Happy Holidays, Y'all!

So I hope all of y'all had a great holiday season/are still having one (I'm counting New Years!). For the first year in a while, we had Christmas at my uncle's house instead of ours, which was kind of a relief, not going to lie.

 

 I want to name these bad boys, but I don't know if my uncle would approve. I guess I don't have to tell him, right?

 I got to see my cousin's kids, who are the little lights of my life. The three-year-old asked me for help drawing a shark (because that's what big sister was doing), so I asked her if she was scared of sharks. She said no, so I asked her what she would do if she saw one. She replied, "I would feed it. Sharks are always hungry because nobody feeds them", in that self-assured way only very small children have. Did I mention she's the cutest thing? However, I now have to make a dozen reindeer cookies for her big sister when we get back from a mini vacation to the coast. And I've been recruited to do their nails for their next dance recital, thanks to my rhinestone-bedecked Christmas mani!

That magnificent book in the back is Jenny Lawson's (The Bloggess) Let's Pretend This Never Happened and also proof that my hint/threats about seeing a dead (ethically taxidermied) mouse under the tree worked.

I used Julep Delauney and Sienna, and my rhinestones from Born Pretty. I got Sienna in my Julep New Year's Mystery Box-if you want to check that out, as well as some photo blurbs from Christmas, look after the break!

Ice Queen

Another day, another mani using Shine Of The Times. I like the colors together, but I had some smudging problems...and I'm changing it in time for Christmas Day anyways.

It took FOREVER to get my watermark app to work, but tomorrow night there will be a post on my bangin' Christmas mani. Trust me, it's awesome.

Colors Used: Julep Piper, Essie Shine Of The Times

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Today, I baked. I baked and I baked and then I baked some more, and our house smelled like gingerbread and chocolate and amazingness.  And tomorrow I'm going to bake EVEN MORE. This year we're gifting cookie tins, so I got a little creative. However, I did the opposite with my nails:

I didn't want to risk anything falling off into the dough and between baking and dishes, I knew it wouldn't last long anyways. It's already chipped off on a couple of nails as of right now!

Colors Used: Julep Jodie, Essie Shine of the Times

One Day, Baby, We'll Be Old

Quick little post of Hipstamatic shots from ze week!

 Oh, my room is a mess! My supposed-to-be-walk-in-closet is mostly storage...so now my room is full of Christmas boxes and stuff and I can't take a wider shot.

 Forever 21 Shirt/Levi's 535 Jegging in Black/Belt: Marshall's

 DIY Earrings/DIY Bracelets/AE Necklace/James Avery Ring

It went from rainy and cold, back to warm, and the allllll the way to super burr this week. The joy of living in Texas, I suppose. At least I got these shots!

Just a tiny collage of yesterday's accessories. Outfit wasn't anything exciting, just my black 535s and a chambray shirt. Gotta love that knockoff YSL!

Ring: Ebay/Purse:Urban Outfitters/Pashmina: French Market in NOLA

Title: Asaf Avidan, One Day. I'm obsessed with this song right now.

Studs on Studs on Studs

Now that I'm on the stud train, I'm never getting off. Except for next week, when I have an exciting rhinestone Christmas mani planned, of course. I picked up the base color last week at Walgreens after getting an extra-intense retina exam, when my eyes were SO dilated I couldn't even focus. Of course that still didn't stop me from buying some new polish. Miraculously, I didn't pick up a color I already own! Sinful Colors Nova is a purple/black in the bottle, but on the nails it's more of a black with blue and turquoise micro-glitter, and it really does look a little like a galaxy in a bottle. It had a bit of a thick formula though, and was really prone to color smudging when removing with polish remover. However, it did come off my cuticles magically quick when I did my go-to clean-up of taking a super hot shower...I'm lazy, what can I say?

Oof, looking at that picture reminds me I need to clean my vanity. It was my grandma's, and decades of wear and tear mean lots of scratches that my makeup just finds its way into! I'm just kind of scared that if I polish it, Lulu will slide all over and ultimately knock my makeup/tchotchkes off and break them. Guess we'll find out!

