Foil's Gold: Black and Gold Foil Skittles - LNTC

Hey y'all!

This week the Llama Nail Techniques Challenge has prompted us to do foils.  I am aware that this caused a lot of stress amongst those of us who are completing the challenge.  Personally I wasn't worried so much about working with the foils, but more about creating a dynamic look.  I played with creating designs using my striping brush for my birthday, but when the time came to actually do my challenge look, I felt a BIT overwhelmed, cuz...

"Fluid" abstract inspired by FingerFood - TPTC

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Welcome to another Tri-Polish Tuesday!  Today's look is brought to you in just about every way by the lovely and talented Sam at FingerFood.  If you aren't familiar, you definitely need to first crawl out from under your rock, then hop on over and check out her blog, because she does some of the most amazing artwork on her nails.  I've had the privilege of befriending her over these past few months as a budding nail blogger, and when she learned that I was having trouble finding good cheap neon polishes in my part of the country, she offered to help me fix that problem!  Last week I got a little package containing some LA Colors neons, and a surprise bonus leather effect polish from Pretty that my local Poundland doesn't carry.  How sweet is that?  I felt the only appropriate way to repay her was to do this week's Tri-Polish in her signature style, using the colors that she'd sent me, and so I present you with this...

Hey Swatch it: Quirk Polish Novels and Nails April: The Picture of Dorian Gray

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You may remember a few weeks ago I reviewed the introductory box set offering from Quirk's Novels and Nails box set.  Today I'm back with April's box, and oh my dot, am I hooked this month.  This month we received a package centering around Oscar Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Pastel textured negative space nail art featuring Born Pretty Store studs

*** This post contains items which were sent for review and affiliate links. ***

Hey y'all!

If you read my birthday haul post, you may recall me spending a Marks&Spencer gift certificate on, what else, nail supplies! Part of that haul was a set of 4 pastel textured polishes from the M&S Limited Collection. Then, Born Pretty Store sent me some really cute colored nail art studs in spring-toned green, purple, and blue, and this nail art just sort of fell into place!

Tutorial: Duochrome pebble nail art

*** This post contains items which were sent for review and affiliate links. ***

Hey y'all!

Today I have a tutorial video for you on how to create these color-shifting nails with a colorful oval stud on the accent nail:

Blue Galaxy Nail Art - LNTC

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Today the Llama ladies were challenged to produce a look that has been done so incredibly well by so many nail artists, so it was kind of hard to find a way to make it just a little bit different.  I'm talking about galaxy nails, of course, which is a relatively simple technique that just requires a bit of time but very little precision.  I opted to go with a blue galaxy, because... reasons.

Neon Starbursts - TPTC

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Today's nail art comes courtesy of Vic at Glowstars and Sam at FingerFood, both of whom are responsible for stirring up my need to throw some neon on my nails.   Since I currently only own one truly fluorescent nail polish at the moment, I had to improvise a bit, but I think the results are well worth it.  Still working under this month's Tri-Polish Tuesday colors of pink, blue, and yellow, I present to you this sparkly neon starburst nail art!

A little Easter nail art for you

Hey y'all!

As I mentioned before, I'm still wading through the muck of book editing (but I can see light at the end of the tunnel!), and it occurred to me that I actually have some nail art to show you for Easter.  A couple of weeks ago I entered the Digital Dozen's Easter nail art contest, and since I obviously suck didn't win, this nail art would otherwise stagnate in the dark recesses of Facebook if I don't post it here.  Being that it's Easter, it seems silly to wait and post it after I've finished editing, because, yanno... timely!

Anyway... Happy Easter to those who celebrate.  Happy Sunday to those who don't.

Sneak peek: First 3 minutes of In Your Eyes, a new Joss Whedon film

Hey y'all!

I am deep in the trenches of book editing deadline hell, so I don't have nails to show you, but I did find this and got so excited, I wanted to share.

I've been really curious about this movie since I first read about it a couple of years ago, so I'm so glad to see that it's finally been made and is hitting the festival circuits this year.  Maybe by next year it will get a cinematic release!  If there are two things Joss Whedon does really well, it's paranormal and romance!

Leave me a comment below and let me know if you're as interested in this movie as I am!

Another flocking nail art - LNTC

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Wednesday brings another go-round for the Llama Nail Technique Challenge, and this week we're all flocked up - with flocked nails!  I chose to create a seasonally appropriate white and neon.

Stamped watercolor nail art featuring e.l.f. polishes - TPTC

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Tri-Polish Tuesday rolls round once more, and we're still working with the April colors of blue, pink, and yellow.  With today's look, I wanted to accomplish two things:  create a soft pastel watercolor effect, and use all three polishes by the same brand, and this nail art featuring three elf polishes fits the bill!

Mani Monday: Holy Holo Half Moons nail art

*** This post contains items which were sent for review and affiliate links. ***

Hey y'all!

Happy Monday, everyone!  Today you get a special three-in-one post, as I've got a fantastic US indie polish I purchased on our trip last month and glequins which were sent for review from Born Pretty Store, and some sparkly nail art to boot!

Tutorial: Using Orly Nail Rescue to create an extension

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Travesty of travesties, I broke a nail!  Unfortunately it was the end of a nail and it snapped off, so I couldn't just "repair" it.  Since it was late in the evening, visiting a salon for an extension wasn't an option, and I didn't want to hack off all my other nails, so I used my Orly Nail Rescue repair kit and a teabag to create an extension.  If you'd like to see how, check out my YouTube tutorial.

