It's Independence Day, but Everyday is Memorial Day and Veteran's Day

Howdy!

I know today is Independence day (and I am sporting a red, white, and blue mani toady since I can't stand wearing a mani that is chipped :/), so this post seems a little out of place timing-wise, but I truly mean the sentiment in the title.  This day 230+ years ago a group of very brave men put their lives on the line by taking a stand.  Many of them went on to do so on the battlefield as well.  The tradition of proud, strong-willed Americans defending freedom continues today.  So, in my humble opinion, today we should all not only think of and celebrate the men that began that tradition, but the men and women that continue it.  I know the American government isn't the most popular subject or entity around, at home or abroad.  Honestly, I'm not always a fan.  But I am still proud to be an American, and I am more proud of the men and women that have fought, do fight, and will fight for America.  I am always humbled to say thank you to a veteran or soldier.

So, I decided to do some nail art inspired by those wonderful men and women in fatigues in hopes that if someone noticed it I would get to remind that person of the people that inspired them.

I used Essie Mochacino and then painted a side tip with Essie Armed & Ready, then stamped it with Konad Special White and plate m7 across the tip.  The intention was that the bottom of the bow would land where the two colors met.  I didn't quite manage on every nails, but close enough that the general public was impressed lol

Have fun and be safe today.  And, do me a favor if you get the chance, tell a service man or woman thank you.  And not just once, but every chance you get.

Thanks & Gig 'em!

Retro Review

Howdy!

I found some old manicure pictures the other and decided that it might benefit some of you for me to do a review on some of the polishes used, namely the Essie Luxeffects Collection, since they're still readily available and you might be wanting some glitters.  I added them to the new NOTD Gallery, as well :)  The Luxeffects collection is a topcoat collection, so it doesn't require anything on top.  With that said, I do use my usual Seche Vite over it for a couple of reasons actually.  First, because I like a smooth finish.  Second, because I CANNOT keep my hands still long enough for the manicure to dry otherwise. lol  (Please excuse the chubby-ish fingers.  These were last year and I was still losing weight.  Also note that this is was before I expanded my horizons past Essie polishes.)

First up, the one that is probably my least favorite of collection (though still a beauty and I love her), As Gold As It Gets.  In this picture she is over Essie Pretty Edge (it was a Christmas manicure).  She is fairly subtle, so the name is a slight misnomer.  But over, a great option for a little glitz.

The next lady is also a subtle one, rather coy actually.  Pure Pearlfection, here over Essie Midnight Cami, makes any polish look star-kissed.  It's glitter is super fine, quite pearly (definitely got this name right :)), and rather dense therefore it doesn't call for a thick layer at all.













Shine of the Times seems to be a favorite of many.  Some call her a flakie.  She definitely comes alive on top of dark underwear, here over Essie Luxedo.  Depending on the light and angle you could be dazzle with a whole spectrum of colors from magentas, fuchsias, yellows, lime greens, blues, and everything in between.




The next two are truly my favorites of the collection the silver glitter is Set in Stones and the rosy glitter is A Cut Above.  Both are a mixture of round and hex glitter in various sizes.  They look like you sequined your finger tips.  I cannot count the number of compliments I received while wearing either glitter.  So many people said it looks like I'm wearing diamonds on nails when I wear Set in Stones, ironic, huh?  Even funnier, I sell diamonds!  I was going to say that both of these wear like iron, but I think wear like a diamond is more fitting ;)  You'll definitely need acetone to get them off.

Do you have any of the Luxeffects?  Or now plan to pick some up?

Thanks & Gig 'em!

Teeny Bit of Essie Bikini So Teeny

I recently convinced my husband (man, I love saying that!!!) that I needed some new polish.  Ok, maybe I simply convinced him that I was deserving of a treat. lol.  And since I had coupons for Ulta I decided to get a couple of colors from the new Essie collection.  I debated a bit.  I really liked Bikini So Teeny, but felt that I had a similar blue here at home.  With that in mind and Wade's votes I settled on Off the Shoulder and Mojito Madness.

