Wednesday, January 30, 2013

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 3: Yellow

I'm not overly excited about this look. I don't have too many yellows and the ones that I do have I just wasn't feeling them tonight. My new Cameo Colour Lacquer polishes came in today, one of the colors being this buttery/butterscotch looking polish called "Everything's Dancing". I was a little bummed that it was so difficult to get the chunkier copper glitter out, but this still works.

A England Tristam & Saint George.

To say these polishes are gorgeous would be the understatement of the week...no year...actually century?

I patiently waited for these polishes to arrive from A England's Thank You promotion and had a few stressful days in there where I thought I wasn't going to get these beauties at all. Apparently, Royal Mail (England's postal service) made a change a few days ago stating they they would no longer allow international shipping of nail polish...because it's a fire hazard to the plane. Erm, I'm pretty positive I've brought polish into my carry on as well as countless other women (or men) who had nail polish in their luggage. Seems a bit ridiculous to me, but oh well. Anyway, A England informed all of their customers of this change several days ago and I was fearful that my polishes were going to be stuck or destroyed until yesterday afternoon when they were happily waiting in my mailbox after their tumultuous journey! 

Up first is Tristam, a holographic midnight blue that makes me swoon. It's so incredible! 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 2: Orange

Knock Knock! Who's there!? Banana!...err Orange. Sorry. 

I surprised myself today by actually keeping up with this 31 Day Nail Challenge. But you might be thinking, "Lindsey, it's only day 2, that's not that difficult to keep on track for yet..." Well, that may be true, but for me that's pretty good! I have such a hard time keeping up with things so I'm happy to report that I have completed my second mani for this challenge within two days! Yay! 

I probably have 2 or 3 true oranges in my collection mixed with several coral and salmon colors so I grabbed all of them and got to work. I was originally going to tape these but went instead for a free hand look. This probably took me about 20 minutes total so not too long and I think it's a fun (albeit, summery) look! :)

Sunday, January 27, 2013

31 Day Nail Challenge - Day 1: Red

I'm thinking that this 31 Day Nail Challenge will be good for me as it will actually force me to push myself a bit and not just stick to my favorite colors and designs. There are also a few things on the list that I have yet to try (a majority of the "patterns" sections I have not attempted yet) so I'm excited to learn some new techniques and see what I'm capable of :)

First up for this challenge is Red Nails! Well, red isn't really my go to color, at least not anymore. I used to wear a lot of red (as in, I only really owned red and pink polishes...I had no idea what I was missing!!) but lately I've been wearing cooler tones instead. When my collection first expanded a few months ago, I got rid of a lot of my old polishes that were no longer useable or no longer my taste. For instance, for whatever reason I was REALLY into shimmer polishes for what appears to be several years since that is the only kind of polish I bought. Now a days I tend to stay away from those if I can. I'm not sure what I was thinking in buying all of those, but then again, I had some weird bangs when I was younger and I'm not sure what I was thinking then either (why, mother, why would you let me do that!?) Funny how tastes change that way!

Okay, that was an odd tangent. Here are my Red Nails! It turned into a sort of basket weave/brick wall sort of look. Oddly enough, I actually liked how these looked more without a top coat on because each stroke I had made with the brush was much more defined. 

31 Day Nail Challenge

Okay, so I used to have this challenge listed in my tabs, but I completely failed at ever doing anything off of this challenge list. I've decided to go for it again, though instead of completing one mani a day, I'm probably going to take my good sweet time completing these. Anyway, here is the challenge list!
Happy Polishing :)

Stained Glass Tutorial

In this tutorial, I will walk you through the steps to creating a stain glass style design. This isn't an overly complex design, but you will need a few items in order to make the process go by smoothly (and to reduce the possibility of you wanting to pull your hair out by the end of it!). That being said, it's possible there is a simpler method out there for completing this look...This is just the way I went about things :)

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Stained Glass Inspired!

This design kept popping up in my head and for whatever reason I kept nudging it away to do something else. I finally gave into it and frankly, I don't know what took me so long to actually do it. This is probably one of my more intricate designs and I am really proud of how they turned out. This whole look probably took me around 2 hours to complete which I know is more than most people want to commit to doing their nails, but I am in love with it. I've been asked to do a tutorial for it and if there is any more interest I'll see if I can put something together.