Hey Swatch It! Quirk Polish Novels and Nails March box - Peter Pan

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Back in February, Kerrie announced that she was bringing a new monthly box to her Quirk store, built on the back of her two greatest loves: nail polish and literature.  When an intelligent, talented, creative woman has two loves that war against one another in her heart, her only option is to try to find a way to merge those loves, and as such, Quirk's Novels & Nails was born.  The story goes like this: subscribers receive a monthly box which contains one of Kerrie's favorite books and two limited edition Quirk polishes based on that book, along with some other treats for good measure.  Since I happen to share both of Kerrie's passions, you KNOW I was in line for pre-order!

In March, the first lot of boxes went out, all centered around the book Peter Pan & Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J.M. Barrie.

Birthday haul!

Hey y'all!

Since last Friday was my birthday and I posted my vacation haul, I figured it was only appropriate to follow that up today with my birthday haul!

To start, I figure you might want to see the nails I was sporting for my birthday.  Basically I was just playing with my nail foils and created this look.  Also, sorry for the crappy dry state of my nails - it was an afterthought to actually photograph what I'd done.  However, they're shiny and festive and I don't think it was a half-bad first attempt at foil nail art.

Coral under the sea - GOT Polish

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Lookie!  I'm dipping my toes back into Goldie Oldies Thursday!  This week's prompt is Coral, and I took that as an opportunity to give tribute to both the color and the sea creature with my nail art.

Purple and Blue Water Marble LTNC

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So today's look is actually one that I did while we were on holiday in Texas, and there's a really good reason for it - I can't watermarble in England!  I'm not sure if it's a temperature thing, or just that I have a hard time finding distilled water, or what the deal is, but I have tried it a fair few times with lots of different polishes and water types and temperatures, and it just never works out.  SO... when I saw that the Llama Nails Technique this week was water marbling, I knew I was going to have to do some serious forward planning.  These are also the last pictures of my long square nails before ThatDay(tm), so this post is a bit bittersweet for me on that note anyway, but just look how pretty!

Easy Sponged Rainbow Nail Art - TPTC

Hey y'all!

Today's nail art is a fun way to to get really colorful without necessarily needing a lot of skill or kit.  When I realized that this month's TriPolish colors are basically the primaries, it occurred to me that I could use just three polishes to get a full rainbow spectrum on the nail, and so I present to you these super easy sponged rainbow nails.

Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes

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Today I'm breaking away from the nail end of beauty blogging to introduce a new product and a new brand to you.  My friend Tanya introduced me to this new line of cosmetics called Younique - the retail side of things is a bit similar to Avon or Mary Kay, in that you have an independent representative who basically runs his/her own business with this cosmetic line.  I went poking around at the products available, and one immediately struck me: the 3D Fiber Lashes.  What in the world, right?  Let me show you.

Hols Haul!

Hey y'all!

First off... today's my birthday, but I'm finally going to the doctor to take care of the lingering sinus and sore throat problems that we brought back with us from Texas last month.  As promised, I wanted to give you guys a haul post that trip, and today's your lucky day.  I certainly did quite the spree, beginning in January by online ordering things and having them shipped to Momma Faff's house.  By the time it was all said and done, there were a few too many boxes and she got onto me about it.  I couldn't help it - I needed things!  Anyway... the morning after we arrived, I sat down to the most wonderful breakfast of coffee and opening boxes, and managed to consolidate everything into one tiny pic that went on my Instagram feed immediately.

#2014BloggerChallenge - A Day in Waco, in Pictures!

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Today's post is another abnormal entry, courtesy of the #2014BloggerChallenge.  Gaby has challenged us this week to do a "Week/Day in Pictures" and since Mr. Faff and I recently returned from visiting my homeland, I thought I would share one of our days of adventure.

Essentially, this is the blogger version of "wanna see my vacation pictures?" - only I promise not to show you 14,874 shots of the same majestic tree in sunset lighting.  Seriously, I promise.

Instead, I'd like to give you a virtual tour of the day we spent in nearby Waco, Texas, which most people have only ever heard of as the home of Dr. Pepper and the place where David Koresh got bonfired, even though that wasn't actually in Waco but rather in Mount Carmel about 15 miles away, except that the news outlets decided it sounded crazier to say Waco and pronounce it wrong but anyway I am off-topic again and I apologize.

Purple Roses? Ombre, claro! LNTC

Hey y'all!

Today's prompt in the Llama Nails Technique Challenge is Ombre, which is a look I hadn't yet really done but just couldn't leave it plain, so I spruced it up with some stamping using the same colors on staggered nails.

Cadbury's Mini Egg Nail Art - TPTC

Hey y'all!

I thought really long and hard about doing an April Fool's joke here... but decided not to because I couldn't think of anything clever am a nice person.  The first of April heralds the beginning of a new set of colors for the Tri-Polish challenge, and with Easter being so late in the month, I imagine we're going to be seeing a lot of soft pastel blue, pink, and yellow looks before it's all over.  I have had this idea kicking around in my head for a couple of months, but when I had to reshape my nails last week after that bad corner break, it immediately went to the head of the class because I couldn't think of anything more clever like to make the best of bad situations.  Today I have a super simple but almost instantly recognizable nail art look for you - Cadbury's Mini Eggs!