Bloodlust

I've been rather angry the past month, and I watched some Walking Dead last night, which helped inspired this manicure.  I call it "Bloodlust."



I used Sinful Colors's Snow Me White for the basecoat (I don't really like Sinful Colors.  Especially this particular bottle - it never goes on evenly), with Essie's A-List, Sinful Colors's Rich In Heart, and Savvy's Ruby Slippers.

This was one of the first mani's I've done since I started living in the dorms, so I was unprepared for it.  I forgot, apparently, to pack my straw for splattering. I was searching through my room, and I found Capri Suns, so I just took the straw out of one and used that for the mani.  It worked better than I thought it would!

This is going to sound nuts, but I like to keep some of the red on my fingers to add some effect.  I smudged my righthand fingers pretty badly, but I guess if the blood were real it would probably not be perfectly smooth.

P.S. Sorry for the hiatus!  Hopefully, I will have some more time to post more often!

My (Angry) Thoughts on Fake Nails

It's hard for me to type this right now because these nails are bending forward and pulling my nailbed with them.
This is what they started out as:

They weren't even THAT cute.  100% not worth it.


It's been exactly a month since I got these horrible things gorilla-glued onto my nails.  They were nice for about a week, and then everything started going downhill.  Though I have brittle nails and these helped with some stuff, they made it impossible to text, type, zip my own pants, anything.  Part of that is due to the length, to be fair.  However, about two weeks ago my right pointer finger nail just ripped in half.  Awesome.  Half of it was still super-glued to my finger.  I had to file the rest of the mess off, which takes FOREVER.  And it damaged my nail.  So then I'm walking around with 9 long, perfectly shaped nails, and one derpy super weak nail that I ended up having to cut all the way down.

It gets better.

I decide that I should probably try to get at least the gel polish off of them.  This is a painfully long task that requires nail polish remover, cotton balls (or paper towels), aluminum foil, and apparently 5 hours of your time.  Before you can even start that process, you have to file down as much as you can with a nail file, then soak the paper towel in remover, wrap that around your nails with aluminum foil.  Your fingers will look like pickles, and it won't hardly get as much off as you feel like it should (although it works magic with sparkly polish).  After you let that sit for like half an hour to an hour, you have to file down again.  IT SUCKS. 

The real issue is with the glue that adheres the fake nail to your real nail.  I tried soaking my nails in nail polish remover, which is supposed to weaken the glue, but to no apparent avail.  I tried heating up the nail polish remover and THEN soaking, which I think worked a little better, but my nails weren't just peeling off like I'd hoped.  I'd soak, then file some, then soak again, then file.  I did this for days.  Not hours.  Days.  I'd soak for an hour and a half to two hours, and still nothing.

Now, my left hand middle finger bent forward when I hit it on something, and it lifted my nail with it.  Bruised my nail bed so severely that I couldn't use the finger.  It turned purple, and the nail itself started turning orange.  I was convinced that it was starting to get infected.  Thankfully not, but that doesn't mean it wasn't excruciating.  Soaking in heated nail polish remover was too painful.  Filing was too painful.  There was nothing I could do to get it off.  I clipped off the fake nail as close to my actual nail as possible, but still nothing helped.

UNPLEASANT!
Finally I read about this trick - it seemed implausible, but I tried it out.  If you can lift up part of the fake nail on the cuticle side of your finger, you can slide a piece of floss under it and slide it toward the tip of the nail in a sawing motion.  This is easier with a second person, but you can do as I did and wrap one side of the floss around another finger.

 

Unfortunately, this still hurt, so I had to wait for two days before trying anything.  I had to let the nail heal completely before sawing up the glue.  Once I got the nail off, there had been serious damage done to it.  The picture doesn't show it well...

One down, eight to go.

I can say with sincerity that I will never again get fake nails.  At least not from this place.  I caution you all when deciding on whether or not you want to get them.

I strongly recommend going au natural.