Valentine's Day Heart Tutorial

I had quite a few requests for a tutorial of the heart on my middle finger in this mani. It's fairly simple in design, though the way I've done it requires a somewhat steady hand and perhaps a little bit of patience ;)


You're going to need 4 different colors for this, as well as a small brush capable of intricate detail work. You'll also want a surface to dap out your colors onto (your palette), as well as some acetone handy for easy brush cleaning. 

After applying your favorite base coat, start with with step 1. 

Valentine's Day mani...in January!

Valentine's Day is coming up soon and while my boyfriend and I will likely get something small for each other, for the most part, we don't make a huge deal out of the day...I mean, I'll totally be a fun person to be around if he doesn't get me flowers...so yeah...totally NOT sarcasm...

Anyway! I find all of the Valentine's Day products and themes to be adorable and I miss the days of making a "mailbox" for your desk in elementary school and seeing if maybe, just maybe, the boy(s) you secretly like gave you an extra special Valentine sometime during the day. 

I wanted to create something fun as Valentines got closer and since there are currently a few nail art challenges/contests going around on Reddit and Instagram that have a Valentine's Day and I couldn't resist coming up with something to enter in them. I really, really, REALLY love how this turned out! 

OPI's Liquid Sand Collection and a battery charger for me!

I have been a bad blogger this week. I've been so worn out this week or busy with other random aspects of my life that I haven't gotten around to posting what I've been working on. I'm changing that now! 

Last Tuesday I got the mini set of Mariah Carey's Liquid Sand Collection! I've been intrigued by these since they were announced and I'm glad I've finally got my hands on them. The mini set came with 4 colors, all matte and in this liquid sand texture. These all applied amazingly easy, though I wasn't used to the drying time they required since I'm usually able to apply a fast dry top coat. I'll have to look into a mattifying fast dry top coat...hmm...

Sunday, January 20, 2013

A gradient and a fun pattern!

Good news! I finally ordered a new battery charger for my camera and I'm so excited to hopefully have my baby up and running again. 
While I'm waiting, I've been nail painting! I have been itching to do a "real" gradient for awhile now but for whatever reason never got around to it. The gradients I have done have all used glitter, with no real worry about how well the two colors transition. I took a look at this fabulous tutorial by the amazing Sammy at The Nailasaurus in order to create my gradient and while I there is definitely room for improvement, I really like how everything turned out :)

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Caviar Beads

Somewhere along my path to nail polish hoarding I acquired some "Caviar Beads" for nail art. They've been sitting in my kit since I got them over two months ago and I've contemplated using them a few times but never got around to it. I finally decided to change that and just go for it the other night, so this mani is the result of that. 

The beads were surprisingly easy to work with and didn't stick out on my nail as much as I was expecting. The problem with these, however, is the fact that I'm a very tactile person. I like to touch and pick at things and little plastic balls stuck on my nail are a pickers dream. Needless to say, these only lasted about a day before I could resist the urge to pick them off. 

Friday, January 18, 2013

The Liebster Award

The wonderfully kind and awesome Ashley over at Cup Of Ash Tea recently informed me that she nominated me for The Liebster Award!...and the Versatile Blogger Award! Let's just talk about how flippin' sweet and amazing she is for a moment. You should go check out her blog :) 

So what are these awards? Well, that's a good question...

I'm borrowing the explanations from Ashley because I had no idea but was flattered all the same that she thought of me! :) First, the Liebster Award! Apparently it's German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved and lovely and is awarded to bloggers with fewer than 200 followers as a way to recognize blogs you like and for discovering new blogs. As part of the nomination, we're supposed to answer 11 questions created by Ashley, as well as nominate other blogs and create new questions of my own. 
The Versatile Blogger Award is similar recognition award. 

33 Ways to Stay Creative.

I recently came across this list and I love all of these! I just started carrying a Levenger notebook that my Mom got me for my graduation and I must say that it has made things easier. I'm trying to write down any random thought I tell myself I'll remember because I inevitably always forget it. I've also stated jotting down nail design ideas if something strikes me. It's minimizing a little bit of stress for me and that's all I can ask for! 
Numbers I'm currently doing? 2, 8, 9, 11 (I have been obsessively listening to Macklemore's new album lately...), 12 (I think I'm generally a pretty open person), 21, 25 (I'm making a solid attempt with this blog), 30, 32 (well, I try!). The rest, well those I've got to work on! But I figure I've got some time to do that and I really want to work towards achieving most of these things :)

Thursday, January 17, 2013

OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls...again...