Mojito Madness is a slightly muted kelly green.  More like the color of actual mint leaf lol  I was really on the fence about this color until it go on my nails, then I loved it!  Which, might I add, is completely out of character for me since I am SO not normally a green person. Not only did I love the color, but the application was a breeze, even with the tiny brush.

Off the Shoulder was equally amazing.  Bright, cheerful, and honestly the closest comparison I can think of is the color of Double Bubble just after you start chewing it (sorry if that was a little too gross for anyone, but it is the closest color comparison I can manage).  Application was wonderful for this polish, as well.  I see myself getting alot of wear out of Off the Shoulder this season.


 I had a little bit of extra time that day and was feeling spunky, so I added a little art, including a rhinestone for the first time ;)  I used Essie Bachelorette Bash off the shoulder to create a diagonal path of various sized polka dots on all but my index fingers.  Then, I use Bachelorette Bash to create a four petal flower on the top, outside (pinky-side) corner as to make sure that it was focal point.  Finally, I added a tiny green rhinestone in the center of each set of the petals to complete the flowers and topcoated.  And, viola!  I got so many compliments on this mani and I truly adore the flower nails!  I will most definitely do another manicure with these flowers as the inspiration.

On a related note...  I had always been nervous about using rhinestones in a design, but I have a tendency to chip my polish, as I am pretty hard on my nails.  But, when I changed this manicure to do my Jubilee Manicure.  I had to WORK to get the rhinestone off!  So, for those of you interested, but timid towards rhinestones, try it!  They apparently stay put... lol!  (please excuse the staining, just part of having fabulously decorated nails ;))

Thanks & Gig 'em!

Get A Grip!

I am working on recovering the tutorials I shot from my camera – apparently it is not compatible with Windows 7, even after drivers run in compatibility mode are installed… grrr.  So, in the meantime I thought it might be nice to discuss our favorite and least favorite brushes and handles.  What do you think?
In this post I am only going to review six different brands’ brushes and handles:  butter LONDON, China Glaze, Essie, OPI, Orly, and Zoya.  I have more brands in my collection, but they are still in my untrieds and I didn’t have time to try them before this post (I’m supposed to be doing schoolwork, shhh, don’t tell my fiancé, lol). 

butter London’s brush seems on the narrow side at first glance, but it is wonderfully supple and fairly thick.  As you can see from the bottom picture the brush spreads out nicely and this is with very little pressure.  I enjoy the brush while painting my nails most definitely.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the handle.  It is very short and stubby.  Though not unmanageable, it is definitely not the most easily maneuvered.  To it’s credit, the ridges do help.  Of the six being reviewed, I would say that the brush is my second favorite, but the overall combo ranks number four on my list.


The China Glaze brush has a nice width and the handle is tied for the longest, making it much easier to maneuver.  The brush spreads, but not as extensively as the butter LONDON.  It is fairly soft, as well, allowing for nice contouring around the nail.  Even though the brush isn’t as supple as the butter LONDON the handle is longer and overall the combo make the polish easy to apply.  So, China Glaze rates number three.


The impression that the Essie brush is thin is, unfortunately, quite correct.  Thank goodness that Essie typically has great formula, because their brush and handle both leave something to be desired.  The brush is nicely springy, but just doesn’t have enough bristles to spread out over the nail.  This leads to me too often having to make more dips and swipes than I would like to cover a nail.  The handle is also stubby.  Not as stubby as butter LONDON’s, but it is smooth which makes it harder to hold on to.  Though this is one of my favorite brands of polish overall ever (the brand that started this all), the brush/handle ties for last place in this line up.

OPI has one of my favorite brushes of all time.  Truly.  It is wide, thick, springy, and supple - everything I look for in a brush.  This type of brush is a true joy for me.  I recognize that some may not like this brush's width, though.  I have wide nail beds, so I appreciate it.  If you have more narrow nails, you might try using the narrow side of the brush, or strategically placing your swipe so that you only need one ;)  The handle is among the longest so it is easy to maneuver.  I wish it had some texture or something, like butter LONDON or Orly (coming up next).  I would love that with all of the smooth brushes, honestly.  This is my overall favorite brush/handle combination (I wish it wore better for me! :( I know most people have great luck with OPI, but it just really struggles on my nails).