Glitter & Studs

Last night I was holed up in my room, so I got productive and did my nails, so instead of just watching Sherlock for the millionth time I was also being blog-productive! I ordered these studs from Born Pretty Store when I got the rhinestones I used for my Christmas tree mani, and haven't used them yet because I've been lazy, oops. This is also a new bottle of Golden-I, probably my third since I started doing my nails regularly a couple of years ago. What can I say, I love this color!

The studs were surprisingly easy to work with, but I did have some problems with keeping them even...probably more to do with me than anything else. I used an orange stick, dipped in a little top coat to make it sticky, to pick them up and place them in the still-wet second coat of Coral Reef. Two coats of Seche later, they stuck for days!

Colors Used: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Golden-I and Coral Reef

Festive Garland Mani

When my Christmas tree mani chipped off, I decided to keep going with the Christmas thing and used my dotting tool to try and make little garlands on my nails, with some success! I did underestimate how much space I would need/how big the dots would be (still not a dotting tool pro), but the overall effect was fun.

Colors Used: Julep Popova, Mischa, and Isla, Sally Hansen Golden-I

Teeny Tiny Christmas Tree Mani

Mine isn't as cool as my inspiration over at Pshiiit, but I still think it's pretty snazzy. I'm not sure how I feel about the base color-it's a little more olive than gold in some light. Maybe another coat of Seche Vite will make them a little shinier?

Sorry it's Instagram-ed!

Colors Used: China Glaze Angel Wings, Julep Popova, Julep Mischa

Rhinestone from: Born Pretty Store

Autumn Tones

More Shine of the Times fun for y'all! Not the best picture, but still.

Colors used: Sinful Colors Mercury Rising, Essie Shine of the Times

5 Minute Earring DIY

It's the holidays! Exciting, right? This is just a super-quick DIY, literally 5 minutes, three materials, and completely adorable. I threw these together after finding some glittery seaside-themed buttons at Hobby Lobby I just couldn't pass up.

1. Clip the actual button-y part off the button.

2. Place a dollop of E6000 glue on the back of the button.

4. Press the stud into the glue and let dry, at least overnight.

Total cost was way under $5 and there are tons of options for everyone's personal style. These would also make great stocking stuffers on a budget.

Trampy, Vampy, Leopard Print Nails

I love these. Like, truly, madly, deeply, kind of love.

And I want my nails to look like this forever. 

Colors Used: Julep Delaunay, Sally Hansen Golden-I, Sinful Colors Black on Black

F*ckloads of Diamonds

China Glaze's Angel Wings, from the Holiday Joy 2012 Collection, is the absolute shiniest thing I've ever put on my nails, and by far the hardest to photograph, so you're going to have to excuse the Christmas tablecloth-the dining room was apparently the best lighting in the house!

I really need to stop using my iPhone camera, but I'm entirely too lazy to go through the effort of editing pictures on my computer when I have the Aviary app on my phone and I always have my phone...oh well!  I do love this color, but it chipped off after a couple of days. I just finished a different mani, so that'll probably be up tomorrow, AND I have (what I think) is an exciting DIY coming up, just as soon as I perfect and photograph my technique. A mystery technique, for now, anyways!

Title: Lily Allen, The Fear

Purple & Gold All Over

Here are a few more Hipstamatic shots from the past couple of weeks...just some of the things I love.

Shirt: Defend New Orleans/Bracelets: DIY/Earrings: Purchased at Teton Nat'l Park/Flip Flops: Havaianas

I'm OBSESSED with these leggings. They're one of the few items I've bought at Urban Outfitters that weren't on super sale. (But they're $10 off right meow!) I love, love, LOVE them.

Bracelets: DIY/Ring: Forever 21

DIY Chain and Stone Necklace

This is a project I had bouncing around in my mind for a while, but I just hadn't had the motivation to actually sit down and do it until a couple of weeks ago, when I was watching Grimm with my dad. It doesn't take many materials, and it's another project you can totally make your own!

