Am I Too Late For Fall Nail Art?

I always have such good intentions and then my Thanksgiving/Fall nail art is two days late. I recently switched out my old iPhone for a shiny new LG hoping that it would make this whole blogging from the phone thing easier. I've discovered that the blogger app is complete trash and the chrome browser is somehow even less cooperative than Safari was. I have to hold on to the hope that this phone is way smarter than me and I'm doing it wrong but maybe I can figure it out someday. 

In other news, we've discovered a fun new game at the house that I've lovingly named "Ant or Hair." Random tickle on my face, neck or arm? Is it an ant or a hair? Hint: it's probably an ant. We've been playing this game far too often lately despite using three different kinds of ant poison. I might enjoy the wet weather but apparently the ants do not.   

I've seen a few versions of these cute acorn nails floating around the internets so I can't claim to have invented the idea but I'm a total sucker for cute printed nails and wanted to give it a try myself. Brown = Spoiled, Pumping Gas. Cream = Revlon, Sheer Cotton. This one is true to its name and needed three coats for opacity. Acorns = Spoiled, Only In Creams with white accents. The acorns were hand painted using a small nail art brush. I topped everything off with Wet n Wild Matte Top Coat.  

If y'all have any tips on blogging from an android phone or getting rid of horrible ants let me know! Happy late Thanksgiving.

It's been a scary long time..

Hey kids, want to hear a scary story?  Shines flashlight on face... It all started about three months ago. I may have mentioned that we embarked on a harrowing journey to find the house of our dreams. Well, we did indeed find a house. The location is almost perfect- close enough to work but far enough away from the neighbors, tall trees, almost enough space to satisfy my hoarding tendencies. But the dream quickly turned to a nightmare when I discovered that the internet doesn't exist here..... Let that sink in for a moment... No. Internet.

To be fair we could technically pay twice as much as we were before to get satellite internet with a data cap of 10g per month. Sounds great except the part where I used to use about that much data every day or so. I'm currently attempting my first ever phone only blogging experience. Pros: I'm blogging on the couch! Cons: every single other thing. 

So, I still do nails but it's been really hard to keep blogging. Thanks Google for cancelling the Blogger app for iOS and forcing me to struggle through this mess on my mobile browser. 

These are my rotting zombie Halloween nails. I started with one coat of China Glaze, Don't Get Derailed, then dry-brushed black polish in random places. Next I used a q-tip soaked in acetone to rub off layers of polish is a few places on each nail. I topped it off with Wet n Wild matte top coat. After that was dry I painted on some blood (Sally Hansen, Brick Wall) and left that part shiny. 

Any thoughts on this new format? Is the picture quality ok? I can't tell since I'm only seeing it on my tiny phone screen. It's a work in progress, but I'm happy to be back. 

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.

(More) Magical Unicorn Nails

I had a really bad week and needed something to cheer me up. What can do that job better than a unicorn? A narwhal or maybe a Pegasus?? It's me though, so pretty much any animal will put me in a better mood, but I was hoping the unicorn would bring a little extra luck along with it. I've done similar nails in the past, but wanted to add holo for even more unicorn magic.

Direct light is even more magical. There was no sun to be had this day so you'll have to settle for lamp light.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of the Color Club Halo Hues collection. The purple shade is Eternal Beauty. I also used Miss Bliss, Cosmic Fate, Kismet and Over the Moon for my rainbow nail. The flare is really great on these! I used Bundle Monster stamping plates BM-615 and BM-301 for the images and used the decal stamping method to color in the rainbow colors between the lines.

I'm  not sure if my unicorn has brought me the luck I was looking for, but I'll keep putting out good vibes and hoping for the best.

Chevron Negative Space Nails

The idea for these nails popped into my head randomly last weekend and I decided to go with it. I know it's supposed to be spring but I've been craving grey and black polish lately. Seasons can't define my nail looks! I really love how the negative space nail came out and wish I had done all my nails this way instead of these crazy skittles. What do you think of this mismatched look?

Polishes/supplies used: 

Essence, As Long As You Love Me

Sinful Colors, Black On Black

Chevron Nail Vinyls