Zig Zag with Tape!

So, I've always known about masking but never really did anything with it, too lazy mostly. This red needed something though and I only did it on one finger (actually, I did it on 4 and 3 of them looked odd so I took them off)

 

Basically, you wear out the sticky on some clear tape, cut a design, stick it on, paint and pull it off before it has a chance to dry. Easy and awesome.

Foilin' it up!

I finally got around to using the foils I ordered from dollarnailart.com! I got a ton of different ones and figured I just mix it up for the first time.

I hadn't cleaned 'em up yet, I was too excited! I really like how bright and shiny it is. I didn't notice toooo much cracking when I added top coat, but there was some streaking.

Go foil!

OPI Black Shatter

When I heard OPI was coming out with a crackle polish, I pretty much died from the excitement. Unfortunately, I found out about it in November and it was scheduled for release in January. Sigh. It was like Christmas when I finally found a salon that had it in stock on the release day.

I did this over Revlon's Steel Her Heart. I figured the monochromatic look would be pretty neat. Next time though I'm going to do it over something more festive to really bring out the shatter effect.

The thicker the coat, the bigger the chunks. I really like how my ring finger turned out.

I'm also feelin' the thumb.

Homemade Gelatine Mask

I've always loved homeade facial type things. They work better for me and are definitely more cost-effective. I picked up this neat idea from Petit Elefant. She likens it to the feeling of the pore strips from Biore, which are super overpriced and lame since you can't do your whole mug.

The Cast!

Disposable Cup and Mixing spoon, Measuring Spoon, Unflavored Gelatine, and Milk. I believe in whole milk. Hell, with all the calories I'm saving with this 5 calorie gelatine, my face deserves whole milk.

 

Alright! Wash your face before all of this, don't want any oils getting all up in your way. You're gonna need one tablespoon of gelatine. (Am I the only one that thought gelatine didn't have any e? Hm. French.) Basically, one packet will do. Looks like sugaah, omnomnom.

Add one to two tablespoons of milk. I ended up using two in the batch I used. Probably would have been more cohesive if I had added a but more.

Look at that focus. I love you, camera. This is what happens when you wait too long to start smushing it all over your face. It gels. BE SWIFT, YOUNG ONE! I made another batch.

 Feelin' glamorous.

Unflavored gelatine smells pretty yuck. It's not unbearable, but it's about as lovely as you'd expect ground up animal hooves to smell like. I waited about twenty minutes to peel it off. It gets really, really stiff. I imagine this is what botox feels like. No emotion face!

Argggh, Am zombieee. Want to eat your brains because my skin is peeling offf, Arghhh.

Peeling it off was a bit of a pain, but fun nonetheless. I rinsed the little bits that were left off with warm water. Additionally, try not to get this stuff in your hair. Makes it all stiff and ew. 

I look so enthusiastic! But yay! Clean face! My skin definitely felt smoother and tighter, but also a bit dry. Slap some moisturizer on and enjoy your pretty self.

Zoya Cheryl

This is a weird color. I think I expected something a little different when I picked out, and I'm not all together disappointed but ehhh. Cheryl is a mom color. A tricky mom color. Dark brown/black base with fiery orange and red glitter. Indoors it looks pretty unspectacular, outdoors the fire really picks up.

Indoors. This look pretty red-brown. Whatttaliar. It's darker.

Outdoors. Lookin' a little glittery, little fiery.

Spaghetti a la Me

To say that I'm a gourmet chef is a far stretch. I actually prefer baking, the exact measurements are much more comfortable for me. I get nervous when I have to improvise. With nothing in the fridge but sandwich meat and turkey broth, I figured I should head to the grocery store. Pasta (pretty much any version of pasta), hamburger steaks and mashed potatoes (I'm a simpleton) and potato soup are the things I know I'm pretty good at. Lots of practice/easy stuff. Tonight? Tonight was a spaghetti night.

 Oh Haaaaaay, ingredients. How ya been? I actually didn't use the Red Gold tomatoes, but no one likes to leave out the obsolete one.

 The meat looks like its in animal shapes? Can I just say I hate browning meat? It's the most tedious process ever. And don't even get me started on boiling water. You could season your meat and the water if you want, I didn't. Well, other than salting the water. Rebel spaghetti.

