Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Guest Post at The Little Canvas

Hello ladies! (Lol, totally sounds pervy in my head when I see that)

Today I'm taking over Alaina's blog at The Little Canvas! So if you want to see the details of this mani or my nails ever again, you have to go to her blog! MWAHAHAHAHA.

Or you know, you could just go to her blog because it's awesome. Seriously, she does some really  creative freehand nail art and she's a sweetheart to boot so you can't go wrong. I have my fair share of her manis in my 'to try' folder and I'm betting you will too. Also, it might sound weird but I love that the background for her pictures is grass. I don't know, it's calming to me.



Have a great day!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Sunday Stamping: Over Blue Base

Hey all!

Hope everyone got some great deals while shopping! Mom and I went to the mall on Friday afternoon but didn't really buy anything. We got some great online deals though! :)

Today's mani is for the Adventures in Stamping group on Facebook and the theme was 'over blue'. I didn't have a new blue polish so I went with a semi-oldie but a goodie. This is really one of my favorite blue shades because it just looks so clean!

Two coats of Essie Bikini So Teeny stamped with Mash-42 and Essie No More Film. I also accentuated the stamp with loose glequins from KKCenterHK store.




No More Film is a great stamping color except for how much it smears! I topcoated my pinky and smeared the hell out of it, so I redid it and went to sleep without topcoat thinking it would dry thoroughly and it wouldn't be a problem in the morning. Wrong! It still smeared with three different topcoats. Oh well, it still looks really cute from a distance! Maybe a little too summery for everyone else but, in PR, it's never really winter :P.

Thank you for looking and have a great day!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Something Snowy This Way Comes....

Hey all!

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from the staff at Nail Polish Canada inviting me to take part in a nail art challenge! I was extremely flattered and signed up even though I knew I was in a funk. All that excitement died down just a little when I saw the ladies I'd be going up against but I've decided to just have fun with it and enjoy it for what it is. It's also a great way to get me to do holiday manis, I usually slack off on those.

Now, the first week's theme is SNOW! I've only seen snow once in my life, it was in NYC on January when I was 14ish. I remember looking out our hotel window and seeing the snow fall over Times Square and thinking it looked so beautiful and peaceful so I decided to try to depict a snow fall at night. When I was done, I felt it needed something more to make it special so I asked boyfriend and he suggested Santa's sleigh and the reindeer.





That red dot is Rudolph's red nose btw. I must say, I'm pretty happy with how these look! It turned out pretty much how I saw it in my head and that is an incredible accomplishment in my eyes.

That being said, this is still a competition so I would reeheeeaally appreciate your vote! Do the clicky HERE to vote for my entry if you so wish. There's sure to be a ton of great submissions and you still have time if you'd like to join in!

If you're in the US, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving day! If you're not in the US, the week is almost over so yay! 

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

I'm Armed and Ready with a Stamper!

Hey all! Wow that's a corny title. It's the best I could do at the moment.

Soo before finishing the challenge I was feeling a little uninspired and I'm sad to report that mental block is still going strong. However, I obviously cannot have my nails naked for long so I'm just grabbing random untrieds until inspiration kicks back in.

Today's untried is Essie Armed and Ready from the Spring 2012 Go Overboard collection. I passed on this polish so many times in store but, as supplies dwindled, I started seeing it on a lot of wishlists and lemmings lists so I decided to give it a try. It's a great color, definitely unique but it doesn't ruffle my feathers THAT much. Still happy to have it since I don't have anything close to it in my stash.



Obviously I couldn't leave it as it was so I stamped with Mash-49 and Essie As Good as Gold.



Guys, I love these Mash stamps. The quality is great and I love a lot of the images so they're sure to inspire me. Eventually. I just really wish this stamping wasn't crooked but, from afar, it looked pretty cool.

Also, because I'm uninspired and a genius, I decided to participate in a nail art contest! You'll probably be seeing that post later today or tomorrow. I hope.

Have a great day! I'll be in preparations for the thanksgiving feast O_o.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 31 - Recreate!

Hey all!

