Coming back

Well hello and my apologies!  I have kind of dropped off the face of the earth, both here and in other areas of my life.  I know that no one expects anything of me, but you have been such wonderful readers and so supportive that I feel like at least a small explanation is in order.
Since the end of January I have really been battling depression.  There is not a whole lot that inspires or excites me lately.  On top of that, we lost my grandmother to a sad, difficult end.  Life has just been overwhelming and I haven't felt compelled to polish much, let alone post about it.  What I tell myself has just been "me" time is really retreating, though, and not all that healthy, so I'm trying to come back.  Fake it 'til you make it, right?  Right.  I'm hoping this will help me feel more like me.
That being said, I'm starting off super unoriginal and recreating an awesome mani that Amber posted over at the highly-addictive and awesome Amber did it!  My coloring is slightly different, but I couldn't resist the perfect summer mani she rocked!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails
*China Glaze Pool Party
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*Cover Girl White Night
*1 coat Hoof Lacquer
*1 coat Out the Door

 

I buffed my nails (now that the staining has grown out!) and opted to go nude for the French.  I was tempted to use a nude colored polish, but let my natural nails be the base instead.  I taped off the tips with Scotch tape and used Pool Party for the tips.  On my left hand I freehanded a second coat after removing the tape, but wasn't as confident for my right.  This is a little sheer and needs a couple of coats for the whole nail.  As a neon, it dries to a semi-matte finish, which I like to shine up with a top coat.  With that shiny top coat, though, they looked about the same.

On my accent, I used a dotting tool for the black and white dots, and then the opposite on top.  The one thing that Amber did and I wish I had more successfully copied was the size difference in the dots.  I was worried about making the larger ones too big, but they came out a little too close in size to tell a difference.  Either way, I love the neon pink with the black/white contrast!

I don't often end up doing a French, but I really like how this looks!  I have tons of funky French mains pinned, so I'll have to keep them coming.  This was a fun, easy, cute mani for me and I'm hoping to dive back into this little hobby.  Thank you, for coming back and for having patience with me. 

New 31DC: Silver

Today and tomorrow are kind of disappointing challenges for me, mainly because I don't have a lot of gold and silver polish and used the ones I do have extensively in my holiday manis (silver, gold and gold here).  Then the Halo Hues I ordered came in the mail, so I got excited again!  Until I unwrapped this silver disaster:

 

Sadness!  On a side note, I ordered these through Crowd Cut, which is kinda shady.  I don't really recommend the program and have had no luck finding out how to track packages or speak with someone about this.  Any advice you have on getting a replacement?  Or is this just a rough lesson?

 

So, onto what I ended up with.  I didn't want to just repeat a silver mani I already posted, and my 2 silvers are pretty sheer, so they don't make for great art.  I decided to try out a new tip I saw on Pinterest instead.

 

*1 coat Hard As Nails Hardener

*3 coats Essie Pink-a-boo

*Silver Sharpie (medium point)

 

Pink-a-boo is just one of the many pretties my momma gave me for Christmas.  It's a really sheer light pink.  I used 3 coats but, if I hadn't just cut my nails, I would have either gone for 4 or layered it over another pink.  It's a really pretty baby pink packed with iridescent/blue shimmer.  The shimmer actually shows up really well on the nail and is a gorgeous, feminine color that is subtle enough to wear any time.
My mom found a pin that talked about using a silver Sharpie marker for accents on nails.  When I found the pin and followed it back to its source, it is actually for something totally different, but I tried it out anyway.  I used the marker to draw on French tips and add polka dots to an accent.  I learned 2 things: 1) this actually works really well.  2) When the nail is TOTALLY dry.

 

Remember how I mentioned being more patient yesterday?  Yeah, well, neither did I.  The polish was dry enough to paint over, but not draw on.  You can see the dents in some dots and on my index and middle fingers.  I tried to smooth them out, and considered not posting this because I really want to up my game this year, but I like girls who are honest about their polish adventures, so I want to be too.  That's part of a challenge, learning lessons.  If I have a stroke of genius and some time tomorrow night I might try another silver look.

Have you found a new technique to try out?   Learned how to do it better the next time?  What other cool tools are there to try like Sharpies, that you don't think of for nails?

 

Go Pink Wednesday: girly

Today my Go Pink Wednesday manicure is pretty simple.  You'll have to forgive the tip-wear--I forgot to take pictures before I went to work this morning and my job is pretty tough on my nails.  I saw a French manicure with two shades of light pink on Pinterest that I thought I'd like to try.  I don't have these colors, but I used what I had.

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*3 coats OPI Pedal Faster Suzi
*Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Prest Pink
*1 coat Seche Vite

Pedal Faster Suzi is such a pretty, soft pink shade!  I love this one a lot.  I used 3 coats to get it opaque because it is pretty sheer, but the coats build well and quickly.  I added Presto Pink on the tips.  I have been struggling so much with French tips lately!  This week, even though I waited about a half hour after painting, I was still getting pulling on my base when I used tape, so I was a little too cautious and tapped it a lot to get most of the sticky off.  This made for messy lines.  Oh well--there's a new mani tomorrow!

(check out that amazing shimmer!)