Well, I'm officially obsessed with this color. Is it unreasonable to want to wear it every day for the rest of my life? I think that's entirely acceptable. It's just so pretty by itself...or under designs...or in the bottle...

Anyway, I had to use it again and here is the result :) I deviated a bit from my original plan with these, but I still like them. This were quick and simple with the aide of my trusty striping brush. 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Striping Tutorial with Zoya's Kieko

So after my polishing binge last night, I ended up with Kieko on all of my nails and decided to spend a few extra minutes to make something quick on my middle fingers. I got asked by a few people on Instagram how I did this design so I decided to put together a quick little pictorial to share how easy it can be for you to have it as well! 

My new Zoya loves!

Yesterday, I welcomed 5 new babies into my home! That's right, my Zoya's came. YEEEEEEE!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Day 2 - Where you would like to be in ten years

I would like to know what I want to do with my life in ten years! Is that too much to ask?? :/ 

I would love to be in a career that I love and enjoy most of the time. I don't want to dread going to work. 

I would love to be living in a home that Bryce and I bought together. A home we have fixed up together and put those little touches that we both love but mostly what I love because let's face it, he's a boy and doesn't know what he actually wants ;) 

I would love to be living closer to my family. Currently I'm 4 hours away and it's tough not having my support group nearby. 

More than anything, I would LOVE to just be happy and content with things. I know nothing will ever be perfect, but I hope my days continue to be filled with smiles and laughter. All I can really hope for! :)

I've also got a tumblr going where I throw all the things I would eventually love to have in my future home, places I want to travel, and just pretty things to see, collect, and do. I hope in 10 years I will have done, seen, accomplished some of those things! 

Sunday, January 13, 2013

My camera charger is MIA...

Do you know what my cell phone camera and a potato have in common? They both same the same quality photos!...and I'm only slightly exaggerating!

With my move a few months ago I somehow managed to misplace the battery charger for my Canon and I am so sad! I suppose I should be thankful that the two fully charged batteries that I did have lasted as long as they did, but I'm really not looking forward to buying a new charger (especially since the old one will turn up soon after). In the meantime, I'm going to search for a new camera app that will hopefully make better use of the alleged 8 megapixel camera that my phone has. The past few manis I did I've only taken photos with my phone, so bear with me on the quality and lack of pictures. I'm going to throw them all into this post and hopefully I'll have my camera up and running again soon! 

For this first mani, I was lacking a bit of inspiration and ended up making my boyfriend sift through my polishes and find some colors he wanted me to use. After much deliberation, he ended up choosing Butter London's Disco Biscuit and OPI's Gold Shatter. I've used Disco Biscuit before but the Gold Shatter was new to me. My mom actually surprised me with it when I was visiting home over the holidays when she found out that in all my collection, I did not have one shatter polish! She's kind of great :) 

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

OPI's My Boyfriend Scales Walls

My Boyfriend Scales Walls is a color I would in fact scale walls for. It's from OPI's Spiderman collection and I've been lusting after it for awhile because it's the perfect off-white that has a touch of grey in it. Just stunning. Here's a quick swatch of it! :)


I had to use 3 coats to get the opaqueness I wanted and there was a little bit of an issue with streaking, but those were both easily managed. I find the longer I wait between each coat the better but for this mani, inspiration struck at about 12:30 am...so naturally I rushed through each top coat...only to have o take more time to fix some goopiness. I need to remember to take my time and do it right the first time. 

Anywho, I ended up paring this lovely color with Sephora by OPI's Caught With My Khakis Down, which, lets face it, I would have bought for the name alone. The fact that it's a beautiful green (my favorite!) only adds to this polish. Here's the look. I used a striping brush 

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Zoya's Avery with a Pop

Tonight is a quick little mani that I'm actually really liking so far! I love a good nude polish and Zoya's Avery is a great staple color to have. If you haven't already heard, Zoya is having a promo starting tomorrow (1/7/12) where you get 3 polishes for free and all you have to do is pay $10 for shipping. Zoya polishes will run you $8/bottle so this is an awesome deal. Just use the promo code ZOYA2013 at checkout :)

Anyway! My point was that if you're waiting or that big deal to grab some Zoya's now is that time! 