Majora's Mask nails

Sorry it's taken me so long to get these up, things have gotten crazy busy here!  Anyway, here we go!

If you don't know what Majora's Mask is, definitely go get out your old Nintendo 64 and start working!  But for reference, here's a picture of the mask that inspired these.

I did this with my Migi pens, and lots of patience.  I spanned it out over two days so I could make sure that everything was absolutely dry.

Let me know what you think!

Today's haul!

So this is kinda cool!

I have not previously bought nail polish in this format (box sets like this), usually because they can run pretty expensive.

I received the Pink Cookie set as a gift today, so in total I only spent $7.50!  This is cool for me because I haven't used either of these brands - the second is from Flirt Cosmetics - and it's a pretty fair spectrum color wise, so I get to try it all out!

My senior prom is on Saturday, and I am getting my nails done professionally (for the first time, I might add!), and I imagine I will post pictures after I recoop.  Just be aware that it's not my work.

Haha, I sound like an artist.

Today's Haul plus a totally interesting story about buying it!

A total of $4!  These are fun colors - I'm a fan.  

From left to right we have Wet n Wild (which should be Wet 'n' Wild, grammatically) Sparked, Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope, and Pure Ice's Wild Thing.

Story time!

So you guys know I love my Pure Ice.  Some of you might have even heard me talking about Wild Thing before I got it.  I believe that Pure Ice is one of those brands that is sold exclusively at Walmart.  The "local" Walmart is 12 miles away from my house and not actually in the city limits because it's against some law or whatever.  So I found this Wild Thing at Walmart; it was the last bottle.  But I was on a mission for something specific and had limited cash, so I left without it.

The next time I went back to the Walmart I had my eye on this color - I wasn't going to leave without it this time.  I also needed to pick up some groceries, so I was in the freezer section on a Sunday afternoon.  The aisle is packed to the point that I can't get through to find what I'm looking for so I decide just to run through the middle and get out of the aisle and come back later.  When I finally make it to the other side, there was a Walmart employee with one of the carts full of boxes - he was unloading stuff.  He's young, probably mid-twenties, tall, buff, dark, kinda looks like Jemaine Clement.

                                                                      (Jemaine)

I was going to walk past him, but he said, "Lots of traffic today, huh," and chuckled.  I chuckled and said "Yeah!  And on a Sunday, too!"  He said "Yeah, seems kinda strange.  I don't know why we're so busy today."  I started to keep walking, but he stopped me and said, "So how are you?"  Uhh... Awkward I thought.  But I answered politely: "I'm alright, thanks, how are you?"  He said that he was fine and asked me where I was from.  I told him that I came from Indiana, and he said that he was from Texas.  Of course, from then on I felt inclined to walk away, but I was being nice.  He asked me what school I went to, so I told him, and he asked me my major.  Seeing as how I am still in high school, I figured that his move must had been recent.  I laughed and told him that I was 18 and a senior in high school - this fact apparently blew his mind.  He kept up friendly conversation for a bit and I finally managed to end the conversation after an awkward silence.  When I started walking away, I hear "Hey!"  and I turn back around.  "My name's Rob."  "Hi, Rob, I'm Eva," I responded.  "Eva, that's a nice name."  I giggled nervously and said "thanks, it was nice to meet you."

I decided to go back to find my Wild Thing before actually getting what I needed from the freezer section, so I went over to the nail polish section on the other side of the store, and who should show up but Rob?  I quickly realized that he wasn't in the freezer section anymore, so I hustled back in that direction, having been defeated by Pure Ice as they were out of Wild Thing :(  I get to the freezer section, and Rob has beaten me there!  How, I'm not exactly sure, but to ensure a solitary shopping experience I called my mom and loudly repeated her name while asking her something about what I was looking for.  "Mom!  I don't see them. MOM what was the brand name? MOM do you want this?"  