 

In addition to being pretty simple, and a really cute inspiration, I like how girly this is.  I am just about ready to cut my hair and donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths for the third time.  It takes me about 2 years, but donating my hair is something simple I can do.  I donated to Locks of Love in college, and I love that foundation, but I was struck by something as I cut my hair a few years ago.  While I love children, I was struck by how hard it was to cut off a foot of hair.  I was nervous and sad to see it go.  I worried about how I would look and what I would be able to do with my hair.  In a panicked moment, I had clarity. 

It's just hair.  It grows.  It will grow again.  And I was scared.  Imagine how worried I was just cutting my hair.  How must it feel to know that, in addition to fighting for your life, in addition to losing your health, you are robbed of your hair too?  As women, our hair and nails help define our beauty, our femininity, our selves.  On top of everything else a woman with cancer faces, all of the fears and pain, this public thing that defines her as a woman is gone.  As hard as it is for me to cut my hair each time, I can't imagine how much harder it is to lose that piece of yourself.  That makes it so much easier to cut it off, knowing that someone else will be able to feel a little more like herself at an impossible time. 

I realize that that was a big tangent, but really it's not.  These little things make us feel like women, make us feel like individuals.  Our nails, our hair, and our breasts are not all that we are, but they are intimately tied to our sense of self and femininity.  This girly manicure makes me think about these little things, that are really huge things, that can make us feel like ourselves.  If it's time for a change of style, I challenge you to think about hair donation.  I know that that is not the point of these posts, but it's on my mind and short-long-term to-do list.  What better time and way to show support for women battling breast and other cancers?  We love our nails and hair, but they grow back.  The feeling of knowing that you've comforted someone in the fight for their life is with you forever.

 



31DC: Metallic

Here goes week 2 of the challenge!  Today I have one untried (except for swatches) and one tried-once.

I saw this really cute manicure one night and knew that I needed to pin it for later.  I was excited to see that I already had the colors she used and it looked easy enough to pull off.

 

*1 coat Yellow-Out base coat
*2 coats Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Coral Reef
*1 coat Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golen-I
*1 coat Seche Vite

This actually turned out quite pretty.  My camera really is not catching the Coral Reef well.  It does have a stronger orange tone to it, in real life.  I love my Sally Hansens!  They apply perfectly every time and most are two coat polishes, 1 if you are going to add glitter or something on top.  These two were no exception.

Coral Reef is pretty new to me.  I used it once this summer as a pedi with some pink flakies on top and fell in love with it.  It is definitely a more pink than orange coral, and I had been looking for one I liked.  I tend towards shimmer finishes (if you hadn't noticed) but this cream is gorgeous.  It really hasn't streaked and smooths itself out well as it settles.

Golden-I is a really interesting gold polish.  It's pretty thin in consistency, but very dense.  It looks, to me, like it is just shimmer that results in a foil finish.  You can spread it pretty thin, if you want, and this was the first time I really used it.  It has pretty good coverage--I only used one somewhat thick coat for these tips. 

 

If I were to do wear this one again, and I'm positive I will, I would follow the advice of Christina and use two coats.  She has a really great post about this polish and metallics and she is right--a lot of the look is about the light you catch the polish in.  I would add a second sweep, though, to make sure no coral peeked through.

 

What do you think?  Are you in love with this combo like I am?  Have you done other cool manis with either of these?

I love my little Marine!

On Monday my little cousin will leave on his first deployment.  It is bittersweet.  We are SO proud of him and all that he has accomplished in the Marines.  He is pretty darn amazing!  On the other hand, he's leaving for eight months of unknown and it's scary to think of him out there, somewhere.  He's so much more mature and brave than I think, yet he's still so young and small.  I'm excited and scared for him, all at the same time.  I think he's feeling the same way.

Last night we went out to dinner to fill him up before we send him off.  It was nice to be with family and spend time with him before he leaves.  I had peeled a couple of nails clean (I know, I know, it's HORRIBLE for my nails!) and needed a new mani.  Then my BOGO Zoyas called to me!
I did an "as-close-to-camo-as-I-can-manage" mani in his honor.  I used 3 coats of China Glaze Fast Track and then did a funky french with Zoya Yara on the tips.
I love both of these polishes!  I tend toward bright, glittery and pink, so Yara was not really in my comfort zone.  But, when I saw the sparkly shimmer in the sun, I knew that it was a good stretch for me.  In hindsight, I wish that I had done two coats of it on the tips to make it stand out more.  It is a gorgeous olive green packed with gold shimmer.  It is also the perfect "camo" green.  I layered it over Fast Track because it had the right sandy look to it.
I hadn't tried Fast Track yet and was excited to use it.  I went with 3 coats because it is pretty thin.  If I wore it alone, I would have either done 4 coats to eliminate the visible nail line or layered it over a beige nude cream.  I was not prepared for how amazing this polish is!  I don't really know about what does or does not look good with my skin tone, and I really don't care all that much.  This one looked better than I expected and it dazzles in the sun!  The micro shimmer is amazing!  I did a thick coat of Hoof Lacquer over my Out the Door and the glassy finish is just amazing over these two. 

Still no camera, so still no mediocre pictures, but I have to say that these two are pretty awesome if you are going for a camouflage look!