I'm continuing with the nail art challenge for January and I'm going to consider this my Pastel challenge. Maybe that's a stretch, but this is where my inspiration went tonight :) And onto the look! 

Saturday, January 5, 2013

30 Day Personal Challenge - Day 1 Your Current Relationship

Alright! Day 1! Your Current Relationship

Where to begin??! I've been with my boyfriend, Bryce, for 7 years and as I was recently told by someone, our relationship is a 2nd grader! At 22, I've been with him for a third of my life...sounds a bit ridiculous, maybe, but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I can't believe that 7 years has gone by already! As with any couple we've had our ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I still like AND love that crazy/silly/awkward boy who can always make me laugh and is without a doubt my best friend in the entire world.

The two of us are actually high school sweethearts, which always seems to freak people out because finding the love of your life when you're 15 years old doesn't happen very often. Somehow the awkward friendship/attraction that began in study hall my freshman year led to an awkward first date a year later where we saw Zorro 2 (and yes, it was Zorrible...). Somehow that led to our one, two, five, seven year anniversary. Somehow we made it through all the madness, heartache, jealously, and loneliness that goes with leaving for college, getting new jobs, meeting new people and feeling left out. Somehow we figured out how to grow as a couple, but also as individuals (so important!!). Somehow I've learned to deal with his messiness and eating noises and he with my craziness and nagging (I am a girlfriend after all). Somehow we've made it work. Because we wanted to make it work and because somehow we just always sort of knew we were supposed to be together. 

Friday, January 4, 2013

The gal behind the nails.

Alright, I'll preface this with an apology! This string of posts will be a bit more personal but interspersed with nail posts. If you're here solely for nails, bear with me! The lovely Ashley over at Cup of Ash Tea turned me onto this challenge and I really want to give it a go. It may very well take me all year to get through it though ;) 


30 Day Challenge! 

Day 1 - Your current relationship, or how single life is
Day 2 - Where you would like to be in ten years
Day 3 - Your views on drugs and alcohol
Day 4 - Your views on religion
Day 5 - A time you thought about ending your own life 
Day 6 - Write thirty interesting facts about yourself
Day 7 - Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality
Day 8 - A moment you felt the most satisfied with your life
Day 9 - What you hope your future will be like
Day 10 - Discuss your first love and first kiss
Day 11 - Put your music player on shuffle and write ten songs that pop up
Day 12 - Bullet your whole day
Day 13 - Somewhere you would like to move or visit
Day 14 - Your earliest memory
Day 15 - Your favorite Tumblrs
Day 16 - Your views on mainstream music
Day 17 - Your highs and lows of this past year
Day 18 - Your beliefs
Day 19 - Disrespecting your parents
Day 20 - How important you think education is
Day 21 - One of your favorite shows
Day 22 - How have you changed in the past two years?
Day 23 - Give pictures of five guys who are famous who you find attractive
Day 24 - Your favorite movie and what it's about
Day 25 - Someone who fascinates you and why
Day 26 - What kind of person attracts you
Day 27 - A problem that you have had
Day 28 - Something that you miss
Day 29 - Goals for the next thirty days
Day 30 - Your highs and lows of this month


Happy Polishing and Happy Living! :)

Sparkle Gradient with BL, CG and SOPI

Today's nail art challenge is Sparkles! I'm really loving this look and it's super simple to create. The base color is Butter LONDON's Royal Navy and the gradient is made with China Glaze's I Herd that and the chunky glitter is Sephora by OPI's Only Gold for Me top coat.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

January Nail Art Challenge!

Inspiration can be hard to come by which is why I really love when people come up with awesome nail art challenges that force you to be creative in a way you might not otherwise be. This month, Californails on Instagram put together another nail art challenge that I've decided to partake in as much as possible :) 

Butter LONDON's Rosie Lee with a quick pattern.

Last month Good Morning America had a great deal on Butter LONDON's holiday 3-piece sets (6 polishes for $36!!) so of course I couldn't say no. I mean, come on, those poor polishes were all alone out in the big wide world and I just gave them a home! I'm so excited to work my way through using all of them and to share them all!

For this look, I used Butter LONDON's Rosie Lee paired with Milani's White on the Spot and Zoya's Avery (which I also just got and I love it!). This is a pretty simple mani and once you get the hang of it, you can get it done fairly quickly.