I may be late but its well before midnight so I'm still on time! I have to be honest, I'm a little tired of the challenge, as you can see by how late I've been posting lately. However, while I may be a little burnt out, I have enjoyed SO much posting with all these awesome girls. I am definitely down for another challenge or group posts every now and then so if any of you feel the same way, leave a comment either here or on Kimber's blog! Just please, not a LONG challenge :D

I had a hard time deciding on which mani to recreate today since there were so many awesome posts from all the girls. In the end though, I chose something that wouldn't be too time consuming since I knew I was going to be busy today. I know it's kind of cheating but I have every intention on recreating a couple of really awesome manis I've seen from all the girls later.

Today I recreated Kate's yellow nails from Day 3 of the challenge! I didn't have the extra awesome neon polish she used so I substituted with China Glaze Sun-Kissed over Revlon Graceful. Kate runs The Painted Pony blog and she has some really amazing nail art, you definitely need to check out her blog if you haven't seen it yet.




I had a couple of smudgey tape disasters but, overall, it's not a bad look! I've had these craft scissors for a while now but couldn't get them to work. The strips were too thick or it would mangle the design. A good tip if you want to try this is to get blue painter's tape instead of clear scotch tape and actually stick the tape onto the blade and cut down. I don't know if that made any sense...

Anyway, if you have any questions let me know in the comments! Now go see the other ladies and their recreations to conclude this epic challenge!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Poke Those Swirls

Hey all!

Hope you're having a great weekend so far! Monday's a holiday here, plus we get Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving so, if you can believe it, the government gave the whole week off. Of course, small businesses and shopping centers will be open but, SERIOUSLY?! A whole week off? Unnecessary.

Now that I got that rant out of the way, I have a simple but awesome (at least in my eyes) stamping mani. I have decided this will be my 'Inspired by a Tutorial' nails for the challenge because I just don't have time at all to do anything else and I want to finish tomorrow on time with the rest of the girls. Besides, I definitely used a lot of tutorials when I started stamping so it totally counts! Right? :P

I started with two coats of Illamasqua Poke and stamped with my brand new Mash plates using Wet N Wild black creme and plate Mash 40.



Poke is this vivid purple filled with a silver shimmer that gives it this duochrome kind of look. Simply amazing! I got this shade as a gift a couple of months and had swatched it on one fingernail and didn't really love it, looked too pink. But the other day it was calling to me and I tried and literally had an OMG moment at how pretty it was.




I will admit this stamp is the sole reason I purhcased these plates. I freakin' flippin' love swirls and geometric images and this set has lots of those to choose.

Have a great day and check back tomorrow for the final day in the challenge!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Pastel Glitter and Blue Nails for Diabetes

Hey all!

I read a few days ago on facebook and twitter that today ladies would be rocking blue on their nails for World Diabetes Day. I cheated a little since I already had these pics ready to go and hadn't found a chance to post them just yet.

I started with Sinful Colors Rainstorm, this absolutely lovely dark dusty blue creme. I'm pretty sure I only needed one coat, the formula was superb. It would probably stamp really nicely... hmm...


Now for the star of this post! The other polish I received from etsy seller Makeup Your Face was this beauty, Pastel Lover's Paradise. It's blue, pink and green pastel glitter and some transluscent white shard glitter as well. It applied like a dream just as I expected, since all her glitters have been awesome.




I am not 100% sure if I topped it with Gelous and top coat or just top coat. Either way, it wasn't a hungry or gritty glitter to begin with so you likely wouldn't need Gelous. I actually wore this combo for a full 4 days! No chips or tipwear, if you can believe it.

Said it before and I will say it again, Lauren from Makeup Your Face makes some really awesome polishes. Quality is always excellent and, best of all, her customer service is top notch. I wish all indie sellers were so accommodating and genuinely sweet.

You can check out my previous swatches for I Need Blue Tonight and Keep On Loving You and you can purchase her polishes from her Etsy shop and like her on Facebook for info on restocks and previews. She also has makeup in her shop aside from polish!

Have a great day and check out the other ladies rocking blue today! 

Monday, November 12, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 29 - Inspired by the Supernatural

Hello!

Quick post just so I don't fall behind on the challenge again! This is technically a recycled mani. I did this with the Bundle Monster contest in mind but I changed my mind and submitted the other one you saw. I liked certain elements of this enough to repeat them in the other mani but, as a whole, it looked a little too haphazard? I dunno. It did feature one of my all time favorite glitter polishes!

