Guess who's back, back again...

Hi all!

I feel like hugging this blog, it's been so long! So, quick update on my life now: as you may know, I graduated from my bachelor's degree in May but you (probably?) don't know that I am now working on my master's! As well trying to get everything in order to apply for a post-doctoral program in the fall of 2014. I'm busy, to say the least. I often feel like I'm drowning in coursework and just life in general. That sounds sadder than it is, lol. In fact, the only reason I'm blogging now is because I'm procrastinating doing some school work but today I just got an overwhelming desire to blog again so here I am! It helps that I really like this mani :D

Right, nails, that's why you're here. For this mani I started with a base of Illamasqua Jo'Mina and then saran-wrapped-sponged Illamasqua Nomad on top. Then I stamped with the silver Color Club holo and MASH 39. These even got the boyfriend seal of approval with a cheery "Ooohh look who's back!" when I showed him.

The pictures aren't perfect and I have to re-tweak the lighting because my setup changed since I wasn't using the lightbox but I'm just happy to have these up!

Sappy time: I am really happy you're all still following this blog and to show my gratitude, I'll be having a giveaway soon! Nothing huge, but I do have some things I've stashed away for an occasion such as this. As for the future of the blog, I do strive to continue blogging but I am definitely not pushing myself too hard. Sometimes I just have time to paint my nails in a single color and no nail art, and I'm actually still falling back in love with doing my nails since I was often naked during the break so I don't want it to become a chore again.

See you soon! :D

U is for uhhh....

Hey all!

"Once again, I must ask too much of you, Harry" - Dumbledore (And Kat. Minus the Harry. Unless there's someone named Harry reading this, in which case this must be a very personal post for you).

These past two weeks were uncommonly busy because of my graduation, family from out of town that was staying at my house and the boyfriend's birthday! Basically, it all rolled up into one ball of busy. On top of that, I did my nails for my graduation in what was probably one of my favoritest combos ever and they completely changed colors on me! They got all dark and murky looking, like they were stained. Its the second time this has happened to me with a particular topcoat but both times there were other factors that may have contributed to the staining. I'll be doing some further testing and will let you know if the topcoat was to blame.

Other than that, same story. Been super busy, had naked nails for almost a week and they're soul-crushingly short right now. Blah blah blah.

On the upside, you're all still here and I can't tell you all how much I appreciate it. Fret not, I only have about two weeks of this hell left and then I'll be back to my regular night owl nail painting routine. I actually have a few nail art ideas saved on my phone for when I finally have time to devote to my nails again.

Have I missed anything in the nail world? Any new collections you're lusting after? 

Missing you all,

Kat.

PD: Sorry there weren't pictures in this. A monkey ate them.

ABC Challenge 'T' - a-England Tristam

Hi all!

Super short post, I'm very sleepy and have a massive headache at the moment but I really wanted to get this post up today!

I believe this was just one coat of a-England Tristam, which has been a lemming ever since it came out and it is finally mine thanks to Radha from The Polish Owl! Then, I added some holo stamping with Color Club Harp On It (because scattered holo + super holo = happy me at work) and a Pueen stamping plate (if anyone is interested in a review of these plates, please let me know).

I'm very sorry about the tip wear, this is another mani I've been wearing for almost a full week (still wearing it as I type) and last time I tried to fix the tips it looked all lumpy so I figured this time I'd show just how well its wearing. Needless to say, I love this mani to bits.

Have a great day loves!

ABC Challenge 'S & R' - The Red Angels are Sew Psyched

Hi all!

NOT DEAD! How about that? Sorry for my super extended absence, between work and getting everything done for graduation in two weeks plus my own personal down-time, it's been harder to get a post up. The biggest reason for my absence though? The sad sad state of my nails :'(. They've been peeling so badly recently and just brittle and dry that they're pretty nubtastic at the moment.

However, since I don't want to just disappear from the challenge altogether, I have a half-assed attempt to cram two challenges in one post! My base color is Essie Sew Psyched (for the S day) and I did a little accent stamp from RA-107 (for R day). I also stamped with Essie Good as Gold.

If the tips look weird its because I wore this for almost 5 days (!!) before taking the pictures and I had to retouch the tips a bit. Still, 5 days with barely any tip wear is pretty fantastic if you ask me! I never knew how to appreciate a long lasting mani until now.

Have a great day and (SPOILER ALERT) I'm actually wearing my 'T' mani as I type so be on the lookout for that post soon! (Could it be? Two posts in a week? EGADS).

Thank you for reading!

ABC Challenge 'P' & 'Q' - Pueen Q=17

Hi all!

So, since I missed two challenge posts in my absence, I decided to mash 'em up into one! I've known what I wanted to do for the 'P' challenge for a while but 'Q' was impossible, so I slightly cheated. I knew I wanted to use one of my new Pueen plates so I counted which letter Q was in the alphabet and decided I'd use that number plate. Luckily, the plate had a quilt-like image so it all worked out!

Started with two coats of OPI Russian Navy Suede (got really lucky at a beauty supply store recently and found 3 of the OPI Suedes!) then stamped my pointer and ring finger with PUEEN-17 and Essie No Place Like Chrome.

Tried going for a half-moon look with the stamp since the bottom edges on this plate are all half-moons. Not sure why, full review on the plates to come. I swear I did not like Russian Navy Suede until that macro. Just look at that depth and it's only one coat!! Only thing I'll say is that I didn't love the formula. Got thick fast and if you brushed one certain spot one time too many, it would pull the previous polish clean off, as seen on my ring finger macro.


See you soon for day R of the ABC Challenge! :)