Y'all know what browned cow looks like, so I figured I'd skip ahead. Yay, sauce! It looks really juicy right now but it cooks down. I love stewed tomatoes in spaghetti. Mmm.. chunks.

  

And the water still isn't boiling. Ahhh.

I'd like to note that I started at 8:00. 22 minutes to boil? Sigh. By the way, if your noodles look like this, they aren't done. Sad, stiff noodles.

FINALLY! WE ARE READY TO ASSEMBLE! Steamy saucy ;)

Bon Appetit!

Swirly Nails

I've played with this idea several times and I've seen it other places, done other ways. This is just how I've perfected it fo' me!

Did this to the girlfriend recently because she wanted both Color Club Pure Energy and Volt of Light on her nails. Maybe one day I'll do a more in depth explanation but for right now, this is how it went down.

-Base coat all your nails to prevent staining. Yellows are known for that, as are reds.
-Take your base color (Volt of Light) and paint a rather thick coat. It's gonna feel really rebellious and messy, you crazy kid, you. I'mma take a moment to mention that you should stay away from nail polish that is known for it's crazy quick dry time. It only hinders the design process.
-Next take the other color and dot on blobs of color. So technical, this is. I discovered I like the effect most when you concentrate on the tip/base/side of the nail. Kinda looks like flames.
-Lightly draw a toothpick through both colors, making swirls, patterns, whatevaaa. Toothpicks are perfect for this because they're so tiny. Work fast though! If you make a line and it drags/you see nail through the design, it means the polish is drying up!
-Wait a bit, and then throw on some top coat. I used Seche Vite, because it's awesome and it dries all that polish up pretty quickly.
-Marvel at your loveliness.

Girlfriend's Favorite nail.

Wee!

Zoya Lisa

Recently, I swore I'd never buy Zoya polishes ever again. The only polish I had from them was Shawn and when I wore it with my standard OPI Ridge Filler/Seche Vite combination, it chipped off not even an hour later. I didn't even have time to take a picture! $7 of Ridiculous! After googling endlessly, I found a post from All Lacquered Up about Zoya polish and certain top coats. DING DING DING! They react horribly to a chemical called Cellulose Acetate Butyrate. Try saying that three times fast, aye. All my top coats save one (the $2 one, no less) have it. While it irritates me that a polish is made to work with a certain system (Zoya Color Lock) the colors are just too prettttty. *drool*

Fast forward about a month, Zoya had a facebook give away and I'm a sucker for free things, even if I hate them. I picked up Lisa, Cheryl, and Julianne. I used OPI Ridge Filler and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Clear for base/top.

Lemme just say, THIS IS SO SPARKLY :D It's lovely.

Additionally, my hands are chewed up from work. Screw groceries.

Half Moon Mani

I've been waiting to do this manicure for a while now, in fact, it was going to be my New Year's design, but that didn't work out D:  I used an E.L.F. polish I bought during some sale on Cyber Monday. I bought 12 E.L.F polishes and I think this is the first one I've used. When everything's a dollar, it's hard not to go crazy.

So, the polish is called Minty. It's a little greener than my other mint polishes. Maybe that's how I'll justify this purchase? I created the moons with a brush and some black polish. I'll admit they're a little shaky, but from far away, who's the wiser!

Maybe I'll write a non-polish post sometime soon... Dum Dum Dum...

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Girl Flower

I spotted these at Wal-Mart a few days ago and fell in love with the cute little flower designs. I've been eyeing a foil that looks just like this, so my excitement was high.

I picked these up for $8.50. Now, I think that's a bit steep for only 16 strips, meaning I can't even get 2 full manicures out of one box. The price point is definitely my biggest gripe. As for application, it was a breeze! These are advertised as "real nail polish strips" but they're definitely just malleable stickers. Without top coat, they felt very fragile and on the nails that the strip was a bit too thin to cover completely,  you could really feel a gap. I slapped a few coats of Seche Vite on top and that helped to shine 'em up and fill and voids.

Wee! Take that, Katy Perry!

Since it's 2011, here's 2010!

Of course I'm talking about Nubar 2010! It's a lovely, flakey top coat that reflects green, orange and red.  I've layered it over a random black in these pictures.

These were all taken with my cellphone in laptop lighting (because it showed the flakes the best.) Don't mind my cuticles. They hate me.