For this mani I started with a base of China Glaze It's Alive, a weird green glitter polish that was released for last year's Halloween collection. Then I did the scratch technique and various BM stamps. There was also glow in the dark polish in between the scratch layers so the scratches glowed in the dark.


Like I said, meh. I'm sorry I only have one picture but this didn't last very long on my nails. Posting this was the only way to keep up since I have two tests tomorrow O_O.

Have a great day and check out the other ladies and their spooky manis!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

My Flag - Una Sola Estrella Libre

Hello all!

If you saw my last post, you might know I had no idea what to do on my nails for today's challenge. I never really wanted to do the flag of Puerto Rico because...in all honesty, I find plastering your flag everywhere a little tacky. However, there is a very important point I thought I should comment on so I decided to go ahead and do my little island's flag.

I used Essie Blanc, L'Oreal Jet Set to Paris and Bettina 197. 



You may or may not have heard that Puerto Rico held elections Nov. 6, same as the US. In these elections we also held a plebiscite to determine the country's status. We could either remain a Commonwealth ("independent" but associated to the US) or we could vote to become a state. This has caused some extreme confusion for the media.

To be clear, WE DID NOT VOTE TO BECOME A STATE. In truth, the ballot was designed by the pro-statehood party and the numbers were skewed by people who filled their ballots incorrectly and thus they were not counted. However, these news have hit and a torrential outpour of complaints have surfaced on the internet. People stating why we are not ready to become a state and how we, us little simple good for nothing island people, would be a drain on the US economy.

To these people I have to say, I understand the misconceptions you may have about the puertorrican people. To any other people still not convinced, your loss. We have awesome food.

In my honest opinion, I don't want Puerto Rico to become the 51st state. I'm not 100% content with the current status either but, this way, at least I get to fill my heart with pride when I see our little flag waving in events like the Olympics or major sports.

I'm sorry this was so long and I am truly sorry if I offended anyone as I was offended in the last few days. I really just had to get this out somewhere and you all suffered the brunt of my hurt. Hopefully, things can take a turn for the better now that we got rid of the douche governor we had. I can only hope we didn't replace him with another douche (although that's usually the way these things go).

If you're still here and you got through all that mess up there, thank you for reading my ramblings. Now go see some more pretty flag nails!

Friday, November 9, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 27 - Inspired by Artwork

Hello there!

Sorry I went AWOL on the challenge again, I've just been pressed for time and terribly uninspired with these last challenge prompts. I am not a very arty person. Like at all. I enjoy looking at art and, on occasion, can interpret and analyze a piece of art but I just don't have enough faith in my abilities to attempt to recreate a masterpiece on my nails.

When I saw Kimber's post for her 'Inspired by Artwork', I saw she used a nail artist as inspiration. Suddenly, I was like DUH, nail art is still artwork so I dug from my Inspiration folder and recreated THIS look from Dressed Up Nails. This girl has some seriously amazing nail art and pictures! I don't know how I've never come across her blog before but I'm so happy I did :)

For my interpretation, I started with one coat of black, applied the striping tape and added one coat of butter LONDON Wallis.




I had a really hard time choosing pics for this post because they were all blurry for some reason. I really liked the result though! It's very rare these days to have a mani come out exactly as planned. Now to come up with an idea for 'Inspired by a Flag' so I can catch up to the other ladies and finish the challenge on time...

Remember to check out all the blogs participating!

NO H8 - Taking a Stand Against Bullying

Hey all!

Super quick post in support for NO H8, a big movement between bloggers against bullying. Who am I kidding? You've probably seen a million of these posts today!

I don't know if it was a regional thing or I was just exceptionally lucky but there was never real bullying in my school. Yes, there was the odd prank that maybe went too far and I definitely got made fun of but never anything as soul crushing as I've seen other people witness and experience firsthand. Until senior year, there was this girl who, I'll admit, was not likeable at all. She had this particular attitude that she was simply the best around and had a huge ego and self esteem, so the guys in the class decided to bring her down a notch and created a group on Facebook specifically to hate on her. It was brutal and she was devastated. I'm 100% sure she's since recovered and that event didn't truly scar her, but we always have to be conscious of the power of our words and actions. No one is invincible and we always have the power to hurt.

Two coats of the extra purple Sation Little Miss Emo. I tried color correcting the pics a bit to show the true color of the polish (it photographs too blue) so pardon my weird looking skin.