I paid for my stuff and zipped out to my car, buckled up, and flew away.  When I looked at myself in the mirror, I realized that I had no make up on, I hadn't touched my hair, and I was wearing dirty clothes.  Actually, I looked a lot like this:

                                   (Will Ferrell as a nude model with Hep A, two B's and a C)

Looking back, I feel kinda bad for being so curt with Rob.  He was probably new to town and looking to make a friend, so Rob if you're out there, I'm sorry!  And maybe I'll see you at Walmart again sometime!

Gradient Nails

Hey everybody!

Firstly, I'm going to apologize for the quality of the pictures in this post.  I need better lighting, a better camera, or both.  Anyway, this week I'm working with a very subtle red gradient.  

Like I said, very subtle.  You probably wouldn't notice it at first in person.

Here's what I used color-wise:

Sally Hansen's No Chip Base Coat, Essie's A List, O.P.I.'s I'm Not Really A Waitress (which was a gift from someone - thank you! It works great!), Savvy's Ruby Slippers, Nicole's Razzle Dazzler, and Finger Paints's Top Coat.

Sometimes I just have to chuckle at how silly some of the names of these colors are...

The fun (and sometimes challenging) thing about gradient nails is that you're basically painting your nails backwards.  You start at the tips and move toward the cuticles.  Should I put a tutorial up?  Give me your thoughts!  That sounded a little passive aggressive... Let me know what you guys think!

For Rachael

Hey everybody!  This is what I'm currently wearing; I don't know what you'd call this, but I guess I should go into some slight back story.

I am saddened to say that there has been another death at my school.  This is the second one in a span of about six months.  I had class with this particular student - we worked together on a project.  She was a creative spirit, and always very kind to me.  I liked her.  The school is definitely suffering a great loss.  So these are my commemorative nails, if you will.

It's a very simple design.  I used Revlon's Sequin and Kiss's black striper.  I guess I like it because it's rather chaotic, and yet there's simplistic beauty to it, just like there is in life - chaos and beauty.  


I would also like to add that I hope you know that each and every one of you is loved greatly by family, friends, strangers, your children, whomever.  You are all very important to many, many people, and don't forget it!


I will leave you with this quote from William Shakespeare: "Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course."

Rest in peace, Rachael.

Review of Migi Nail Art Pens/Brushes

Hey guys!  So a friend of mine is letting me try out her Migi product and I thought I'd let you all know what I've discovered.

Here's the thing - Migi isn't your typical nail polish.  It doesn't come in a bottle so much as it comes in a plastic tube.  The really neat thing about it is that if you twist off the cap it's a brush, but if you pull off the top, it's a pen! 

That means that you get a nail art pen for every color you buy - it's absolutely a two-for-one deal.

So this product comes in packs of two, four, six, or eight; this particular one was Migi set #101.  There are tons of different sets, some have themes, like the Black Tie set (#251), or the Safari-themed set (#1209). 

Unfortunately, the sets of 8 are fairly expensive (about $25), but you're getting eight brushes and eight pens AND if you register when you buy them, you get free refills!  You just have to pay shipping (about $3).  In total, it's definitely worth the face price.  You can also get replacement brushes and tips for the price of shipping!

Anyway, on with the review!  I used this nondescript blue color shown to the right.  Here's the final product.

I had my doubts when I tried this, but I was happily corrected!  This stuff coats like a charm, evenly and it dries smoothly with no streaks.  It's pretty matte, but it has just a little shine to it.  Plus, it doesn't take long to dry at all.  I was able to drag my fingers along a nail in about 15 minutes.  The colors are very bright and you don't even really NEED a second coat.  I used two coats because that's what I'm used to, and I can go back and cover an area if I missed it the first time around. Also, something unexpected that I discovered that is a nice addition - it's easy to take off with nail polish remover!  That's not something I usually look for (or will get the chance to tell you because hopefully I won't be taking off my manicure before reviewing or at least showing you!), but it's definitely nice when it comes time to take it off.