Orly has my favorite handle overall.  It may not be as long as the OPI and China Glaze handles, but it has a contoured and rubberized grip that makes it quite comfortable to hold and apply the polish.  The brush is on par with the China Glaze brush.  It is very similar in thickness, springiness, and suppleness.  But since the handle is so wonderful, Orly's combo ranks number two on my list overall.


Zoya's brush is on the thinner side and is abnormally short in my opinion.  It does spread out more so than the Essie, but is a little stiffer and SO short.  The handle is not much longer than the butter LONDON handle, but still shorter than the Essie handle.  Thankfully the shape provides an easily maneuverable.  It's about equally frustrating to me as Essie so it falls in the same spot.  Last.

I know that this long, but I hope that it is helpful for some of you.  As usual, feel free to leave comments and questions :)

Thanks & Gig 'em!

Jessica

Essie Wedding 2012 Collection Review & Swatches

For anyone that doesn’t know me, I LOVE Essie.  Essie the brand that started this wonderful addiction.  I actually have more than seventy bottles of Essie nail polish, by far the majority of my collection.  So for today I have a review and some swatches of Essie’s Wedding 2012 Collection.  I wasn’t super excited about this collection at first, but then I saw them in person and had to have them immediately.  Plus, they are the perfect Easter/spring colors!


First up, Like to be Bad.  I adore the sweet color.  It has a shimmer in the bottle that doesn’t quite translate to the nail as much as I would like seeing as I really have to look for it, even in direct sunlight  (obviously you can’t see it at all in the picture), but the color is still a great pastel pink to have in the collection.  Formula-wise it applied easily, but was a little thin, so I did three thin coats to get it even.
Second, Instant Hot.  This is the color that surprised me the most.  I wasn’t going to get it at first, but decided that I should get the whole collection.  It is a slightly blushed white with a shimmer.  Again, the shimmer doesn’t translate well to the nail compared to the bottle (again imperceptible in the picture).  But, I will definitely use this color as a background for some nail art that I don’t want a super stark white for.  This one was also a little thin, so I did three thin coats here to get it even.  I definitely recommend a ridge filler if you have any notable ridges.  You can see mine peeking through a little near my cuticle because I just used a regular basecoat.

Next, Who’s the Boss?.  This might be my favorite of the collection (it’s a VERY close race between this one and Love & Acceptance).  Who’s the Boss?  is a pastel blue green that looks more blue or green depending on the light.  I did three thin coats here, but I think I will just do two regular coats next time I do a mani with it.

Finally, Love & Acceptance.  As I said above, this color is battling for my favorite of the collection.  It is definitely my favorite formula-wise.  This took just two coats, slightly thin.  (please excuse the line in the center of the nail in the picture, I had to patch it after I dinged it and didn’t realize that it showed so badly in the picture until it was too late to take another :( )
Another great collection from Essie overall.  I must say the formula isn’t as nice as it usually is on a couple of them, but nothing too frustrating or not worth dealing with.  My only real complaint is not with the polishes themselves, but the brush and handle of all Essie polishes.  I did not know how much they bothered me until I started trying other polishes and was like, “Wow!  That brush is awesome!”  The Essie brush is definitely not unmanageable or annoying enough that I stop using it, obviously since I have more than seventy bottles lol, but it is not my favorite.

I liked the skittles (well, more like Easter M&Ms swatch so much that I decided to add a fifth color and wear it as a mani.  I ended up adding Orly Spark as my thumb color.  For the record, I got Spark to do a rubber ducky mani and am not in love with it as a base color.  I ended up with four very thin coats and it was still uneven and had bald spots.  On the upside, I love Orly’s brush and handle :).



I was planning on doing some stamping over this on day two, but when my fiancé got home he noticed my nails almost immediately (pretty uncommon, also for the record) and wasn’t a big fan.  So I changed it lol  That made four manicures in four days!