"Bullying is not funny. It is not cool. It is not right. And more importantly, it is not okay.  Most of us are, thankfully, residents of countries that support tolerance and many of our families have settled in these places simply for that reason. Generations later, it is our responsibility to perpetuate that message of tolerance across our new social platforms, including the internet.

As members of the nail polish blogging community, we all share a love of beauty, color, and lacquer. Other than that, we are remarkably different: from our race to our religion to our hair color...even to our polish application techniques. To marginalize anyone because of those differences is completely unacceptable and today I take a stand against that. I refuse to allow other people's view of "normal" dictate how I behave, believe, and blog.   

In solidarity with a multitude of bloggers linked below, my purple manicure represents my proud commitment to the No H8 movement. Today, November 8, I dedicate my post to ending bullying of any kind and to encouraging diversity and imperfection among our colorful community."

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Manly Polish Days!

Hey all!

I'm taking part yet again (though a bit late) in the awesome Polish Days coordinated by Hannah over at Polly Polish.

Today's theme was to be MAN-icure, a nod to Movember, month in which we raise awareness to men's health issues. Since the theme was basically anything related to men in your life, I did something inspired by my boyfriend. Technically, the idea was for him to paint my nails but life happens so he couldn't. OR WOULDN'T. Point is, this is for him.

Since he couldn't do my nails personally, he did the next best thing: boss me around. His rules were: it had to be blue, he wanted something matte and he liked the holo glitter in an old post of mine. I suggested striping tape and he was all for it so I decided on a variation of THIS mani from Ms. Polly Polish herself!

I started with two coats of butter LONDON Blagger and, after doing the same stripey lattice design from Hannah's mani, I added a coat of HITS Hefesto on my ring and middle finger, and Apolo on my pinky and pointer. Obviously, pinky and pointer aren't too noticeable because I usually eff some part of it up. Then, I added the matte topcoat. But it looked hideous and lumpy so I added a shiny coat instead. Sorry babe!





He saw these and said he loved the symmetry and geometric shapes which I took as a huge compliment. If I allow myself to be mildly sappy for a moment, I have to admit I consider myself lucky to have met him. He just makes me happy and that's all I could ask for.

Hope you like this post and I will now get started on my 'Inspired by Artwork' mani for the challenge. I have a really cool idea in mind, just hope I can execute it!

Have a looksie at the other ladies taking part in Movember Polish Days!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Comparison Mini-Spam!

Hello there!

Today I have some simple comparisons for you. This is mostly newer polishes I've acquired that bear a big resemblance to others in my stash. Maybe this could help you save some moolah. Yeah, I just said moolah.

First up, some comparisons to the new Essie Winter Collection. On my pointer I have Where's My Chauffeur, middle Turquoise and Caicos. Ring finger is Butler, Please and pinky is Nails Inc. Baker St.


Where's My Chauffeur definitely stands alone in my stash since it's bluer than its other mintier turquoise counterparts. Although, if you have China Glaze Aquadelic you might not need this one. Butler, Please is very close to Baker St. but, maybe this was just my experience, BP had a hoorrible formula! Streaky, pulling up polish and it dries to this weird lumpy semi matte finish. Baker St. is still just a touch brighter and the formula is absolutely wonderful so, while I don't regret having Butler, Please, Baker St. is the clear winner for me.

Next up, a reader request! It's some blue jellies. You know I love me some blue jellies. Pointer finger is Sation It's All Navy Baby, middle is China Glaze Ride the Waves, ring is Nina Ultra Pro Cobalt and pinky is Revlon Royal.


As you can see, no real dupes here. Sation is definitely the darkest and every polish was 2 coats except Ride the Waves, which needed 3. I'm wearing the Nina polish as I type and it's absolutely beautiful, a welcome addition to this blue jelly hoarder's stash.

And finally, some Illamasqua comps! Pointer finger is Revlon Jaded Night from a LE collection a while back, middle is Illamasqua Kink, ring finger is Sation Little Miss Emo and pinky is Illamasqua Prosperity, from the newer Rubber Brights.


Kink and Jaded Night are extremely close, I could barely tell these apart IRL. In macro mode, the rubber finish sets them apart and it looks a little lighter. Little Miss Emo is not quite as blue as it photographs, so its really just a touch darker than Prosperity. These would make for a very subtle gradient.