On the down side, it IS fairly expensive, but you get a lot for your money.  The tubes are relatively small compared to a normal bottle of polish, so you'll end up paying a bit for shipping on refills if you use it a lot.  Each color comes in 0.16 fl oz or 4.8 ml.  A typical bottle of polish comes in about 0.5 fl oz or 15 ml. 

However, this stuff is very cool, and in my opinion worth the price.

I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5!

Tip of the Week

Hey guys, I know it's only Wednesday, but my schedule is pretty full for the rest of the week/weekend, so I figured I would go ahead and post this week's tip.  

Do you ever get frustrated with how long top coats take to dry?  Ever thought your top coat was dry but woke up the next morning and there were imprints of your sheets on your nails?  To stop this, after putting on your top coat, put your hands in a bowl of ice water.  I wish I could tell you what this does chemically to help dry those pesky top coats, but I have no idea.  I do know that the cold temperature will set the color more quickly (this is why some people put their hands in front of fans to dry their nails). It works like a charm!

Just get a bowl big enough to put your hands in, put some cold water in it, and then throw in some ice.  Hold your hands in for as long as you can, swish the water around, take your fingers out to give them a rest for a while, put them back in.  For real.  It works. 

Happy painting!

Tip of the Week

Hey guys, my next tip for you is - Make sure your nails are 100% dry before using a topcoat.
 Topcoats are a wonderful thing, but putting them on too soon can mess up your whole mani by dragging the colors.  There is no frustration like that of having spent hours doing your nails, getting them just the way you want them, only to ruin them at the last second (after they're done, I might add).  Yes, I have done this many, many times.  I still do it more than I would like.  Doing your nails takes patience, which sometimes I just don't possess.   It can make for a cool, subtle effect if that's what you're going for, but if you want crisp, clean lines - WAIT TO PUT ON THAT TOPCOAT.

Review of Pure Ice China Girl

So for my first review I thought I'd show you a color I've been dying to try.  Naturally, I had to listen to David Bowie while I did this.  I think I've mentioned before that Pure Ice may be my favorite brand, and here's why!

• Firstly, I love the metallic sheen of their colors. There is something so appealing about the way they shine and reflect light, and it really sets them apart from other brands.

• Secondly, it coats evenly.  That's a lovely addition.  

• You also don't even really need more than one coat, depending on the color I suppose.  This time I used two coats, but I didn't really need to.  
• Next, it dries relatively quickly!  These took about fifteen minutes to dry, which is far superior to some brands (coughSallyHansenXtremeWear) that can take up to a few hours to dry completely.  Sheesh.
• IT'S CHEAP!  One bottle is only $1.97 at Walmart.  That's a clearance price on most other brands.  It is absolutely worth two bucks.

HOWEVER.  There are a couple cons that I wish weren't there:

• It leaves stroke marks.  You can pretty much see where the brush was with each stroke.  A minor aggravation, but still annoying.  Sometimes putting on a topcoat can help minimize them.
• It doesn't take much to make it bubble.  Seriously, bubbles in a mani are so infuriating.  It's one of those little things that can make the whole finger look bad.  

But really, that's about it.  The pros definitely outweigh the cons.  Pure Ice is affordable and it looks great!  I'm going to give it.... hmmm... 4 out of 5 stars!

 

(Again, pre-cleanup)

Second Attempt at Water Marbling

This time I used Sinful Colors's Snow Me White, Essie's Play Date, Sally Hansen's (GASP!  I know I said I had boycotted this, but I thought I would give it one last shot) Plum Power, and Rimmel's Purple Rain.

This is probably my favorite mani thus far, but don't worry, I promise I will start doing something other than water marbling soon!  It does, unfortunately, take more polish than I would like, and if I keep doing it I'll run out of colors!  I'll put up a tutorial on how to do water marbling in the future, and that will probably be my last post about it for a while.  

