Spartan Nails

 This is my favorite time of year: Fall, College Football, and Fancy Nails. I'm hoping to keep up my weekly show of Spartan pride this year and I will be collecting those looks here. EDIT: Due to a ridiculous amount of weddings on game days, I didn't get a creative design in each week, but here are the weeks I did manage to find time and inspiration.

 WEEK 11 - SPARTAN INTERLOCKING DOTS

Green: Essie - Mojito Madness
White: Sinful Colors - Snow Me White

How To: This pin should help visually, because my explanations are a bit rough sometimes. I painted my nails all white and then added a diagonal green tip. I started with the green dots (made with a medium tip dotting tool) on the white side of the line, spaced a dot's width apart. Then on the green side I added white dots sort of in between the green dots (check out steps 5 and 6 in the pin above). Then I filled in all the green and white dots, keeping in line with the first set I had made. Yeah, that made no sense.


WEEK 7 - SPARTAN CLOUDS

Green: Essie - Mojito Madness
White: Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather

How To: This is where I got the idea for the design, her tutorial is probably better, but it didn't quite work as well as I wanted. This is what I actually ended up doing. I started with all regularly painted green nails. I had a hard time getting the tops of my clouds to be the perfect OCD round I was looking for. I tried using a dotting tool, but that was too small, so I ended up using the end of a pen (totally normal). Using my very official "dotting tool" I made 3-4 white dots and using the brush I painted a white stripe from just the lowest dot. I repeated the process with the black, and filled in the rest of the tip using the regular brush.



 WEEK 5 - SPARTAN FRENCH

White: Sally Hansen - White On
Green: A ridiculous combo of green polish and glitter (just buy a green glitter striper, I found one after this at Sally's Beauty)
Pink: Essie - Vanity Fairest

How To: Pretty standard french tip process. I painted all my nails the base pink color and free handed the white tip. The best part of adding glitter is that you can cover up any imperfections in the white. Now, I do not recommend using a paintbrush and a sketchy glitter concoction, like I did. Go get a green glitter striper and make it easy on yourself.



WEEK 4 - SPARTAN ARGYLE

Green: Sally Hansen - Going Green
White - Sally Hansen - White On
Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather
Silver striper

How To: Start off by painting half your nail green and half white, I alternated each nail as to which color was on the tip/base. I tried to be somewhat neat, but I didn't go crazy making sure my lines were perfect, because I essentially covered up the area they meet. (Sidenote: this green polish will make this white polish turn yellow if they overlap, I don't which one is more to blame, so I've tried to start using other polishes if I know the white is going on top of the green.) Now I waited forever for that to dry, I may have actually done this the night before and finished in the am. Next, I cut a piece of tape in half so I had square corners and placed the tape corner to corner meeting where my two polish colors met. Then I just painted the non-tape covered areas with the black polish and removed the tape immediately. And to finish I took a silver striper and added the criss-crossing lines. I always started with the "V" at the base of my nail and made sure that all the lines crossed each other. Just watch her video it makes more sense then my rambling. I get a lot of my ideas from her and then I just make it Spartanified.



WEEK 2 - SPARTAN CHEVRONS



Green: Essie - Mojito Madness
White: Sally Hansen - White On
Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather

How To: This is actually a lot easier than it looks, but be warned it's somewhat time consuming. First, get some regular Scotch tape and paint a large section 2 coats of white and another large section 2 coats of black. Then while those are drying, apply to your nails 2 coats of green and seche vite top coat. I would suggest a very long dry time (as in go get a coffee and pick up your dry cleaning) before moving on to part two. Now that everything is super dry you can get on to the fun part. Using a pair of craft scissors cut varying widths of white and black zig-zags. I cut and placed the strips individually so I could work on one pattern at a time. I placed each strip with a tweezer for better control and then with a cuticle clipper I trimmed off any excess pieces. And finally, apply a thick top coat to meld the whole thing together.



WEEK 1 - NEON POLKA DOTS

Green: China Glaze - Kiwi Cool-ada
White: Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather

How To: This one is pretty simple. As with all neons, I started with a coat of an opaque white and 2 coats of Kiwi Cool-ada. Using a medium size dotting tool, I started with one color of dots then filled in between with the opposite color.

Procession of Purples

Here are the purple polishes that I picked over the last few months.

Purple Tips

Purple  Tips

Purple: Essie - Sexy Divide
Glitter: Color Club - Lilac Hologram
Pink: Essie - Vanity Fairest

A little twist on the basic french manicure. I started with two coats of the pink and free handed the purple tips. And just to cover up any imperfections I traced the purple glitter along the edge of the tips. 

Zoya - Yasmeen

Yasmeen - The picture above isn't quite accurate, as with most of my purples this photo is coming off just a bit too blue. Yasmeen has a red toned shimmer that unfortunately isn't showing up. This reminds me a lot of Sexy Divide (my #1 purple), but SD is definitely a darker, more blue toned purple. Yasmeen is definitely moving up the list of favorite purples. 

