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Thursday, October 2, 2014

NOTD 10/2: Pen Nibs

Keeping in theme with my pointy, pointy nails, I decided to try out an engraved pen nib.


Yeah I managed to do my thumb before I said, "Fuck it."


Don't get me wrong; the other nails are fine. They're just not engraved. And fancy pants. Yo.


I literally just painted my nails silver and then painted a black line on them. The engraved one had the addition of mixing the silver and the black to get a gunmetal-ish color, which I then used to draw a pattern.

I used a toothpick to draw. I don't recommend this.

Colors:
Finger Paints "Black Expressionism" (surprise)
Finger Paints "Easel Come, Easel Go"

NOTD 10/1: Gruesome

IT. IS. OCTOBER. I. AM. PSYCHED.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Like. Favorite. Always and forever. It's definitely my favorite thing about October.

So, of course, the first thing I do after breaking THREE of my nails is file them into points and make them look disgusting.



Wooooooooo Halloween!

Colors:
Sally Hansen "Mauve Matters"
OCC "Fondue"
ELF "Medium Red"
NYC Color "Rush Hour Red"
Sally Hansen "Big Matte Topcoat"
Seche "Vite"

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

NOTD 9/30: Minty Fresh

I really adore American Apparel's polishes. I've yet to meet one I didn't like, though it seems several of mine have walked off.


"Office" is a minty green cream. The formula is beautifully smooth and highly pigmented.


It's a really lovely color. I like that it makes my simple, one-color manicure pop.

NOTD 9/27-9/29: Chocolate is a Girl's Best Friend

So I had totally forgotten about this polish. It is PERFECT. It's vampy and gorgeous.


This warm brown is called "Fondue," and it's made by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (they of Lip Tar fame). I purchased this three years ago, and as you can see the formula is still rocking hard.

My boss: "They're so shiny!"
So yeah I liked it so much that I left it on for three days straight. THREE. DAYS. What?! I kind of want this to be my signature color, but they went and discontinued it. You know. Three years ago. When I bought it. Ugh.


It also matches my beer.

I just checked and they still make polish, but this color is well and true discontinued. Damn.

If anyone feels like buying me one of EVERY FUCKING COLOR IN THEIR COLLECTION, though, I'd be down. Because daaaaaaaaamn. I desperately need "Isherwood."

NOTD 9/26: Whimsical

I had bare nails today, so I'm going to give you a look at something I did last year around this time.


The mint and glitter polish is, I believe, "Whimsical" from Revlon over white, and the pink glitter accent nail is Essie "A Cut Above."

I really liked this one because the days were shorter and grey (as you can see in the background), and this mani really brightened me up. I also HATED my job at the time, but my nails made me happy. 

Thursday, September 25, 2014

NOTD 9/25: Vamp-Tastic



So this gorgeous mani... Am I right? Dayum. I freaking love the gold under that dark purple (ULTA "Devious"). It was not fun, by the way, to put a matte coat ONLY on the purple without getting it on the gold. You can actually see in some spots where I sort of... missed. Oops. I think I've literally used this gold polish (Finger Paints "Elves Bells") once. Maybe. I'm not even totally sure. It's almost a gold holo with hex glitters in it. Gawjuss. Too bad it was a holiday polish.


Speaking of gold, can we talk for a second about how perfectly the nail gems and that polish match? I mean shit, son. It's like this was meant to be!


Also can you tell I'm kind of a fan of Neutral Statement with a matte coat? That texture is killing me. Killing me, you guys.

Uh yeah I literally wore this mani for like ten minutes before I had to pee and it all went to hell. At least I got pictures?

Colors:
Maybelline Color Show "Neutral Statement"
ULTA "Devious"
Finger Paints "Elves Bells"

NOTD 9/24: Reminiscent of a Neon Space Cowboy


I am freaking IN LOVE with this purple from Urban Outfitters. It's the perfect bleached-neon-violet-whatever color. IN. LOVE. Unfortunately UO have made some very questionable, very offensive business decisions lately, and I'm going to have to decide whether I want to continue shopping there, even if it's only nail polish. Which it is, I assure you.