For the steps, materials, and other nonsense, look after the break!

Sandy Sandy Sand

The other day I was SUPER excited to get my China Glaze holographics...unfortunately, I wasn't in the mood for in-your-face nails. I decided that one coat over a neutral basecoat would probably be a nice little place to meet in the middle, and I was right...kind of.

I liked the overall effect-I used one coat of Angel Wings over two coats of Julep's Annette-but I executed it poorly. There were some awkward patches and my cuticles were a hot mess. It was almost like sand in the sunshine though, and a really nice change from a basic neutral. I had to change it today though, especially since I got back to making friendship bracelets and the embroidery thread managed to dent BOTH my thumbs and make my nails peel. Oh well, worth it!

You Gotta Love Your Way Of Life

I did this mani at like 10 last night-my pretty green nails were chipping off, I was going shopping, and I absolutely cannot stand to go out in public with my nails all gross. It was kind of a rush job, but I miraculously didn't wake up with sheet marks or anything! I mean, Out The Door is a great fast-drying topcoat, but my bottle of Sephora by OPI Spark-tacular is a little goopy, and after two coats it felt kind of soft underneath the topcoat, so I was terrified I would smudge it all off in my sleep.

I was a little sloppy with cleanup, but I like it! The purple (Wet N' Wild in On A Trip) took three coats and was still a little sheer on the tips, but I picked up two China Glaze holographics from the Holiday Joy Collection (my first China Glaze purchases ever!) AND I actually have friends to see this week, so this mani probably won't last long. Oh, and I bought Seche Vite! I really needed a thicker topcoat, since Out The Door is like water, and it was on sale at Sally's so I said, what the hell, why not? I love the way the bottle feels, but THE SMELL. Oh my god. So. Strong. Regardless, it smoothed the heck out of Spark-tacular, and that's what I wanted it for.

Title: Awolnation, Guilty Filthy Soul

Separated Zipper Repair!

So, the other day I got these boots, after ordering them online. I was SO excited, but then this happened:

If you can't make it out, the great tragedy is that the zipper is completely separated at the bottom, with literally no way to fix it as is. Of course, I don't find this out until I'm shamelessly dancing around to The Wanted and the zipper comes undone, ALL THE WAY UP TO MY ANKLE (about the top of the strap you can see in the picture). They're super comfy and they look good though, so I really didn't want to return them...but when I looked up whether any of the nearby Macy's had them in stock, so I could hopefully exchange them, I was out of luck. No boots in my size in a 60 mile radius. At that point, I realized the only option I had left was to fix them myself, which I'm proud to say I did with only a needle and thread! You can check out what I did after the jump.

Mossy Emeralds

One of my absolute favorite things about fall is the jewel tones, and this combines wonderfully with my love of nail polish. I have a few different shades of almost-black polishes, the ones that look black until you hit the right light, and then they're green, or blue, or purple. The combination of the shifting base coat and the microglitter topcoat in this mani just glistens so beautifully!

Colors Used: Sinful Colors See You Soon and Kissy

Update: I know they're chipped and horrible, but this is how they look outside:

And by outside, I mean in the truck. My ring is from JcPenney!

Black & Gold

THE SAINTS WON!!! I am so happy I could explode.

Shirt: Defend New Orleans

Rings: Target and Forever 21

Bag and Sneakers: Urban Outfitters

Title Goes Here...

So I've been missing for a while, I know. I was super busy and blogging just wasn't very high up on my to-do list, but I'm back! This mani is super easy and felt so appropriate for fall-I think my nails have a look that's almost like leather.

Sorry for the quality, but I am so tired, I couldn't even be bothered to get up into a better picture-taking angle. I'm so tired I can't even catch up on Revenge because I don't think I would be able to stay awake through the episode, and that's the real tragedy here. So now...it's bedtime.

Color: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Gunmetal, Essie Matte About You Topcoat

The Starry Night

Nothing like a fine gold glitter gradient over navy blue to bring van Gogh to mind-you do have to admit that The Starry Night is pretty iconic! I love doing glitter gradients, they're so simple and quick. All you do is four coats of the glitter topcoat, first the entire nail, then three quarters, then half, and finally the last quarter.