Thanks & Gig ‘em!
Jessica

They're Different, Not Broken - Autism Awareness

 

I know in today’s society many feel that people that don’t function “normally” must have something wrong with them.  There must be a cure or solution.  A pill or treatment to fix the problem.  Well I’m sorry if I offend anyone or lose any of my few readers, but… Autistic child/people are NOT broken!  They do not need a cure or solution.  They need to be understood.  I’m not saying that research shouldn’t be conducted to find a cause (if we even can, human biology is extremely complicated and sometimes things just seem to happen.  I know, I know… another foreign concept in our society that we, including myself, really struggle with if someone says it) or attempt to find ways to improve the quality of life that many with autism are thrown into.  But, I am saying that we should not put autistic people in a box with a pill and ignore them or treat them as incompetent.  Many, if not most or all, are HIGHLY intelligent people.  The general public fails to discover, let alone understand, this because they don’t take the time to learn a new communication style!  In my experience, autism really boils down to a communication disorder, not a disease that must be contained and cured immediately.  Much like someone that has lost their ability to speak coherently after a stroke, autistic people usually know what they want to say but have difficulties getting it out.  Yes, they tend to have what seems to be certain quirks that throw some people off, like generally preferring not to be touched and structured schedules.  But, heck, my sister hates to be touched and she is far from autistic.  These are also preferences that change with culture!  In some cultures there is nearly zero physical contact generally speaking; and, some cultures value a rigorous schedule closely adhered to, while others adhere to a very loose schedule.  I find that people believe autistic people incapable of emotion.  This is LUDACRIS!  All the autistic people that I have met and/or spent time with are highly sensitive to both your emotions and how they feel and are treated.  They just express these emotions differently.

My point is I think instead of the general public focusing on what’s “broken,” they should be educated on, or by in many cases, what autism really is and what those special people we call autistic really deal with.  In my experience, they are often some of the sweetest, most sensitive, most loving, most caring, highly intelligent, curious, creative people you will ever have the honor of meeting and spending time with.  Learn their “language,” spare a minute to be blessed…

Ok, so now I will get off my soapbox and show you my nails for Worldwide Autism Awareness Day today.  If you missed out on fun and educating today, don’t worry this month this Autism Awareness Month so you can participate as much or as little as you like :)

I started with Orly Snowcone as my base because I felt it to be the closest match to the Light Up Blue Campaign Logo I’ve been seeing.  I then used a dotting tool and Essie Blanc to create a puzzle piece on my ring fingers (I will try to persuade my camera to work properly and make a tutorial for my version of a puzzle piece soon).  And since like I said I feel like many autistic people are misunderstood and are actually very loving I stamped a heart from Konad plate m18 with Konad White Special Polish on my thumbs.  I layered “A”s going all different directions from Konad plate m17 over this with Konad Blue Special Polish.

 

Thanks & Gig ‘em!

Jessica

Some Old NOTDs - Beware Pic HEAVY

I thought I would do a quick post with some of my previous manicures.  Not that any of them are very advanced, but would you like to see any of these made into tutorials or some tips on them?

My first attempt at nail art lol  Essie Sexy Divide and Essie Blanc

This was done with China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Essie Blanc.

China Glaze Stone Cold with Essie Play Date and Turquoise & Caicos

Essie Play Date, Bachelorette Bash,
Fruit Sangria, Blanc, and Orly Blue Collar.
Inspired by Creativenailart

China Glaze Fast Track stamped with
Orly Rose Radience and Konad plate m63
(one of my fave manis EVER)

Orly Goth and Forever Crimson

Tip to cuticle:  China Glaze Spontaneous, Orly Dazzle, Butter London Marrow

Sponged glitter gradient done with OPI Vampsterdam and Essie Carnival

OPI Extravagance stamped with Orly Luxe and Konad plate m36

Orly Steel Your Heart and Essie Tour de Finance
stamped with Orly Dazzle and Konad plate m3

Essie Eternal Optimist
stamped with China Glaze Unplugged and Konad plated m16

China Glaze Strawberry Fields
stamped with Orly Glitz and Konad plate m59

OPI DS Reserve (one of my fave colors)
stamped with Konad White Special Polish and Konad plate m71

OPI DS Reserve stamped with Orly Luxe and Konad plate m18

Pre-clean-up:  Essie Raise Awareness
stamped with Orly Steel Your Heart and Konad plate m63

Zoya Dannii with Butter London Henley Regatta
layered on the accent nail

What do you think?!