Essie - Lilacism

Lilacism - I think I'm still on the fence about this polish. Like above, this picture is making the polish come off too blue. Lilacism is a dusty cream light purple. I'm not in love with this because it doesn't seem very special. I'm definitely a convert and love cream finish polishes, but because this one is kind of dirty looking the fact that there is no shimmer or sheen makes it forgettable.

Parade of Pinks

I want to preface the next few posts with a few FYI items. When I was only working in the office I felt like I could do some crazy things because I wasn't going to see any clients and no one else really cares, but now I'm back out on jobs so I have to tone it down a bit. As a result, I unintentionally picked only pink and purple polishes for the last two months (and one green that is going to show up randomly in a future post). Also, you may notice that as my work stress level increases there is an inverse effect on the length of my nails, so sorry about the that. 

Orly - Fancy Fuchsia

Fancy Fuchsia - This color makes me super happy!!!! It may be the best Barbie pink I think I may ever find. FF is very bright and it borders on neon. The best part of this polish is that is has way better coverage than any of the CG neons that I own. As a reference, this has a cream finish and the shade is right in between CG Shocking Pink and CG Purple Panic.

Layla - Coral Glam

Coral Glam - oooooooooo soooo pretttyyyy. This is another one of the Layla holo polishes I picked up at Ulta a while ago. Ulta was out of Retro Pink by the time I went to get more, so I had to settle for Coral Glam. While it's more peach than I would prefer, all of these holos have a gorgeous rainbow effect, so I imagine I'm going to love all of them. I did end up using Gelous as a top coat, which did make the mani last a bit longer, but not much.

Essie - Plumberry, Fergie by W&W - Hollywood Walk of Fame

Plumberry w/ Hollywood Walk of Fame - I wore this polish just recently and it is a great color to transition into Fall. At first this reminded me of Essie Watermelon, until I swatched them next to each other. Plumberry, while also leaning more red than pink, has a lot more bluish/berry tones. Fergie partnered with Wet n Wild on this small collection, but I just picked up this one polish. This has Star confetti (gold, silver, teal, coral, and lilac) with small silver bar and round glitters. The glitter did not go on evenly, I suggest just placing the color stars that you would like around your nail.

OPI - You Callin' Me a Lyre?

You Callin' Me a Lyre? - This is the pink from the OPI NYC Ballet collection. Like the white that I had previously worn, it is very sheer, but has that nice one color french mani effect. I'm glad that I went with the pink in a full size over the white, because the pink is a much more flattering than the slightly dirty looking white.

Sinful Colors - Glass Pink

Glass Pink - So I didn't even take a picture of this polish because I just kind of threw it on when I couldn't decide on anything else. It was very sheer, pale, had a bit of silver shimmer, and wasn't anything special. It gave sort of the same effect as the OPI, but not quite as good.

Birchbox July - Glamour Edition

July's box was a partnership with Glamour Magazine and focused on the five senses of summer. I'm going to be honest, this month's box didn't really excite so I didn't get into all the products all that much, but here's a brief run down of my thoughts and impressions.

The Box

The Run Down

 

The Box:

Alterna BAMBOO UV+ Color Protection Fade Proof Fluide - For someone with a lot of red in my hair color, I really should be more concerned with preventing fading, so in theory I should have jumped on using this product. Surprise, I didn't. I think the reason was because I don't really go in the sun that much so the UV protection didn't seem like a big benefit to me. I think even if I did try this out, it would have been difficult to gauge it's effectiveness, just because my color can fade quickly and I have been actively trying to prevent that. Just as an FYI, the product it self has a citrus melon scent and the texture is a nice lightweight oil, not too greasy or sticky.
Full Size 2.5 fl oz, $24.00; Sample Size .25 fl oz, $2.40

Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint (Golden) - I like the idea of this and it reminds me a little of the Dr. Jart BB cream I had in a previous box, but without all the added "benefits."  Let's start with what I did like: fairly good coverage for a tint, layers nicely, SPF 20, and it's oil free. What I didn't like: my sample was too dark for me (I think the lightest color would have been better), the luminizing part of the product was just too shimmery, it bordered on glittery and for something that is oil free you end looking like a super shiny glitterball oil slick. 
Full Size 1.7 fl oz, $38.00; Sample Size .17 fl oz, $3.80

Oscar De la Renta (live in love) - This fragrance shares a lot of the same notes as my go to perfumes, but this one just didn't do it for me. I think it lost me because it is floral on floral on citrus and together it was just too sweet for me. (The links above are to Fragrantica, a website that I stumbled on that has really helped me identify the notes that I love, like, and hate about different perfumes)
Full Size 50 ml, $78.00; Sample Size 1 ml, $1.56