Colors: Julep in Gunta, Sinful Colors All About You

Frame by Frame

I just realized today that I haven't posted in almost two weeks, so I put together a few collages of some of the things I wore this week. I've also had the same mani for almost two weeks and I need to change it, so that post should be coming soon!

Clothing: Patterned tank from Marshall's, dark wash Levi's jeggings, Kimchi Blue lace-back cardigan

Jewelry: DIY hamsa hand and evil eye bracelets, Monet earrings, rings from Forever 21 and Target, Apricot Lane wrap bracelet, AE heart necklace

Sunglasses: Funky Monkey in NOLA 

Purse: Deena & Ozzy

Clothing: American Eagle cardigan, thrifted scarf, Levi's jeggings, Forever 21 tank, Steve Madden moccasins

Jewelry: YSL knockoff ring from eBay, Forever 21 pyramid ring, gifted locket

Clockwise: Urban Decay palette, Target rings, Adidas sneakers, rose sneakers from Urban Outfitters

Half-Mad

Last month, I saw this manicure over at Pshiiit and knew I would have to replicate it, but then I fell down the rabbit hole of Shine of the Times and put it off. Yesterday my mani decided it wanted to chip, so I got my chance! The base is Julep Annette and the rectangles (yay scotch tape!) are Julep Gunta.

It didn't photograph as blue as it is in real life, which is more of a royal, not a navy. I do like it though. It's a little fall-ish and fairly subtle. I almost wish I had done it in black and white for a more mod feel.

Title: Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

"I Can Have It All!"

It's been gloomy all week, and when you add my sinus-murdering allergies into the equation, this means me staying in bed and watching 30 Rock on Netflix for the bazillionth time. JUDGEMENT FREE ZONE. Unfortunately for both myself and Liz Lemon, we can't have it all, as evidenced by Lulu SIMULTANEOUSLY stealing one of my cheese fries and managing to close out the Netflix tab. Now she's just lurking somewhere, waiting for me to move, so she can attack my ankles. Anyways, I realize I am so late to this nail polish party that the polish featured is, in fact, discontinued, but whatever.

It is SO PRETTY. Essie, why on earth would you stop making this?? Fortunately, I was able to score a new bottle on eBay, for a couple of dollars more than retail AND free shipping. The base coat is Sinful Colors in Boogie Nights, and I really like the color, but after three coats it still wasn't opaque so maybe next time I'll use a white base. I did use only one coat of Shine of the Times! And in other news, Jon Hamm's story arc on 30 Rock just started and I really must be off.

Updated: Gratuitous shots of my nails! The flakies themselves are a teeny bit more obvious.

Gunmetal & Glitter

So instead of a true-to-life shot, y'all are getting this lovely Hipstamatic picture instead:

That would be because my nails were extremely uncooperative. There were little spots in the base of my nails that the polish just wouldn't stick to, and what color did was picked up by the top coat...so, blergh. That, and my polish managed to push back from the tips FIVE HOURS after I did them. I literally just did the silver, as a distraction. I doubt this one will stay on through tomorrow, but you never know.

Colors used: Sinful Colors Secret Admirer, OPI Are You Glistenin', Essie all in one base coat (new!)

Baby, There's A Shark In The Water

I actually wasn't going to go with anything this fancy-I cut my nails a little too close to the bed and...it hurt. I was just going to go with my favorite gunmetal, but when I opened the bottle, it was goopy and dried up, and I'm going to buy a new bottle Sunday when I go to Walgreens. I ended up breaking into my last unused Julep color (Annie) and my other Ludurana flakie (Trovão).

The flakies show up so much better in sunlight, but you kind of get the idea. Unfortunately, I think my base coat is on its last legs, because all the polish chipped by the morning and tonight I had the (so horrible for my nails) pleasure of peeling the polish off, A WHOLE FINGERNAIL AT A TIME. I guess this means no more mani until...Sunday. As soon as I get a new base coat. I'm thinking of splurging on Essie this time, but I'm not 100% yet. Guess I'll figure it out!

