on the hunt

I'm getting fixated on weird things since there's really nothing else to focus on at the moment as the world is at a standstill while fools figure out what they're actually doing. Recently I saw an ad on Instagram (the ONLY THING getting me through right now) and it featured a hand model with the prettiest pale yellow nail polish. I love a pastel all day long and I realized I didn't have a pastel yellow polish and very soon after that realized it's legit THE RAREST COLOR ON EARTH.

I know there's a pandemic going on, but it's still spring so there should be pastel colors everywhere, no? Moreover, pastel yellow is not just a spring color it's an Easter color--so why was it so hard to find? Searching shelf after shelf in multiple stores (within walkable distance since getting in a vehicle and going anywhere is a felony) made me dizzy so I'm not surprised I picked up a color that appeared to be more khaki than yellow...but who knows what it's going to look like out of the bottle. Based on what I've seen online it might be what I'm looking for, but I'll have to wait until I'm awake long enough to redo my nails again for what feels like the millionth time.

Nail Art Part Two: experimentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These nail looks are from the tail end of 2017 into the fall of 2018 when I was starting to grow my nails out so I would have even more space to decorate them. One of my main methods of decor was using Kiss nail art products:

I love adding applique to my nails to elevate a plain look to something cutesy and unique. Also using nail art tools has helped with perfecting my artistic applications with certain looks; stickers lay so much better using that white smudger thingy. Recently, I was lucky enough to pick up a stamper by Kiss Nails (it was the last one left in the store!) and I'm hoping I'm able to create even more sophisticated looks like the ones I see on instagram that make me feel like I'm a five year old with poor hand-eye coordination. 

Another technique I employed was using pigments to rub on the nails as an overlay instead of polish to create a more intricate color schemes. Most of my pigments I use are by MAC:

 

They are messy to use, but still a very viable creative way to switch up plain polish and because they are basically dust, they dry the polish a bit faster than putting a coat of glitter on.

essie gets twisted

 

...I mean the packaging wins all the awards first of all, but also I'm super excited about their already legit gel top coat getting an upgrade--review coming soon.

essie love

 

...about to try out these new silk water color palettes from Essie that I just picked up yesterday. I've never seen anything like this concept before and I'm actually kind of excited...I mean, my nails will probably end up looking like gray blobs with glitter over them, but I'll do my best.

The 1000 color is called "aim to misbehave" and it's a super gorgeous dandelion/marigold color with a silvery sheen, I'll probably do that with a glitter accent later.

Woke to Orly...

 ...there are so many beauty updates I have yet to share, mostly dealing with my nails because when I'm not lounging in bed or working my ass off, I'm basically painting my nails or trying to find new ways to paint my nails--like, I literally will stare at the pile of nail polish on my tv table and come up with different combos that I hope I'll be awake enough to try...

...after enjoying the Orly polish bond I decided to pick up more of their products; I've honestly been sleeping on this brand, but their range of colors and care products is pretty impressive. I'm loving the rubber cap detail so I don't have to use my pliers to open the bottle and I'm hoping the snap dry stuff will help when I only have about 30 minutes to do my nails before I walk out the door.

Other items I picked up included some more brushes; it doesn't matter how often I wash them (or not), I never seem to have enough. Also, China Glaze's patent leather top coat sounded like another gel manicure in a bottle scheme so of course I was intrigued.

Nail Art | Frosted Spring

 

The latest on the nails is a pastel ombre combo...

 

I did the whole beauty wedge sponging technique to apply the color, which created a sort of watercolor finish (I did not use a white or black base so the opacity is thinner).

Revlon "sure thing", Essie "turquoise & caicos" and a beauty wedge

Note on the matte topcoat: I've used NYC "Matte Me Crazy" topcoat and talked about it before a while ago and I have to say of all the matte polishes I've picked up this one is on the crappy end due to the consistency of the formula. Like, my first nail had a true matte finish when it dried, but as I was applying it to the other nails, the finish went more satin...? It's weird, but it's actually pretty decent as a top coat period, with minimal chipping on the third day of wear, not bad for about $3.

Nail Art | Cool and Uncool

 

I did my best to compile all the nonsense going on with my phalanges. I'll start with what's on my nails now:

 

I tried the whole crystal thing for the first time, I've always thought it was very nouveau riche bougie (in a classy way). 

 I stayed pretty conservative for my first attempt using these crystals and sponging on a little French tip to be minimalist cutesy.

 ...I used a beauty wedge to sponge on "sure thing" from Revlon's Gel Envy line (it's pretty legit)...

  

 ...and "sugar daddy" by Essie is a great color if you want a neutral tone to gloss over the white; I think the nude color by F21 is a great cheaper alternative (definitely doesn't last as long, but the color is about the same).