All in all, I'm happy with the polishes I have. The little differences are enough justification to keep them all. I may have a problem.

Hope this helps and please be smart tomorrow when voting. I know people here get involved in the fanaticism and euphoria and vote 'for the color' (the political parties here are very associated and identified by their colors), not the leader so I can sincerely hope it's not the same in the US.

Have a good day!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Sunday Stamping: Over Glitter

Hi all!

Exciting news, I joined the group Adventures in Stamping! I had seen all these cool posts by Anutka at Wacky Laki and the challenges always seemed fun so I joined up. Basically, we uh, stamp on Sundays. Today's theme was 'Over Glitter' and it gave me an excuse to use a brand spankin' new polish.

For today's mani I started with two coats of Illamasqua Creator, a 'magical black' (as described by Illamasqua) chock full of tiny silver glitter. It's weird though, because it looks like glass flecks or shimmer but, in the macro, you can see it's tiny rectangular glitter. Like really tiny miniaturized bar glitter. I dig it! Application was a breeze, as can be expected, 2 coats and -0 fussing with the glitter. On my accent nails, I stamped with RA-120 and Essie No Place Like Chrome.




What do you think? Perhaps not as creative as I would've wanted for my debut into the group but, then again, there's always next sunday :D

Hope you've all enjoyed/are enjoying your weekend!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

31 Day Challenge Day 26 - Inspired by a Pattern

Hey all!

For today's prompt, we were supposed to be inspired by a pattern. I had a really awesome idea in my tiny noggin but time constraints and my own inability to execute anything properly left me blank. In the end, I looked through my stamping plates and felt inspired by the zebra pattern on my Bundle Monster plates. Can't go wrong with animal print right?

I started with three coats of Essie Absolutely Shore, then gradiented with OPI Thanks a Wind-Million and China Glaze Exotic Encounters. For the stamping, I used China Glaze Con-Fused? from the new magnetic collection. I read at Oooh Shinies that magnetics were good for stamping and she wasn't wrong! Now I want ALL the magnetic polishes :D




I wanted badly to like this but the gradient was such a pain in the ass, not blending and pulling up polish. Bah, in the end though, it isn't too bad so I decided to post it.

Now go visit the other awesome ladies in this challenge!

Friday, November 2, 2012

My Chauffeur Keeps on Loving Me

Hey all! FRIIIDAAAYYYY is finally here! I'm doubly excited because, thanks to the elections, we have Monday & Tuesday off from work/school :D. Also, my university has a ton of days off, from absent teachers to Thanksgiving break so the month of November is looking good for me.

Now for what you came for, nails! This mani is my post for the Inspired by Fashion day of the 31 Day Challenge, it is a polish review and my anniversary nails! Yeah, I'm a multitasker. The 'fashion' that inspired these nails is some seriously hideous shoes that have become a fad here in PR. They're ruffly, colorful and hairy with big flowers. I couldn't find a pic of those specific type of shoes which leads me to think they're only popular here. Lucky us O_o.

I started with a base of Essie Where's My Chauffeur. I passed on it initially since I thought it was too close to Turquoise & Caicos but it's actually closer to China Glaze Aquadelic which has been a huge lemming for me so yay! Creamy formula, just two coats.



Then I used Keep On Loving You by Makeup Your Face. It's an awesome mix of rainbow micro glitter and larger hex glitters in every color and some large holo hexes. I had been craving a glitter topper like this and I'm so sad I only have a mini. Might need to get a bigger bottle!

Application was painless, I 'dabbed' the glitter on my left (swatching) hand so you could see as many glitters as possible while on my right hand I just polished as normal and still got an even distribution. Topped it off with a coat of Gelous and Revlon Quick Dry for a smooth finish.




I'm sorry I can't show you a pic of my inspiration! I also wouldn't want to offend anyone with that particular taste in shoes, so maybe it's for the best. As for the polishes, I am so in love with both! If you like rainbow glitters, you should consider this one. It's got a great mix, applies like a dream and seems unique to me.

Makeup Your Face can be found in her Etsy shop and her Facebook page. Essie's are just everywhere.

Make sure to visit the other ladies who are participating in the challenge!

-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista 
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
- Robin Sparkles

The Makeup Your Face polish was provided for an honest review. For more information, please visit my Disclosure Page. 
Blogging tips