Title: Shark In The Water, VV Brown

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I Do Believe I'm Bad Luck...

...so no more team-inspired manis from now on. This week, I did Broncos nails and WE LOST. JUST LIKE THE SAINTS LOST LAST WEEK. Maybe I'll start doing the opposing teams colors instead?

But anyways, here it is:

From the base up: Julep in Eileen, Julep in Gunta, and Sinful Colors in Cloud 9. I'm still trying to get the hang of my dotting tool-my right hand is nowhere near as neat as the left, and this one isn't exactly perfect. Whatever, I kind of loved the eventual effect, and that's what counts, right?

DIY Herringbone Pattern Sneakers

So after the other two pairs of sneakers I DIYed, I still had one pair sitting around, just waiting for me.  I finally got around to doing something today! I really like the whole herringbone pattern going around on manis and clothing, so I decided to do a fun, bright pair that I can wear with jeans now that it's getting cooler.

I used my Tulip Fabric Markers again, and the steps are after the break!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

It really, truly is. A) It was IN THE EIGHTIES AT ONE IN THE AFTERNOON. B) Football is back! C) It's almost fall, the best season, full of boots and scarves and jeans and clothes I love. To kick off the (football) season, I did black and gold for my boys, the Saints. Sure, we didn't win, but it's just the first game. We'll get it together.

This is just a quick mani post:

Base is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I and the half-moons (which I did using circular reinforcement labels) are Sinful Colors Black on Black. The purse in the background is vintage(?) Samir, and I picked it up at Funky Monkey in New Orleans.

1234, Tell Me That You Love Me More

It's been awhile, so I'm coming back with a simple pseudo-chevron tape mani. I couldn't wait until I got September's Julep Maven Box (this is the first month I've done add-ons!) because my profile came with the two lovely polishes below:

Gunta and Popova are from their recent collaboration with Trina Turk, and since their creme polishes are, in my opinion, amazing, I just had to order Annie (electric blue topaz), Delauney (chili pepper red), and Eileen (antique bright white). I wasn't disappointed with these-both were opaque with one coat and dried super quick. Even though I used Out The Door, I wasn't feeling too hot, and went to bed too early, which OF COURSE meant that like three nails did that awkward thing where the polish pushes up and wrinkles. Nothing to do but figure out an interesting way to cover up the tips, so I got my Scotch tape and made super subtle Vs, placing them almost halfway down my nails, then used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City.

Title: Feist, 1234

She Only Sleeps When It's Raining

So it's almost 1:45 and I have to wake up at 5 so my dad and I can have fishing adventures before the sun gets super burny and I have to put my sweatpants on over my jorts, (the horror!) but instead of sleeping I'm watching The IT Crowd and giggling and pretending I won't totally be taking a nap in the boat tomorrow. Probably in the Tahoe too, except for tomorrow is also the day I learn how to TOW THE BOAT, which is part of my Training To Be A Helpful Daughter. It doesn't help that my precious kitteh Lulu is hopping around my bed like a rabbit and taking the occasional break to chew on my hands, because she's a jerk like that and she does not value the same things I do, such as sleeping at night and not just after dinner and whenever people want me to be cute. *

This is the face of a jerk, my friends.

 I think I'm going to try to exile her to the floor because actual fishing always deserves my full attention, or my dad smacks me in the face with a catfish like he did one time when I was ten or so. It was purely on accident, but you don't just forget incidents like that. Fish are gross, yo.

*Since I went off on my fish tangent, she TUCKED HERSELF INTO BED RIGHT NEXT TO ME. It could only be cuter if she wasn't also stabbing me with one sharp little claw.

Title: 3 AM, Matchbox 20

Kiwis Make Me Cheerful

So this morning I was eating kiwis for breakfast, because I love them, and when I looked at them they made me want to redo my nails, which have been suffering with a failed nail art experiment. A few coats later and an awkward attempt with a dotting tool, ta-da!