American Apparel's "cameo blue" with Revlon's "sure thing" and Sally Hansen's "cheery on top" (seen below)

 ...here's another sort of botched look with white tips. It's not the cutest combo; the glitter was so unnecessary and like, I had to do the inverse on three of them because I messed them up...bleh. Whatever.

 

 ...this glitter combo is my new fave, I thought it was really effective with this next look:

American Apparel "smoke dazzle" with Art Club white and neon nail art polishes.

...this is honestly one of my favorite nail art looks ever; the neon swipes made it so striking in person. Definitely doing some variations in the future.

 The metallic polish is new; it needs two good coats to achieve a bottle opacity and the Art Club neon works best with white underneath.

I also experimented with mattes:

(L-R) Urban Outfitters; American Apparel; NYC; Essie; Forever 21

  ...I will be updating you guys on which ones I think work best; so far I'm loving Essie's super chalky matte look and I was moderately impressed with Urban Outfitters version.

F21's matte top coat over their nude polish; UO's "afterhours" and Art Club's black nail art polish.

Revlon's "sure thing" and Essies matte top coat with "a cut above" (pink glitter).

  

For spring/summer I'm also getting into pastels--it's an overall aesthetic as you already know:

 

...here's a few Essie pastels I'm loving right now (there's even more in my collection after these pixs were taken).

Essie's "romper room" & "a cut above" with Revlon's "sure thing" on the tips

Essie's "romper room" with "mint candy apple" and the pink glitter again

 ...and above and below are a few uncool pastel looks...maybe the bottom ones are sort of cooler I guess...

I thought this was pretty cool, probably would have been better without the glitter; Essie's "who is the boss" used.

 And finally here's a random look from the holidays: 

Revlon's weird and not that great bohemian line (I don't even know what it was called but it sucked so RIP to that); this was the red one called "confident".  It chipped too much and it was just so whatever. L'Oreal's "the statement piece" was the gold accent (from their still fabulous textured metallics line).

Okay, that's all for now...and not one mention about a Mormon dress.

Beauty Review | The Glam Caddy as Nail Polish Storage

 

 ...anyone else sick of digging through whatever to get to the right nail polish? I was.

*infomercial music starts playing*

 ...so when I finally found enough space in my tiny apartment for some real nail polish storage I decided to pick up the Glam Caddy from Bed Bath and Beyond. It's designed for all kinds of cosmetics as you can see from the package, but I was mainly drawn to the idea of having all my polishes on a turntable display. SO. BOUGIE.

 ...it comes with very simple instructions and only took about five minutes to assemble.

 

Specifications (based on my measurements):

Height: 8 inches (from the ground to the top center compartment)

Diameter: 10.25 inches

Space between top/base shelf and center sliding shelf: 2.25 inches

Space between bottom side shelf and top side shelf: 5 inches

Also, the manual said the max weight is 10 pounds; according to Google all my polishes were about 5 ish (you have to convert fluid ounces to dry pounds).

 ...this is what it looks like with 90 nail polish and nail art items in it (includes a few thin nail art polishes and a small NYX glitter thing). I literally looked all over my apartment to make sure I could cram everything I had on there just to test the maximum storage. I would say 80-90 polish bottles of a smaller size is the max capacity. After I selected all the ones I would use, I had 75 on there.

 Specific bottles that DID NOT fit in the front compartments: China Glaze and Urban Outfitters, they were too fat. Revlon, Milani, Essie, F21, L'Oreal, OPI [...]--the majority of my bottles fit nicely.

However, I still found a place for the fatties:

 The sliding shelf does not sit low enough to stand up the polishes, but you can still slip them in there without a problem.

 ...I found the bottom shelf convenient too even though the polishes had to lie flat, but that's how they would be if you had them in drawer anyway and the caddy is transparent so it makes no difference if they're standing or flat as long as you can see them all.

Take note, my nails WOULD NOT BE CHIPPED if I had this thing sooner.

In order to make the caddy more ergonomic, I removed the lids on the two center compartments at the top shelf so I can place the polishes inside a compartment instead of on top. So now it's easier to reach over and grab the polishes without having any fall over.

I'm keeping them; they will make excellent nail design tools, for dotting color and such...

See? Now all my top and base coats are sitting inside one of the top compartments. I could fit seven bottles of varying sizes in there.

 This is what the top part looks like, all the polishes on the edge are the ones I'm really into this season (pastels and nudes).

...and I placed all the out of season, summer polishes on the bottom center (they are harder to reach, but that doesn't matter if I'm not really using them).

 ...and here are all my glitter polishes in one of the side compartments. The other side contains my dark fall polishes.

Here's where I keep it; the caddy just slides right into this little open shelf, leaving enough space for me to comfortably reach in and grab what I need.  My apartment feels so much less shitty now.