Usually I don't like to use Sinful Colors because it's so cheap and you have to put on a hundred coats before you see a change in the color, but this Snow Me White is working really well.  I used it as my base coat for this mani as well.  Generally, Essie is pretty good, but you would expect it to be if you're paying $8 per bottle.  It coats pretty evenly, which is something that is super obnoxious if it doesn't.  Like I said, I've boycotted all of Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear Line because I've had horrible trouble with it globbing up in the bottle and not thinning out with nail polish remover.  It's also pretty hard to get to cover evenly.  BUT, as you can see, I got this bottle for under 2 bucks, so I figured I'd give it a chance.  I may even use it in the future.  I've not had a chance to try my Rimmel by itself yet, but it's proving itself worthy with this mani!  That was also on clearance.

P.S. sorry for the mess again!

Tip of the Week

My first tip for all you ladies (or gents) out there painting nails, is: ALWAYS USE A BASE COAT!

Not only does it help adhere the polish to your nail, but it also protects your nails from tearing apart.  After painting your nails a few times without a base coat, sometimes your nails will begin getting brittle and falling apart.  Base coats add a layer between your nail and some of the harsh chemicals in acrylic polishes. 

Base coats typically dry pretty quickly, so you don't have to worry much about it adding too much time to the already long process of drying nails.  

You can get base coats for cheap, but in most cases you get what you pay for.  A cheap base coat often won't keep your mani adhered for as long as a more expensive brand.  I like my FingerPaints base coat, as well as my Chi base coat. 

If you want to be painting your nails for a long time, it's important to take care of them!

Happy painting!

Water Marbling?!?

Oh man, this is it guys.  It's only taken me like six months to figure out how to do this.  BUT I'VE DONE IT!  Sorry about the messy cuticles, but I'm super excited. 

ALRIGHT.  So I used Chi's Base/Top Coat and then put on a layer of NYC's French Tip color (I apparently need more white).   Always use a white beneath this and let it dry, as it makes the colors stand out more.  I also didn't realize how gently you have to scrape the toothpick through to make the design... Lesson learned: SUPER GENTLY.  

Also, kind of roll your nail into it so you get the sides.  That's something I will do differently next time.  There are some slivers on the sides of my nails now that are just white.  Bummer.  All in all, I'm super excited.  This is my First Attempt (FA), so expect better in the future!

Walking Dead inspired nails

Here's an oldie, but one of my favorites.  My Walking Dead-inspired nails!  I did these when season 2 was resuming in February.

So I definitely won't do this the same way if I try it again.  I put down a layer of white and then spread around the red, I did some taping for the triangular flesh-tears.  From there I tried to put the green on AROUND the areas I had painted.  Mistake.   I did it right for the taping, but the other ones not so much.  I used just a black nail art pen to draw the stitches on and the lines on the brains.

Here's what I'm currently wearing (on my left hand).  I'm in love with this new color called Jamaica Me Crazy by Pure Ice.  It's the pinkish fuchia base color.  I used Savvy Totally Turqoise, Essie Play Date, and Rimmel Purple Rain for the dots.

 And of course, my Flight of the Conchords-themed accent thumb!  Freehanded!

So here's today's haul!  $10 for all five of these.  Not the greatest deal, but definitely not bad.  Chi is a brand I've not used before, so we'll see, but I'm definitely excited about these colors.  So left to right: Chi Base and Top Coat; Chi Milk Shake; Chi Chardonnay Everyday; Chi Playing Hard to Get; Chi Razzle Dazzle.

Welcome!

Hey guys, so this is really going to be quite similar to my facebook page, aka a place for me to store all these pictures!  Except, of course, I am going to be much more thorough about designs and brands and stuff.  I'll probably do little reviews of brands as I come across them, and any good deals that I find.

The pictures (unfortunately) won't be professional... or even good for that matter, but I imagine you'll get the gist of things!  Forgive me while I'm still figuring out all this blog stuff.

So... Welcome to my page!