Now I have cheerful little kiwis on my nails, and every time I look at them it makes me happy. I really like kiwis. 

Colors used: New York Colors in High Line Green, Sinful Colors Call You Later (glitter!), Julep in Annette, and Sinful Colors in Black on Black

DIY Chain and Seed Bead Drop Earrings

The other day I was rooting through my jewelry supplies when I came upon a few links of gold curb chain, saved after some project, and decided to make something with them.  I ended up with this pair of earrings:

I absolutely love the way gold looks with royal blue, and they were pretty simple, so I made a second pair and decided to make a little DIY with them. They're a little different because I didn't have any more gold earwires, but I'm still pretty pleased with the way these turned out.

Steps after the break!

A Fading Pink, the Color of Wild Roses

A Stephen King quote might be a little dark for this light of a mani, but I just reread Hearts in Atlantis and the line kinda stuck with me. I used this tutorial from Beautylish, substituting my dotting tools for a brush.

I really, really like this. Sure, my roses turned out a little more...abstract than I maybe would have liked, but it worked! I used (from the base coat up): Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Lovely Lilac, Julep in Georgia, Julep in Mischa, and NYC Colors in High Line Green. 

Yay America!

So this past 4th, I was lazy and didn't go through the effort of a patriotic manicure, so I finally took my Julep America for a test drive, on top of an old NYC Glossies red and Sinful Colors All About You, and just did a simple accent nail for Olympic spirit and all. I was planning on going a little fancier, but my dad and I are going fishing tomorrow and it feels a little bit like a waste, considering how rough it's going to be on my nails, you know?

I'm also trying out a new top coat this week-the two I had were failing me and I had heard a lot of good things about inm Out The Door, so when I saw a Sally's yesterday I popped in and came out with the biggest bottle of polish I've ever owned. 

LOOK AT THAT SUCKER. I think it was a little less than $11 for 2.5 oz, and almost $6 for .5, so I decided, what the hell, and went for the big bottle. In just the day I've been using it I'm pleased. It has a super thin formula, so I did end up using my Sally Hansen on my glitter nails. I'm interested to see how well it holds up-so far only one nail is chipped, and that's only because that nail decided it wanted to peel. It is also extremely quick drying like it promises, which is defs a plus in my book.

DIY Gold and Turquoise Handpiece

I've been seeing these bracelets around for months, but had never really wanted one until I stumbled on a few gold and turquoise ones on Wanelo...but I still didn't want to actually BUY something I could make on my own.

And when I found a wrap bracelet I made a few weeks back, sitting neglected in my crafting stuff, it sparked an idea. Look after the break for materials and steps!

She looked like someone had just set her favorite city on fire.

I'm currently on a Kelly Link kick, and the title is lifted from her story The Hortlak, about zombies and convenience stores, unrequited love and pajamas. Just read the first paragraph. That line almost, kind of, relates to what my nails look like right now:

The red and gold is a little fire-y, don't you think? The base is Julep in Mischa and my favorite Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I. The triangles were done with Scotch tape and I really like the minimalist accent they add. In sunlight, my nails look like they're foil, not just shiny like they are in the picture.

I'm A Little Drunk On You, And High On Summertime

I know Luke Bryan might be talking about summer love in Drunk On You, but his lyrics describe how I felt about this manicure to a T. I was infatuated for the entire week my nails looked like this, not just because they were AMAZING but also because they didn't chip. At all. I only took it off because the gap between my nail bed and the polish had reached an unacceptable width.

The prettiest.

I'm not sure whether the longevity was due to the base coat (Julep in Georgia) or the top coat, which I am still SO EXCITED ABOUT. Ludurana is a Brazilian brand that I could only find online, and only on two sites at that. I bought Flash from Ninja Polish, who also has a great selection of other hard-to-find polishes. It's a flakie with orange, green, and blue, but it definitely takes its color from the base coat-my nails gave off an orange, peachy reflection that didn't photograph nearly as well as I had hoped it would...regardless, I'm OBSESSED.

love. in a bottle.