

Wicked Halloween Tips

Nail tips, that is. I hope no one wandered over here hoping for tips about how to Halloween. It's hard enough to get my husband to leave the house for regular social functions.. and ones where he might be required to dress up... not too likely. This is one of my favorite holidays, though. It's all about dressing up and eating candy, possibly (hopefully) while drinking. Even turkey has a hard time topping that. There's also not a lot of pressure to spend time with family which, after moving 10 hours away, is kind of a relief. I already have my costume for this year planned too. It's probably going to be a little offensive to everyone in my office. I can't wait. :) I promise it's nothing too awful. I'll give you a peek once it's closer to being done.

This is one of those rare cases when my right hand (top picture) turned out better than my left. I got the black too high up on the left hand to give the effect of blackened tips.

I started by filing my nails much pointier than I usually do for a more sinister look. I love really sharp stilettos but I don't know how those ladies do it without poking their eye out. I've stabbed myself so many times this week and these aren't even that pointy. It's worth it though. A good artist has to suffer for their art. I used my favorite nude for the base, French Pink from Nina Ultra Pro. Next I sponged on a coppery shade, Zoya's Richelle. I topped that with a sponged black layer, then went back and sponged a little more copper on top in an attempt to blend it better. Afterwards I was wishing I tried all three colors wet on the sponge at once. The gradient wasn't quite as smooth as I wanted it. I still not super great at the gradient nails. Must keep practicing.

 I'm sorry I've been super lazy about posting lately. I have tons of motivation to paint, but very little for editing photos and writing. I'm building up quite a backlog! I'm planning all Halloween nails through the end of the month so you can expect to see a little bit more of me for the next few weeks.

Nails Inc Hampstead Gardens- aka The Ugliest Polish Of My Dreams

Holy crap! Literally! I've finally found the perfect shade of baby poo yellow and it's the ugliest polish in all the right ways. I've been searching for this exact color for over a year and I've finally found it thanks to the wonderful and quirky Concrete and Nail Polish. The second I saw her post I knew I had to have it. Hampstead Gardens from Nails Inc is a perfect match for this ridiculously ugly kitty shirt that I found at a yard sale, and yes, I wear it all the time... because cats.

Last fall I tried to franken a matching shade for this top, but couldn't quite get that dark mustard base that it needed. I didn't have any luck finding this polish though websites that normally carry Nails Inc but it was on eBay for a reasonable price. I don't know if you can really put a price on a polish this unique though. I probably would have paid much more to add it to my collection.

The brush was a little wonky right out of the bottle as you can see. I trimmed those long pieces off with a tiny pair of scissors and the brush worked much better afterwards. The formula has a nice consistency, not too wet or goopy. Two coats gives a perfect shiny finish.

This is my perfect shade for fall. It's so much different from anything else in my collection. I don't often wear the same polish twice in a year, but I can see myself wearing this one again soon. Maybe some art to match the kitty shirt next time?

It looks brilliant next to that blue sky too. Seriously can't get enough of this. What's the weirdest shade you've ever fallen in love with?

Mushroom Nails- Inspired by Olay Active Botanicals

If you missed my last post I did a review of the Influenster Wellness VoxBox. One of the items was this Olay Active Botanicals face cleanser. It's infused with snow mushroom and doesn't that just sound like the most adorable thing ever?

Of course I had to google snow mushrooms. Not quite what I had pictured and that would have been a nightmare to paint so I did cute little button mushrooms instead.

Thanks, internet, for this photo of a snow mushroom.

You can check out my full review in the previous post. Basically this stuff is pretty ok. It was gentle enough for my sensitive skin and not overly scented. It wasn't too drying either which I've found is so much more important as my skin gets older and even more temperamental. As you can see below, only a small amount is needed to create plenty of lather. Ah, the interesting hand poses one comes up with when trying to show off slippery gel cleanser and nails in the same photo.

For these nails I started off with two coats of Five Rules from The Giver collection (China Glaze). I freehand painted the shape of mushrooms using white polish. Next, I colored the tops brown with Pumping Gas from Spoiled and then highlighted the stems with Chinchilly from Essie. I really like the way the small print looked. It would have looked so cute do finish out all the nails with the mushrooms, but I was running short on time so I went with my standard two accent nails.

I had at least two people ask me if these were Jamberrys or stamped. I'm going to take that as a compliment. I think this means I need to come up with more cute patterns to paint.

Influenster Wellness VoxBox Review

This week for my triumphant, yet extremely lazy return to my normal blogging schedule I have a special review of the latest Influenster VoxBox. This Wellness VoxBox has a variety of drugstore items sent by Influenster for me to review. Though the items were complementary I guarantee that all opinions are my own. So lets get started with some of these items before I show you which one inspired today's nails.

Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer: I'm not a huge fan of this product. The concept is ok. You're meant to rub this stuff on in the shower before you dry off- no rinsing necessary. They say your skin absorbs 2x the moisture when it's damp with half the drying time of normal lotion, so this product should moisturize better and more quickly if the claims are true. I couldn't bring myself to actually test it though because the smell! I'm very sensitive to perfumey smells and this one was really floral which is the worst for me. I hope Jergens comes out with an unscented version for us sensitive people. 

Attitude Hair Care 2in1 Shampoo/Body Wash & Dish Soap: I actually really like this one and my husband agrees. It has a really great fresh smell (not too overpowering for my sensitive nose). The big draw of the Attitude brand is their worry-free ingredients. I find that a lot of the "natural" shampoos don't lather well and leave my hair feeling and looking greasy, but not this one. It makes a ton of great lather and leaves my hair feeling nice and clean. This is something I'd seriously consider buying in the future. At $9.99 for a good sized bottle it's worth checking out. Attitude products are available at Target and online at Attitude (check out all their products there). The dish soap has similar lathering abilities and the smell is exactly as described- green apple & basil. I personally find it a little weird to wash food off dishes with something that smells like other food, but it's a pleasant smell and the soap works well to cut through the grease/stuff on the dishes.

Colgate Enamel Health Mouthwash: In the Colgate vs Crest battle I'm a Colgate girl all the way so I was happy to try out this mouthwash. I like that this mouthwash is alcohol free (the husband complained that it didn't burn enough). I can't take the sting of the ones that have alcohol so this was nice for me. The flavor is nice and fresh. I'm super paranoid about my dental hygiene. I won't use anything with artificial sweeteners before bed (yeah.. I'm one of those weird people who makes their own natural toothpaste to avoid that stuff). I do, however, use this in the morning or before leaving the house. As far as claims that this can help reverse enamel softening... I don't know how I'd really test that out, but I'm sure it can't hurt. Dental hygiene for the win!

UrgentRx Ache and Pain Relief To-Go: This stuff is a fast dissolving powder that doesn't require water to take... but ohhhh believe me, you'll want some. The flavor could easily be described as woahhhhehhhhhblehhgh... aka lemon lime. I can't really blame the makers though. Aspirin is really bitter and it would be extremely difficult to mask that flavor entirely. They tried really hard with a ton of artificial sweeteners that stuck in my mouth long after the powder had dissolved. On the plus side, it did dissolve really quickly. The packaging is small and flat making it easy to keep in your purse/bag for some kind of headache emergency.

 Olay Active Botanicals Refreshing Gel Cleanser: Finally, a peek at the nails inspired by this product. I'll give a closer look at the nails in my next post. For now here's what I think about this cleanser. It's infused with snow mushroom which is said to hold 500x its weight in water. I'm not sure how that helps clean your face. Possibly some kind of moisturizing effect? I've been using this for the last couple weeks and it's doing a nice job. I don't know if there are any noticeable differences in my skin, but on the bright side it hasn't caused any horrific breakouts which is a valid concern with my sensitive skin. I was previously using an Oil of Olay sensitive skin face wash (unscented with aloe). One of the major differences I've noticed is that this Active Botanicals gel has a slight scent (nothing too strong, but as you might have noticed from my endless comments I usually prefer unscented products). It's also a little "slimy" feeling when I rinse it off. I think that because it's a clear gel it takes a little extra rinsing to get all the soap feeling off. This is definitely nice and I like that it makes me think of adorable little mushrooms while I'm washing, but I think once I'm done with this tube I'll probably go back to my old favorite Olay face wash.

Yaye: Also in this VoxBox is an invitation to download a new health and fitness app, Yaye. Once you download the app you can connect with your friends to set fitness goals and encourage each other because "it's no fun working out by yourself." It's been my long-standing motto that pain is your body's way of telling you something is bad for it. And exercise hurts.. so obviously you shouldn't be doing it. Flawless logic, yes? I do already have a Fitbit which comes with its own app and a bunch of friends to "motivate" me and it hasn't done much good yet. The advantage of the Yaye app is that it's free whereas the cheapest Fitbit is around $50. If you're looking for an inexpensive way to have "fun" exercising with your friends this could be a really good option. I may still try it out just to see how I like the app. I could use all the help I can get at this point.

What do you think of this VoxBox? Anything you'd be interested to try? If you want to join Influenster so you can try out products for yourself click my link in the sidebar to get more info---> or let me know and I can send you an invite.