Stila Lip Glaze (Action) - Not a fan. The only thing I like about this was the packaging, I like the brush applicator and twist bottom that pushes more product into the tip. The color I received was a dusty rose/beige with a LOT of gold glitter. The "glaze" was really sticky, smelly, and unappealing all around. Do yourself a favor, if you want a golden pink gloss that is a flattering, shimmery (not glittery), smooth, nice smelling, and that is waaaaaaay cheaper, go get a NXY Megashine Gloss in Gold Pink.
Full Size .08 fl oz, $22.00; Sample Size .05, $13.75

LARABAR uber (Roasted Nut Roll) - I'm really glad I got this "flavor" and not any of the fruit ones, I'm more of a sweet/salty versus sweet/fruity person. It was pretty good, very heavy on the nuts, sweetened just a bit with dates and honey. I mean it wasn't life changing or anything, but it was obviously healthier than most granola/meal bars. They are pretty expensive for only 5 bars and I really don't know if they are widely available.
Full Size 5 bars, $12.69; Sample Size 1 bar, $2.54

Earbuds (pink and blue) - I thought this was a really cool extra. Who doesn't need an extra pair of earbuds? And they are super cute too, all blue with hot pink accents. This kinda made the box for me, otherwise I would have been a bit disappointed.
Full Size 1 pair, $10.00; Sample Size 1 pair, $10.00

Wrap Up:

Value of the Box - $34.05

The Good -Earbuds

On The Fence - Alterna Fluide, live in love, Larabar

The Bad -Stila Lip Glaze, Jouer Luminizing Tint (maybe setting it with a powder would reduce the glitter effect and make me like it more)

The Verdict - Kids, I have to be honest, I'm starting to lose interest. Here are my general feelings about the box. This is a really fun idea and I think that the samples are a decent size and it is nice to be able to try all these different products. On the other hand, I don't want a new perfume sample every month, because even if I loved them all, I'm not going to spend that kind of money on a huge perfume collection. And for the same reason as the perfume, I do like to try these higher end products, but I just can't and shouldn't go out and buy every one that I happen to like.



If you're interested in your own Birchbox click here. If you have any questions about cost or how you can earn/use points, let me know. 

OLYMPIC NAILS!!!

 Here's how I decided to show my Olympic spirit throughout the Games.

Olympic Medals

The Polish:   

• Gold: Studio M - Gold Glitter
• Silver: Sinful Colors - Queen of Beauty
• Bronze: OPI - Warm & Fozzie
• Red: Art Club Striper -  Red on Red
• White: Sally Hansen - White On
• Blue: Art Club Striper - Electric Universe

The Process:
Medals - Paint a nail gold, silver, and bronze, duh. Although to make it a little easier and to avoid a really thick layer of glitter polish, I would suggest using a similar color of an opaque metallic first then layer the glitter over it. 

U.S. Flag - First, I painted the whole nail white. Next, I used the blue striper to create a square in the corner of my nail. I then followed up with a red striper on the rest of the nail. To finish, I used a very small dotting tool to create the white "stars."

Union Jack - First, I painted the whole nail white. Using the red striper I created the cross in the center of the nail. Then, I added the diagonal red stripes. Finally, using a blue striper I added little blue triangles next to each red stripe. To be honest if I ever do this again I would go about the process completely differently. I would paint the whole nail blue, paint a large white cross and white diagonal stripes, and then add the red stripes in the center of all the white. I think that would make the design a bit cleaner overall. 

Olympic Rings

The Polish:   

• White: Sally Hansen - White On
• Yellow: China Glaze - Sunshine Pop
• Blue: Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue
• Black: China Glaze - Liquid Leather
• Red: Sinful Colors - Ruby Ruby
• Green: Essie - Mojito Madness  

The Process:  Let me just start by saying I don't think I will do anything like this again. I know it seems fairly similar to a half moon mani, but somehow it was a complete mess and I mostly blame it on that crappy yellow that I don't like that much aslfjl;asjdfiofoajsdohfoej. Rant over. I started by painting each nail the color of an Olympic ring and let it dry. Then, like the half moon mani, I placed those hole reinforcement stickers around my nail where I wanted the color to show through. Next, I painted over the whole nail with a white polish. This is where it got really messy. I'm not sure if it was because my white polish was getting old so it was goopy or if I was trying to go too fast and the layers weren't dry enough, but regardless white got everywhere. The other big problem was that the yellow reacted with the white so that it wasn't white anymore. I ended up adding a layer of top coat and then layered more white; if you're keeping track there are about 10 layers of polish on my thumb at this point (strengthener, base, 2 color, 2 white, top coat, 2 white, top coat). 

Butter London - The Black Knight

The Black Knight - Ok it's not exactly Olympics-y but I thought the fact that it was a Butter London polish made it fit with the theme. And besides aren't those red, white, and blue glitters..... well no, they're actually pink, blue, and gold, but still pretty. I honestly couldn't get a picture to really show how much the glitter shimmers. The glitter looks kind of grainy in the pic, but in really life it's all sparkle. From my previous experience with Butter London, I thought I would be proactive and just start with an opaque black and then add the glitter over top. I did two coats of CG - Liquid Leather and one coat of The Black Knight and it worked great.