I am also obsessed with ORLY "Androgynie." Legit. It is my hands-down favorite polish of all time. Gorgeous.


Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a good photo of "Androgynie." Oh, the annoyances of phone cameras. Le sigh.

ORLY "Androgynie" & Urban Outfitters "Rodeo Sweetheart"

NOTD 9/23: Luxe and Luster


I got several compliments on these, but I have to say they're not my favorite. They're really uninspired. I do really love the black and gold glitter polish, though. It's pretty fun.


Gold: ORLY "Luxe"
Black with gold glitter: Urban Outfitters "Luster"


Monday, September 22, 2014

NOTD 9/22: Fishtail Braid

Okay, I'm cheating. I didn't actually do these nails today. The nails I did for today are actually like.... really freaking hard to photograph. The polish is gorgeous, though, I swear it!



Instead, I'm giving y'all a little look at something I did for a contest on /r/randomactsofmakeup a few weeks ago. The goal was to recreate the braid mani, but I've always really disliked how damn rustic and Dorothy that mani looks, so I decided to modernize it by using bleached neons, a little holo, and a fishtail braid pattern. I think it looks way more funky and fresh than the alternative, though I really need to work on my pattern.

You can see toward the top of my index finger where the braiding is really tight and looks legit, then down toward the bottom where it kind of.... fucks off. Hm. I could probably also make this a feather mani if I didn't use such bright colors. Ideas! Yay!

The holo is "Cosmic Dust" from China Glaze, yellow is "Citrus Collide" from Maybelline Color Show, purple is "Rodeo Sweetheart" from Urban Outfitters, black is "Black Expressionism" from Finger Paints, AKA the Holy Grail of Black Polishes, green is "Office" from American Apparel, and the white that I used as a base on my braid is "White on White" from China Glaze. The matte topcoat on "Black Expressionism" is Sally Hansen's "Big Matte Topcoat."

Sunday, September 21, 2014

The Bitch is Back in Town

Well, it's been two years since I've touched this blog, and a whole hell of a lot has changed. I'm a big girl now, and there's no one who can tell me I have too many bottles, and spend too much time painting my nails, and that that color is, like totally identical to three others I have. No sir, y'all, I am back to doing my thing, and my thing is being FABULOUS. Forget the haters.


NOTD 9/21: Opaline Suede



I just got this GORGEOUS polish today. "Smoked Out" is a new matte polish from ORLY that has a very dark blue base. Navy, really. I believe it's a duochrome with a darker teal to bright yellow-green shift. I made the mistake of putting a matte topcoat on it, though, and that greatly diminished the color. It now looks like a very dark night with a smattering of stars when it normally looks like the ocean reflecting the stars on a brighter night.


You can see a bit more of the color here, but not so much the shift. The other polish is Maybelline Color Show "Neutral Statement." I love this color, but I don't love its consistency or opacity. It's rather difficult to work with. I've added a matte topcoat to it, which I really like. It makes the polish look like suede. The outcome was worth the work put in (three coats; FML).

I realized I've been doing really boring manis lately... so I added some class.


I Mustache You A Question

NOTD 9/20: Simple Oil Slick

Woo! Nails! Let's get to it. My NOTD for Saturday:

I've been super lame lately and have just been doing color combos. You'll notice a theme with my nails: Specifically, I really prefer using my middle and index fingers as my accents. It's a take on the trigger accent. For some reason I don't like the color blocking aspect of the trigger accent (two of one, three of another), so I've moved it down a bit. Eh. I like it.


 Anyway, this polish is phenomenal, and I really don't use it enough. The duochrome is "Space Cadet" from ORLY. The black I've used is my favorite black: "Black Expressionism" from Finger Paints. I tried to get another bottle yesterday, but Sally's was out. Oh well. I threw a matte topcoat on that puppy and here we are.


Now, I've titled this "Oil Slick." I'm sure you can see why. Check out that gnarly, gorgeous shift on "Space Cadet." It reminds me of something decadently filthy and maybe a little bit rock and roll. It looks like oil on asphalt. I think next time I try this I'll go full oil spill, though, and trail it across my nails.