Missoni Mani

Did you go to your local Target and get yourself some Missoni? I only managed to get some socks and some gorgeous bulldog clips (for papers and such) since all that was really left was toddler clothes. I've fallen in love with the classic zig-zag pattern, and like everyone else I slapped it on my nails.

Base-China Glaze's Lemon Fizz
Flexbrush browns (2), black, and white (all water-based)
CM Nail Art's Sky Blue

It's so hard to get consistent zig-zags... which is why mine aren't! It also takes a lot of patience and time, so beware this mani if you're looking for something quick.

Tie Dye Insets

After:

Before:

Marble the nails, tape over the areas you want exposed and just paint over with a solid color polish. Super. Easy.

Review: Supergoop! Acai-Fusion Lip Balm

I received this as a free sample from a Sephora order. Despite the somewhat cheesy name, the packaging is cute and the balm itself looks appealing and not greasy. Actually, the balm tastes and smells really good and fruity (but doesn't feel synthetic). Unfortunately for me, it didn't last on my lips and I felt like my lips were yearning for moisture shortly after application. It's a bummer because I wanted to love the product and the reviews on Sephora.com were fantastic.

Minx: Yellow Chrome

A super awesome friend recently gifted me a few sets of Minx, so here's Yellow Chrome, applied by me with a hairdryer (as opposed to a professional with a heat lamp).

They are much easier to apply than Nail Rock's Nail Wraps even though I used the same application process. I applied them on long nails and there was some wrinklage on the tips, but it was exacerbated by how haggard my tips are on the surface. There are chunks of layers of my nail missing from a lot of chip-abuse and it was obvious through the Minx... so, I just cut them off and carefully filed them down a bit, and it worked without destroying the Minx. Love how they look!

Pre-tip cut.

Post-tip cut

Bonus Post: Minx Preview

A lovely friend gifted me some Minx to try at home, so stay tuned!

Maybelline's Limited Edition Great Lash

Maybelline has released designer packaging by BCBGMaxAzria, Vivienne Tam, and Tracy Reese for their cult classic mascara, Great Lash.

Same old great product, but the packaging is irresistible and doesn't look cheap. I picked up the BCBG one. They're limited edition and only available at Target, so act fast!

Review: Tarte's True Blood Palette

I love True Blood (okay... I'm obsessed), but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend around $52 for a makeup palette just because it was True Blood themed. That is, until I randomly picked it up in Sephora. I was immediately impressed by the quality of the palette. I went home and after a little more thought, I ordered it.

Tarte for True Blood display in Sephora

I wouldn't use this image for color accuracy, just for color range and overall tone :)
These also match up to the image above (same order).

If you're looking for crazy, out there colors, pass over this palette. If you're more demure and want to play with a range of dramatic to natural looks, this is for you. These shadows are soooo silky and lovely. Some take a lot to get the color to show up on the skin, while others (especially the darker ones) take little effort to get an intense color.

Overall, I bought this palette because my makeup collection has gotten old and I needed to breathe new life into it. It's a great value for everything that you get (17 eyeshadows, eyeliner, mascara, eye primer), but if you have similar stuff I'd maybe pass over it... that is, unless you're a huge True Blood fan!

Who doesn't want to look as fierce as Pam?

Water Marbling for Former Failures

After many, many failed attempts at water marbling, I've finally achieved success!

Base - Zoya's Petra
Lime - Sinful Colors' Innocent
Blue - Sinful Colors' Aquamarine
Light Purple - Wet n Wild's 203A (no name -- it's a sheer nude, but over Petra it looks light purple)

Here's how to water marble:
Fill a disposable or unwanted cup with filtered, room temperature water.
With polish #1 drop a ball of the polish in the center of the water. If it's going to work the polish will spread on the surface of the water.
Drop a ball of polish #2 in the center of polish #1's spread. Continue this with the rest of the colors you want to use.
[Optional] Drop in polish #1, #2, etc., again so that a pattern of colors form (ex: red, green, blue, red, green, blue).
Take a toothpick or sharpened pencil and drag it in the polish creating the designs you want. Swirl it, drag it across, whatever, just keep in mind that what you're doing will have to fit on a small nail.
Press the nail (sometimes you can do more than one at a time, but start with one) face down on the surface of the water, continue until your nail is fully submerged, and hold it there.
Take your toothpick/pencil and remove the remaining polish on the surface of the water while your nail is still submerged.
Pull your nail out and push everything into place if you can. Voila! You're done!


Plenty of other sites have water marbling tutorials, and I suggest you watch or read a variety of them to prepare yourself before you attempt this, but here are the things that really helped me this time:

-I don't know if this is legit or just user error, but in the past I've used China Glaze, OPI, and Orly and have failed with each. So use the cheap stuff!
-Use filtered, room temperature water.
-Make sure that you use a disposable cup (or one you don't care about anymore), because it will definitely be ruined.
-If you use toothpicks, make sure there are a bunch loose and easy to grab.
-Account for not being able to use your hands for a while, because this is messy.
-To reduce the mess, you may want to cover your fingers in scotch tape.
-Move quick when adding polish to the water and swirling it around. The faster you are between steps, the more cooperative the polish will be.
-Seriously, this is messy:

But when finished, it yields an awesome result. Every nail has its own personality and you never really know what you're going to get on your nail until you pull it out of the water. I'm so glad I never gave up on water marbling because I am loving looking at my nails.

Swatch: Zoya's Petra (Smoke Collection, Fall 2011)

Beautifully dark, smoky purple but it was a little difficult to apply. It wasn't as smooth as I would have preferred, yet this fault wouldn't deter me from buying again. It's got a nice, almost milky look to it.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects: Halloween 2011

Look what I found in my local Walgreens today!

Left to right:
Black barbed wire over lime green
Black/red fishnets
White and orange ghosts on black
Black skull and crossbones over white
Black spiderweb over gunmetal

Geronimo! Doctor Who Nails!

Hello, Whovians! The time of Doctor Who is upon us and I am loving every second of it! I wanted to create the feeling of the Tardis, The Doctor, Amy, Rory, and River floating in space so I put their teeny-tiny heads (each under one square centimeter) over one coat of OPI's Last Friday Night (in retrospect, I should have done another coat). It has the effect of some gel nails I've seen with objects floating in the gel, but LFN gives a flash of blue and glitter for that cosmic look.

To do this you:

1. Paint your base
2. Apply the image (printed from a computer or ripped from a magazine, etc.) while the paint is still wet
3. Hold the image down to get it to stick as best as you can (this may take a while)
4. Apply a thick top coat, and possibly another layer of top coat